Two Illinois Tech Students Apply Learning in Summer Internship at Exelon's Dresden Generating Station

A summer internship for Illinois Tech Information Management and Technology (ITM) students, Ian Hernandez and Marika Jasinski, provided a chance for them to learn firsthand how a full-scale nuclear power plant tracks and manages engineer schedules. Under the supervision of Daniel Tomal, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor, Industrial Technology and Management, the students were given a timeframe of approximately ten weeks to develop and propose a more efficient solution for Dresden’s current workload management system.

During their internship the students worked on an enhancement to the existing design engineering scheduling system for Dresden’s Design Engineering department. The task involved using Microsoft Excel to create a more efficient system for the engineers. Their goal was to improve the efficiency of the scheduling system by finding a more automated process for creating updates. The solution was built upon applying Microsoft Excel’s powerful query features. “The internship was a great experience. We learned a lot and were able to contribute to the company as well,” stated Marika. We are grateful for the experience,” added Ian.

Exelon and Dresden managers agree that working with Illinois Tech brings many benefits to both the company and the students. Dr Tomal has overseen several summer internship projects with Exelon, and plans to continue the internship project next summer.