The scope of my work during this internship was to configure measures in the client’s eTRM and help with measures. Also, I worked on help documentation for the client’s engineering solutions program.
What were your key roles & responsibilities, and how did you work towards achieving them?
My key responsibilities were creating measures for the client’s eTRM and creating help documentation for the client’s Engineering Solutions program. I worked towards achieving these goals by working on the measures that I was assigned and taking the time to understand the algorithms I needed to write. Also, I would split up the day so that I could do some measures and work on creating the help documentation on the same day. This made it so that there would not be one project that I am leaving behind while working on the other one.
Among your many tasks, what is the one that you liked working on the most?
I liked configuring the algorithm for the measures as it allowed me to learn more about the energy savings formulas that are used.
What was the biggest challenge you came across, and how did you overcome it?
The biggest challenge that I came across was understanding the workflow of the client’s engineering solutions program. I was able to overcome this by going through the workflow state by state and writing down any questions I had during this. Then, I asked my mentor, these questions, and he explained the reasoning behind the decisions made.
What new skillsets and/or knowledge did you gain during your time with ANB?
I learned about the different terms that are used in energy efficiency calculations, such as EFLH, which stands for equivalent full load hours. Also, I learned how to make a more efficient algorithm that uses fewer resources.
What do you feel are the highlights of working at a ‘smaller’ tech company?
Working at a smaller tech company allowed me to see more of the whole process and be involved in different steps of the process versus a bigger company where I would only be able to work on a very specialized part of the process.
What are the key takeaways from your exposure to the energy efficiency industry?
Energy efficiency is an important aspect of how homes and businesses are run, especially for businesses, as they tend to use more energy than homes. Increasing the energy efficiency of homes and businesses will help fight the climate change that is occurring and will help to create a healthier environment for the future.
How did you find our company culture and the support you received from your colleagues?
The support that I received from the company was amazing; I was able to understand all of the tasks given to me because of the clear explanations given to me by all of my colleagues. Due to the great explanations given to me, I was able to hit the ground running during my internship and hit a minimal amount of speed bumps along the way.
How easy/challenging was it to collaborate remotely with COVID-19 restrictions in place?
Working at the Houston office for the first two and a half weeks of my internship helped me to get closer to the other interns and my colleagues that worked at the Houston office. This helped me to feel more comfortable interacting with everyone on the team and encouraged me to reach out to the team when I needed help.
How much did the internship match your expectations?
This internship matched my expectations a lot; I expected to be doing important work from the beginning and to be challenging myself throughout the internship. The icebreaker project that we did was something that would then immediately be used by the team, and I was given challenging tasks to do throughout the internship.
How much do you feel your internship will help you in your career going forward?
I feel that my internship will be very helpful going forward as I learned about working as part of a team and collaborating with others to meet deadlines. It also taught me how to be efficient with my communication and to help out other people when working in a team.
