ASHRAE Insights

 WISE intern Anatoliy A. Zeltser, Student Member ASHRAE, stands on the steps of the U.S. Capitol.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—While a mechanical engineering student at Kansas State University, Sheila Hayter spent a summer in Washington, D.C., learning how science, engineering and technology impact the political process.

Hayter said the experiences she gained during her internship, sponsored by ASHRAE under the Washington Internships for Students of Engineering (WISE) program, benefit her in working with federal agencies and policy in her current job at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Now other student members can receive the same opportunity. ASHRAE is again sponsoring an intern through WISE. This year, Anatoliy A. Zeltser, a student member who is majoring in architectural engineering at Kansas State University, was selected. He was born in Vinnitsa, Ukraine (Russia at that time), and moved to Kansas at age 6 in 1992.

“The WISE internship is an honor and privilege,” he said. “I am thrilled to have the ability not only to contribute to ASHRAE as well as the experience I gain from this internship.”

“WISE gives students a better understanding of how policy is developed, how the pieces fit together, the personalities involved, and how engineering plays a role in the process,” said Hayter. “ASHRAE’s sponsorship also demonstrates to the WISE students how ASHRAE is involved with and influences policy-making activities.”

Founded in 1980 through the collaborative efforts of several professional engineering societies, WISE seeks to groom future leaders of the engineering profession who are aware of and can contribute to the important intersections of technology and public policy.

Student members interested in applying can do so at www.wise-intern.org.