Paul Kokes and Kayla Koval, two Engineering students at Fort Lewis College in Durango, CO, have joined the Solar Barn Raising team as interns for the summer. They both wanted to apply their engineering knowledge and gain experience in the renewable energy sector locally. Paul and Kayla will be entering their senior year at Fort Lewis in Fall 2020, with plans to graduate in 2021 with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering.
Solar Barn Raising has offered summer internships to Fort Lewis Engineering students for several years, and both of our current staff engineers, Garrett Lapp and Casey Worthington, were former interns from this program. Dr. Laurie Williams, Chair and Professor in the Physics & Engineering Department, has partnered with SBR to provide interested student candidates for these positions each summer.
Laurie had this to say about the Fort Lewis College partnership with Solar Barn Raising:
"The Fort Lewis College department of Physics and Engineering has partnered with Solar Barn Raising over the past 5 summers on summer internships. Through relevant engagement, large social challenges, and as stakeholders in their communities, these future engineers experience first-hand real-world problems. With a focus on education, training, and empowerment, we believe this partnership between Solar Barn Raising and FLC engineering students provide them with the skills they need to step into successful careers in renewable energy development, as well as strengthen important community connections."
Kayla has focused primarily on learning about heat pumps and heat pump design in AutoCAD, and has helped out on several solar installations. Paul has focused on AutoCAD drawings for solar electrical one-line diagrams and site plans, and joined other staff and volunteers for most of our solar installations. They have both contributed a lot to the team's efforts in their first month! When we asked Kayla to share with us why she joined the team, she said the following:
"The reason I joined SBR is to better understand the design and installation processes of photovoltaic systems. I also want to be a part of the movement toward emission-free homes!"
See more about all of SBR's staff, including our summer interns, here.
Solar Barn Raising: Professional Designed, Community EmPOWERed, and Education Driven.