Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE - In every college at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, students are afforded a number of internship, co-op and service learning experiences to broaden their understanding of the opportunities and challenges in their chosen career fields. Most departments continually review those opportunities to evaluate how students are faring and how departments can enlarge and improve those experiences.

At its recent Advisory Council meeting, the department of industrial studies invited three students to present an overview of their recent internship experiences. The students supplied background about the companies they served, described their roles and duties and discussed how their courses at UWP prepared them for work in the field.

Jay Barrientes, a senior majoring in building construction management, spent the summer of 2006 working for J.P. Cullen and Sons Inc. as an estimator in its Milwaukee office. He learned of the internship through the UWPioneer Career Network, a web resume database program created to assist students to conduct job searches and look for internship/co-op and summer employment. As an estimator, Barrientes said he spent a lot of time on the phone, which made him realize the importance of communication skills. He also learned more about reading plans and doing take offs in demolition and concrete, as he gradually learned to set general conditions for a project.

"On one job, I was asked to meet numerous subcontractors and give job walks to explain the full scope of the work. That was a very good experience," he said. He also found the time he spent with the site engineer instructive, as he experienced her daily activities. Of the 16 interns who worked at the company over the summer, Barrientes was one of three invited back to interview for regular employment. Barrientes is from Ixonia.

Representing the manufacturing technology management field was Phil Kubichka, who had the opportunity to work at Stainless Foundry & Engineering, Inc. in Milwaukee. His main project, he explained, was to organize the technical library so staff could more easily and quickly access information they need. However, Kubichka said he worked on a number of other projects including heat and treat studies, an alloy atlas, a resource he put together called Foundry 101 for less skilled workers, and a valve stream map, to name a few.

"I wanted an understanding of this niche market and to experience many areas of responsibility," he explained. "And I wanted to find out how my education would relate to my chosen career." During the question and answer session, Kubichka told the assembled faculty and industry members that he felt well-prepared for his entrance into the workforce. Kubichka is from Chilton.

The final presenter was Adam Steiner, who is majoring in occupational safety management. Steiner spent time at Cummins Emission Solutions in Mineral Point from May to July 2006. His areas of responsibility included DuPont STOP(tm), safety and environmental auditing, tracking hazardous waste, job safety analysis and maintaining safety checklists for equipment.

Steiner said one of the most important insights he gained from the experience was the importance of working well in teams and using other staff as resources in promoting and managing safety.

"I'm still learning a lot, but one of the most important lessons I took from this experience is to look for help - from safety supervisors, other supervisors and the other employees," he said. Steiner is from Potosi.

Charlie Knox is a professor of industrial studies and attended the Advisory Council meeting and heard the presentations.

"This is important for the faculty. It's critical for us to receive feedback from students regarding their preparation for internship experiences because we need to keep up with changing technologies, new materials and understand when industries change focus. It reminds us that our target is moving. That's also the reason we visit students at their internships on site. We want to be a resource for them and to meet with supervisors and industry experts to get their perspectives," he said.

According to Dick Klawiter, chair of industrial studies, the Advisory Council plays an important role in maintaining the high quality program of the department. The group meets once per semester at the UWP campus and meetings regularly feature business and industry updates, discussion of employment trends and special topics and issues.

Anyone interested in learning more about the UWP Department of Industrial Studies programs or internships may contact Klawiter at (608) 342-1246 orklawiter@uwplatt.edu

Contact: Dick Klawiter, chair, UWP Department of Industrial Studies, (608) 342-1246, klawiter@uwplatt.edu Prepared by: Evelyn Martens, UWP Public Relations, (608) 342-1194,martense@uwplatt.edu