The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) is presently recruiting engineering students to be a part of our student development program. The program's goal is to provide meaningful engineering experience while the student is still enrolled in school and a full time position once the student graduates. Most students work during the summer months with opportunities to work during school if they choose to do so. Once accepted into the program, students are required to complete three rotations in different engineering workgroups. These rotational opportunities are usually done during successive summer breaks and are considered one of the keystone strengths of our program. Work locations are generally in the Portland/Vancouver area with some opportunities in the greater Washington/Oregon region. BPA is a power system utility with a heavy emphasis on power, control systems, communication systems, simulation modeling and design. We are primarily recruiting students majoring in electrical engineering; however we do have a few positions available in mechanical engineering, civil engineering, and construction engineering management. As you may know, in the past we have successfully recruited and hired a significant number of University of Washington graduates in all engineering disciplines. Some of these students are still in our student program, and the rest are in vital roles as engineers at BPA.
This program has been very successful in attracting high caliber students that are seeking on-the-job engineering experience in a highly technical organization. Students who are successful in the student program may be offered permanent positions at BPA once they graduate. To date, all of the students in our program have been offered positions upon graduation. Admission into the program is competitive and we target students with good grades (3.0 GPA or higher, some lower are considered) in their sophomore or junior years (some exceptional freshmen will be considered) who have been admitted into an accredited engineering program. Seniors that are going onto Graduate School are also strongly considered. We offer limited tuition assistance and the opportunity to gain experience in an engineering environment, learning and working closely with professional engineers. We have over 30 students in our program now and will begin looking for approximately 12 additional qualified and interested engineering students in January and February, 2012 for employment in May/June, 2012. We will need students that are interested in this opportunity to apply as soon as possible, but no later than February 1st, 2012.
Information about BPA and our company profile can be found at www.bpa.gov. Information about the BPA student program and how to apply can be found at www.jobs.bpa.gov/Just_For_Students/StudentPrograms.cfm. Anything you can do to get this information to your students would be greatly appreciated. If you, or the students, have any questions please telephone me at 360-619-6777 or E-mail John Haner at jmhaner@bpa.gov.
