Interns, Economy, and Startups: The NREL Impact

In this week’s episode, our hosts dive into NREL’S impact, featuring: 

• NREL’s research interns and how they’re not only gaining valuable experience but making tangible contributions to the clean energy transition. This year alone, NREL employed more than 500 interns both on-site and remote. Listen to what summer 2024 intern Amanda Behmer has to say about her experiences working on organic photovoltaic devices! 
• The national and local economic impacts of NREL in the 2023 fiscal year. With an economic contribution of $1.9 billion nationwide, learn about how NREL is supporting the employment of more than 1,000 people nationwide both directly and indirectly.
• Key takeaways from Camp Cleantech, NREL’s opportunity for startups in the clean energy field to meet with industry leaders for three days of dynamic workshops, networking, and one-on-one coaching. The workshops covered topics from partnering with communities on clean energy projects, to leveraging artificial intelligence for marketing success.  

This episode was hosted by Kerrin Jeromin and Taylor Mankle, written and produced by Allison Montroy and Kaitlyn Stottler, and edited by James Wilcox, Joe DelNero, and Brittany Falch. Graphics are by Brittnee Gayet. Our title music is written and performed by Ted Vaca and episode music by Chuck Kurnik, Jim Riley, and Mark Sanseverino of Drift BC. Transforming Energy: The NREL Podcast is created by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado. We express our gratitude and acknowledge that the land we are on is the traditional and ancestral homelands of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Ute peoples. Email us at podcast@nrel.gov. Follow NREL on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Threads, and Facebook.

Transcript

[intro music, fades]     

Kerrin: Welcome to Transforming Energy: The NREL Podcast, brought to you by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory. We’re highlighting the latest in clean energy research and innovations happening at the lab. It’s Wednesday, September 18. I’m Kerrin Jeromin.   

Taylor: And I’m Taylor Mankle. 

Kerrin: Taylor, we normally talk about NREL’s research, which of course, we all love, but we have really a fun episode about NREL’s impact today. It’s more people-focused.   

Taylor: Yes, we’re highlighting the next generation of scientists at NREL, the lab’s impressive financial contributions, and an event that is building a network for startups.    

[music]  

Taylor: Fall is only a few days away on the calendar, and it’s bittersweet. Summer at NREL is always exciting because it is peak internship season! Each year, we welcome hundreds of interns from across the country to the lab – virtually and in person.  

Kerrin: And this year, we had more than 500 interns at NREL. These interns come from all levels of academia, from undergraduates to doctoral researchers and from all over the world too. Having them join us on campus is always fun. They are excited to be here and really, it’s just infectious!   

Taylor: Absolutely. And NREL’s interns really get hands on experience. It’s not, like you see in movies, running to get coffee or answering someone’s calls. NREL interns are in the lab. They are working on technologies that have real impacts.   

Kerrin: As one example, meet Amanda Behmer, a graduate of Arapaho Community College in Colorado. Behmer was an intern at the lab this summer and worked on solar technology. She was creating and testing organic photovoltaic devices. She talks about that hands-on approach and the excitement of creating something at NREL.   

Amanda: Being able to measure the devices later and realizing that I created a functioning photovoltaic device and a functioning solar cell, was just kind of a surreal experience all the time. My previous research I hadn’t made something so tangible before. So tangibly making these experimental devices that actually worked was so exciting all the time.   

Taylor: That’s amazing, you can really hear the excitement there. We could not do our work at the lab without interns. They are such an important part of NREL. And aside from the work in the lab and, of course, being paid for all their hard work, NREL’s graduate internship program coordinator Danelle Wilder says participants are building lifelong connections.   

Danelle: The network you get is huge too, right. So you meet other interns, your mentor, your managers, and you expand your network.   

Kerrin: Networking is such a valuable skill for professional growth, and NREL is absolutely supporting its interns in making connections. Beyond that, there’s also excitement around working on something that’s impactful. 

Taylor: It’s also important that we keep talented, smart interns interested in renewable energy research and move us toward a better energy future. Behmer shared about why becoming invested in renewable energy is important to her.    

Amanda: Our future is clean energy. Our future is sustainability. And it’s so important to not only learn about these technologies but become invested in the success of the renewable energy sector and innovations we’re making. It’s really easy to be in the lab every day and working on this technology but actually seeing that implemented on a large scale one day and working toward a more sustainable future is something that I hope everybody can get excited about.   

Kerrin: Well I’m certainly excited about it, and it’s so great to hear directly from our interns.    

Taylor: Right? They’re so ready to jump in for the future of our planet. They make me feel more hopeful for our clean energy transition. 

Kerrin: And for any students or recent grads listening to this episode and thinking of applying for an NREL internship, you can find more info all about our internship offerings at nrel.gov.   

[music]    

 Kerrin: This next story is all about big numbers and big impact. Specifically, NREL’s economic impact. Meaning the financial effect that NREL has on the county, state, and nation’s economy. So we’re going to mention fiscal year here a lot—and when we say that we’re talking about our financial calendar year, which runs Oct. 1 to Sept. 30, not the calendar year you think of starting in January.   

 Taylor: Right, now get this—NREL had a 1.9 billion dollar, that’s billion with a B, impact across the country in fiscal year 2023.  

Kerrin: As we talk about NREL’s impact throughout this episode, these numbers really lay it out. Every state in the nation felt an impact from direct or indirect spending connected to NREL.    

Taylor: Really putting the national in National Renewable Energy Laboratory. And while every state felt NREL’s economic impact, the largest was felt right here in Colorado. NREL’s contribution to the Colorado economy reached $1.3 billion last fiscal year.   

Kerrin: And beyond Colorado, the other states that felt the largest economic impact from work connected to NREL were California, Virginia, Texas, and Minnesota. Did you make the list? In the last fiscal year NREL employed more than 3,000 full-time, part-time, and postdoctoral employees and directly employed or supported more than 8,200 jobs nationwide.   

Taylor: Wow, we are really growing, Kerrin. And so is our impact! Kerrin and I are recording at our beautiful South Table Mountain Campus, which is located in Jefferson County – as is our Flatirons campus. And Jefferson County alone saw $889 million in NREL economic impact.    

Kerrin: So we’re making an impression nationwide, state-wide, and really all the way down to county-level. And we of course certainly hope we’re having an impact on the local level as you listen and learn about all the work we’re doing at NREL. 

Taylor: A special thanks to the University of Colorado Boulder’s Leeds School of Business for performing this economic study. 

[music]  

Kerrin: Alright Taylor, did you ever go to a summer camp as a kid?     

Taylor: You know, while I wasn’t a camp kid growing up, I always loved the idea of having a place to get out of your comfort zone, connect with other kids, learn new skills, and not to mention most of them happen in the great outdoors. But Kerrin, how does this connect to NREL’s impact? 

Kerrin: Ugh, Taylor I was really hoping to hear some fun summer story from you.  

Taylor: I know. Wish I could have.  

Kerrin: Yeah, okay well listen to this summer experience. It’s called Camp Cleantech. It’s a lot like summer camp—but without the camping. Camp Cleantech, which was hosted by NREL and sponsored by Wells Fargo, brought together 120 leaders of climate-tech startups and experts from NREL’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center Channel Partner network. The network is made up of startup accelerators, incubators, and universities and more throughout across the country.    

Taylor: Those experts hosted 21 workshops over the course of the camp. The workshops covered a lot of topics, from building relationships with utilities to partnering with communities on clean energy projects, to leveraging artificial intelligence for marketing success.    

Kerrin: The campers—which is a fun way to think of startup CEOs and leaders – weren’t just listening to lectures. Most of the sessions were discussions with breakout groups and activities. The idea was not just to talk to startups but to actually engage with them to develop skills for success.   

Taylor: And there were opportunities to get one-on-one coaching on presenting and a mock venture capital pitch.  

Kerrin: We’re enjoying this “camp” thing, but it sounds like it was a valuable event for companies that could really make a difference and move us toward a cleaner, greener future.   

Taylor: Totally. The support and connections made during the event could help cleantech and climate tech leaders navigate and overcome the complexities of startup life!     

Kerrin: Right, it’s not just publications and experiments, it’s also the collaboration that’s going to help us transform our energy future.   

[music]  

Taylor: This was such an inspiring episode, Kerrin. I love hearing about how NREL is working to transform energy in a bunch of different ways.   

Kerrin: Absolutely. I mean, as fun and very important as all the research is that goes on at the lab, it’s nice to step back and look at other ways NREL is making an impact.      

Taylor: Most definitely.   

Kerrin: Alright, and with that, that’s going to do it for us. Thanks so much for listening to this week’s episode of Transforming Energy: The NREL Podcast. If you like the show, be sure to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or send us an email at podcast@nrel.gov. Thanks so much, we’ll see you again in two weeks with more news from the lab.   

[music]  

Taylor: This episode was adapted from NREL news articles from August and September 2024 written by Madelyn Weirich, Wayne Hicks, and Jeffrey Wolf. Our theme music is written and performed by Ted Vaca and episode music by Chuck Kurnik, Jim Riley, and Mark Sanseverino, of Drift B-C. This podcast is produced by NREL’s Communications Office and recorded at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado. We express our gratitude and acknowledge that the land we are on is the traditional and ancestral homelands of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Ute peoples. We recognize and pay respect to the Indigenous peoples from our past, present, and future, and are grateful to those who have been and continue to be stewards of this land.