ASME Student Members Complete WISE Internship Program

NEW YORK, Sept. 1, 2011 – Two ASME student members completing a prestigious internship program in Washington, D.C., have submitted papers on innovative technology development and solar energy.

Julian Leland of Swarthmore College (Pa.) and Maxwell Micali of Yale University (New Haven, Conn.) were selected from a nationwide competition to participate in the 2011 Washington Internships for Students of Engineering (WISE) program. Leland and Micali wrote “Development From the Bottom of the Pyramid: An Analysis of the Development Innovation Ventures Program” and “Life Cycle Considerations of Solar Energy Technologies,” respectively.

Presented to public policy officials on Capitol Hill, the papers capped a nine-week summer internship for Leland and Micali, during which the students collaborated with government policymakers and learned about the interaction of technology and the public policy process.

Leland’s paper, entitled “Development From the Bottom of the Pyramid,” outlines a plan to improve the Development Innovation Ventures (DIV) program at the U.S. Agency for International Development. Through the DIV, USAID aims to work with partners to create innovative scalable solutions to core development challenges.  In the paper, Leland encourages DIV to focus on small-scale funding programs, which according to the author will allow innovative ideas to advance to the proof-of-concept or pilot stage.

Leland is entering his senior year at Swarthmore, where he is pursuing a major in engineering and minor in public policy.  He also serves as president of the ASME student chapter at the college.

“Life Cycle Considerations of Solar Energy Technologies,” the title of Micali’s paper,   makes a case for the increased use of concentrated solar power, which, he explains, is more efficient than solar photovoltaic technologies.  Micali is majoring in mechanical engineering and is in his senior year at Yale. He is the founder and co-president of the ASME student section at the university. His interests include materials science and energy technology.

The WISE program, founded in 1980 through a collaboration of professional engineering societies including ASME, aims to educate future leaders of the engineering profession on the public policy process and to encourage technical input in legislative and regulatory decision making.

About ASME ASME helps the global engineering community develop solutions to real world challenges. Founded in 1880 as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, ASME is a not-for-profit professional organization that enables collaboration, knowledge sharing and skill development across all engineering disciplines, while promoting the vital role of the engineer in society. ASME codes and standards, publications, conferences, continuing education and professional development programs provide a foundation for advancing technical knowledge and a safer world.