Student Stories
Chemical Engineering Co-op Story: Southern Nuclear Company
Jones Preg
Chemical Engineering
What company did you intern with and where are they located?
Southern Nuclear Company at Plant Farley, in Columbia, AL
How did you identify and apply for your internship? Are there any specific resources you used to find the opportunity (i.e. Handshake, career fairs, other recruitment events)?
I attended career fairs, applied online, and reached out to personal connections.
What was the application process like?
It involved an online application, an in person interview, and 2 more virtual interviews.
Tell us about your internship experience. What types of tasks and projects did you engage in? Was there a particular project or part of the experience you learned the most from?
I had a fantastic experience. I was able to engage in several tasks in the Civil/Mechanical design group. Most significantly, I led and developed a design project dealing with installation of new piping to assist with chemical batching in the plant, aiming for safer and more efficient operation. I had to research several aspects of the project before drawing conclusions, lead meetings with interdepartmental input, draft and finalize long technical documents, and ensure adequate review of everything I proposed in my final product. This experience allowed me to gain valuable experience with public speaking, technical research, AI implementation, cross-functional networking, and much more. I was able to make large steps toward gaining soft interpersonal skills to further my existing hard, technical knowledge gained from classes at Auburn.
In what ways did this internship help you prepare for your next destination after Auburn?
It allowed me to see practically what engineers actually do in the workforce. I would love to get into the energy industry after graduation, and as the nuclear field is on the rise due to its safety and high energy production capabilities, this experience will be invaluable.
In what ways did your coursework or other experiences at Auburn prepare you for your internships? Are there specific topics or skills you learned from classes that you put into practice on the job?
I think the biggest piece of coursework from Auburn that prepared me for this position was a research project I completed over my last Summer semester. A lot of my work in this co-op dealt with researching plant components, national operating experience, or technical processes. Knowing how to research and steps to take to get better at it allowed me to flourish in this role.
On the flip side, I actually was not able to use a large amount of technical knowledge from Chemical Engineering classes. I worked in the Civil/Mechanical design group, so I had to start from scratch with several concepts and techniques. However, this ended up being an amazing experience and allowed me to grow my tool belt of skills from just Chemical Engineering knowledge to now include some Mechanical expertise.
Do you have any advice for other students looking for internships like yours?
Be uncomfortable, and pursue something, even if you may not think it’s exactly what you want. I spent several semesters pursuing oil and gas companies, since I thought that was what I wanted to do, but I was encouraged to look at working for a nuclear company as well. It turned out to be an amazing experience, and a Southern Nuclear is a company that I could see myself working for in years to come.