b'Directors MessageIt has been a privilege to lead INLs University Partnerships and Education Program in 2019. It has been another year of great accomplishments made possible by a terrific team. It is our job to expand the labs resources, widen its impact in a relevant manner and bring in great talent. There is a lot to be proud of, and while this report offers an overview of what happened this past year, there are many, many more great stories to tell.With the establishment of the National Reactor Innovation Center, INL is poised to enter a new era of research and opportunity. We are standing on the shoulders of giants hereresearchers like Russell L. Heath and Deslonde de Boisblanc, for whom two of our distinguished postdoctoral Michelle Thiel Bingham, MBA, CCPprograms are named, but also all the INL researchers who have provided University Partnerships director mentorship for decades. Their expertise and generosity have allowed University Partnerships to grow and thrive, and they have cleared the path for a new generation that is as talented and tenacious as anyone could hope for.INLs business volume and hiring continued to grow in 2019, and University Partnerships played a key role, handling 40% of the labs overall hiring. We saw an overall increase in all programs in 2019: Interns (27%), joint appointments (24%) and postdoctoral researchers (26%). As we have committed to doubling the number of women and people of color at INL, our 2019 numbers show tremendous progress. Among newly hired BEA-funded interns, 28.32% were female, 31.90% were people of color, 1.43% were veterans and 4.66% were people with disabilities.INL is. Across the lab, safety comes first. Bearing this in mind, University Partnerships piloted the student version of the Laboratory Operations Supervisor Academy (LOSA) to instill Safe Conduct of Research Principles imagination in INL interns, many of whom we expectand hopeto become future employees. The program is designed for the students to absorb NATIONAL REACTOR the paramount importance of safety and share the lessons with their INNOVATION CENTER counterparts at their universities.One highlight of 2019 was INL earning a spot in the top five of Vault.coms 2020 Best Energy Internships. INL was the only newcomer to the innovation list and joined the company of Exelon and FirstEnergy, multibillion-dollar companies. Vaults rankings and ratings are regularly cited by major NAMED 2020 BESTmedia such as the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fortune and Money. ENERGY INTERNSHIPSTo compile their rankings, Vault surveyed nearly 14,000 current and BY VAULT.COM former interns from more than 130 internship programs. Other external recognition included funding from the DOE Office of Science for diversity learning outreach and from the Korean Nuclear International Cooperation Foundation for INL interns from the Republic of Korea.We welcome all new ideas that will strengthen the partnerships between LABORATORY OPERATIONS INL and universities. From high school to career, our lab is about SUPERVISOR ACADEMY imagination, innovation and learning.i |University Partnerships'