University of California, Santa Barbara
AC-5: Immersive Experience

We would like to discuss two sustainability-focused immersive program(s) that we offer through:
1. The Center for Energy Efficient Materials (CEEM) &
2. The Bren School of Environmental Science & Management

#1
The Center for Energy Efficient Materials (CEEM) at the University of California, Santa Barbara, offers undergraduate students the opportunity to work on cutting-edge original research under the guidance of a graduate student mentor and faculty adviser. As CEEM interns, UCSB undergraduates work to develop innovative solutions to current and future clean energy challenges, focusing on four key areas: photovoltaics, thermoelectrics, solid-state lighting, and energy storage.

During the academic year, student interns work approximately 100 hours per quarter, and during the summer, the internship is a full time commitment and immersive experience. In addition to research experience, the program provides opportunities for professional development through workshops and research seminars.

Specific projects that students have been involved in include investigating performance degradation in polymer solar cells, synthesizing novel platinum-carbon composites for fuel cell catalysts, and studying the optimal geometry for maximum absorption in thin-film solar cells.

More information about the Center for Energy Efficient Materials internship can be found here: http://ceem.ucsb.edu/programs/ugrad-research

#2
The Bren Career Development program supports students in pursuing internships in their field of study. Many of these internships contribute to sustainability and are either offered by the university, financially supported through the university, or listed by a university partner. Many of these internships are the main focus for Bren Masters students during the summer between their first and second years of school. Listed below are some examples of internships that students have been involved in:

Graduate Internship with Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute | San Francisco, CA
http://www.c2ccertified.org/about/what_is_cradle_to_cradle
The student received funding from the Bren School's Summer Internship Fellowship to work over the summer of 2012 with Cradle to Cradle (C2C) to evaluate scientific criteria for C2C certification program and assist with project management.

Sustainable Supply Chain Research Intern with the UCSB Purchasing Dept. | Santa Barbara, CA
http://www2.bren.ucsb.edu/~smartsource/
http://www.sustainability.ucsb.edu/purchasing-actions/
In 2012, multiple students spent the summer interning with the UCSB Purchasing Department as part of their Bren School master's thesis Group Project, which involved performing a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to analyze the current state of purchasing and to target high environmental impact areas and administer a survey to examine purchasing behavior. They used this LCA and the survey results to create a framework and deliver specific recommendations for integrating sustainability into campus purchasing and included their recommendations in the 2013 Waste Diversion Plan for UCSB and the CA Higher Education Sustainability Conference.

Project Management Intern, Green Construction with Allen Associates | Santa Barbara, CA
http://www.dennisallenassociates.com/
This past summer (2013), a Bren School student interned with Allen Associates, a local leader in green building and current Bren School Corporate Partner. His main tasks were to help implement CA Green Building Codes into Allen Associates' procedures to ease compliance for project managers, as well as to research cutting-edge green practices and materials.

Corporate Responsibility Intern with Deckers Outdoor Corporation | Goleta, CA
http://www.deckers.com/company/corporate-responsibility/environment
As a Corporate Responsibility Intern with Bren School Corporate Partner Deckers Outdoor Corporation, this student spent the majority of her time working on global warming and supply chain analysis for a supply chain of sheepskin leather, while also devoting a fair amount of her internship to drafting corporate sustainability reports and helping with other tasks of the corporate social responsibility department.

Additionally, one of the Bren Group Projects focused on the UCSB Water Action Plan (http://www2.bren.ucsb.edu/~wateraction/), which received a fair amount of attention from UCSB and the UC system as a whole for its efforts to highlight best practices in going forward with water conservation efforts. Students spent their summer internships in 2012 working on this project.

General information about Bren Career Development internships can be found at:
http://www.bren.ucsb.edu/career/internships.html

Information about the Bren Career Development internships can also be found at:
http://www.sustainability.ucsb.edu/brencareerdevelopment/