Microgrid Boot Camp Launches 2023 ACEP Summer Internship Program

July 12, 2023

This year’s ACEP Summer Internship Program launched May 30 with the five-day Microgrid Boot Camp, laying the foundation for 17 undergraduates to begin their ten-week foray into energy research in Alaska. Through expert seminars, facility tours, community conversations, and an overnight trip down the Tanana River at Gaalee’ya Spirit Camp, the boot camp set the technical, geographic, historical, and social context of Alaska’s energy landscape and microgrid fundamentals.

Interns traveled to Fairbanks from across Alaska and beyond, including Hawai’i and Puerto Rico. Their first week in Fairbanks featured lectures including “The History of Energy in Alaska” by Philip Wight, “Foundations of Microgrid” by Daisy Huang, and “The Social Psychology of Energy” by Kristin Timm. ACEP’s learning designer Savannah Crichton led a growth mindset workshop, and interns received a technical overview of load profiles, critical and non-critical loads, and solar and wind fundamentals led by Alexander Mobley from Arizona State University’s Laboratory for Energy and Power Solutions.

The second half of Microgrid Boot Camp was generously hosted by Howard and Etta Maillard at Gaalee’ya Spirit Camp, where ACEP is partnering with Howard Luke’s family to revitalize the camp’s microgrid. As Interior weather slipped back into the low 40s, the cohort experienced off-grid life in Alaska, giving a new — and perhaps frigid — perspective on community energy needs. During the two-day camping trip, interns worked with Mobley to build and troubleshoot a model microgrid system and enjoyed camp life — chopping wood, cooking on a campfire, exploring the island, and feeling the heat of a wood stove sauna.

After Microgrid Boot Camp, the interns began their research projects with ACEP mentors with topics ranging from Railbelt decarbonization to mariculture green energy and hydrokinetic field work. More information on the 2023 cohort and their projects can be found on the ACEP Summer Internship Program website. Stay tuned for an opportunity to attend their end-of-summer presentations during the week of August 8.

This year’s cohort is composed of undergraduate students from University of Alaska Anchorage, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Claremont McKenna College, Harvard College, Harvey Mudd College, Hope College, Virginia Tech, and University of Puerto Rico.

For questions regarding the ACEP Summer Internship Program, please email Annalise Klein.

The ACEP Summer Internship Program was made possible with generous support from the U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, Office of Naval Research and the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates program.