| Young professionals


level. The goal was to record a minimum of 5 milligrams per liter during generation at the regulatory monitor located half a mile below the dam.


While the focus of the students’ efforts was on


problem solving, their experience was far broader. A comprehensive programme offered career services support through workshops on public speaking, interviewing, and resume building. At the end of a full week, the teams presented their work to an industry judging panel. They were judged based on organisation and completeness, comprehension, quality, originality and innovation, presentation and documentation, and engineering teamwork. The programme was an enormous success with some of the students being offered internships at the end. It was an eye-opening and rewarding experience for the students, their academic advisors, and the industry members that participated.


Replication The Foundation knew it was on to something so


in 2019, we replicated the programme bringing eleven students from the University of Washington, Walla Walla Community College, Washington State University, and Portland State University to Rocky Reach Dam in Washington state for an intense week of hands-on problem-solving. This opportunity offered students practice with real-life business and engineering skills, hone individual talents and apply knowledge to solve a pressing need in the river systems. And this coming summer, with the support of the US Bureau of Reclamation, we are hosting another Think Tank at Grand Coulee Dam. Students will be given a unique opportunity to work on one of the largest hydropower facilities in the US. Looking ahead, the Hydropower Foundation will continue to provide these opportunities for students to learn firsthand the exciting opportunities that exist within the hydro world. We have plans to provide a unique experience at the NHA Clean Currents conference in 2023. We also are investigating the possibility of brining the programme directly to the university campus and trade schools and we are in discussion with several schools. The advantage is that more students can be exposed to industry. Tied with off campus tours of nearby hydro sites, the programme will offer an enriched experience for the students and professors. While a great deal of the focus has been at the engineering school level, we also are looking to build an interdisciplinary approach that will bring the


environmental sciences and management schools. Because the challenge of work force issues is


so exceptionally large, it remains one of the major priorities of the Foundation. We have expanded it to also include the significant challenge of bringing more diversity and inclusion to the hydro industry. Our university outreach includes historically black colleges. And we are working to find other ways to attract more people of colour and build more opportunities for women within the hydropower industry. Focusing on the workforce challenge is not all that we do. Our mission is to support the hydropower community and help increase its contributions to society and the environment. To that end, we are facilitating the update of the DOE Hydropower Vision report and are looking to initiate more discussion on hydropower’s role as a mitigator in a climate constrained world, particularly from the perspective of water management. We are supported through industry sponsorships, federal grants, fundraising events, and memberships. For more information about the Foundation and our work, check us out at hydrofoundation.org. We hope to see you at our next event. ●


Author info Linda Church Ciocci is the part-time Executive Director of the Hydropower Foundation. She assumed this role when she stepped down from her CEO position at the National Hydropower Association, an organisation she steered for 30 years. Now, in semi-retirement, she focuses on programmes that helps meet the challenges of the hydropower industry, and is Principal in her own consulting firm, Ciocci Strategies LLC.


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