HVAC was the subject of 13 internships completed by College of the Desert (COD) students throughout the last academic year.
COD partnered with the JW Marriott in Palm Desert, the Coachella Valley Water District, and Carl’s Jr./CLK to place interns from its Air Conditioning/HVAC program.
The majority of the internships were in facilities maintenance, HVAC installation and repair, environmental controls technology, and solar energy. One of the interns had the opportunity to work in architecture/green building. Right Away AC and Hot Purple Energy hosted residential HVAC and solar monitoring interns, respectively.
Ulysses, COD Student Intern.
Ulysses, a COD student who interned at Carl’s Jr., said the internship helped sharpen his skills on commercial equipment.
“I have learned much more as far as dealing with real life situations that occur with HVACR equipment at many of their buildings,” Ulysses said. “Every day, I am out in the field running into new problems. This has been very beneficial since day one; it has given me the opportunity to get hands on practice in real life situations that you do not pick up in class.”
Upon the completion of his internship, Ulysses was offered a full-time job working as an HVAC Maintenance and Repair Technician with CLK, Carl’s Jr.
The internships were facilitated through a partnership with Energize Colleges, a program of Strategic Energy Innovations (SEI) that prepares students for energy-related careers. Launched in 2016, SEI supports colleges and universities in California to advance energy and sustainability education and workforce development through experiential learning.
The relationships expand the opportunities available to students, said Jon Caffery, Director of the TAACCCT Grant and Energize Colleges at College of the Desert.
“The partnership with SEI has benefited both College of the Desert. and the goals of SEI and the Energize Colleges grant,” Caffery said. “SEI has assisted with many aspects of our energy programs and continues to offer support in other areas like data collection, curriculum materials, and networking. Overall our collaboration has improved sustainability efforts and energy efficiency awareness in the state.”
Bolstered by a successful program over the last school year, Caffery said he is looking to expand the program even more in the coming year.
“Next year, we are looking to continue the HVAC and facilities maintenance internships and also offer internship opportunities to our architecture, building inspection, and green building students,” he said.
