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by Melissa Eblen
Internship programs and research experiences dominate the summer agendas of many ambitious IT students. Unfortunately, many undergraduates find that an internship means three months of menial office labor, and a research experience is defined as doing the grunt work for researchers. This is not the case for the eight students every summer who participate in the Minnesota Technical Assistance Program (MnTAP). Last summer alone the eight MnTAP interns each working at a different Minnesota company saved their employers a projected $1,353,749!!! Yes, that's correct, over one million dollars in savings thanks to the work of eight individual students.
What is MnTAP?
The Minnesota Technical Assistance Program, founded in 1985, helps businesses prevent pollution and better manage waste. The program, housed in the Gateway Center, is part of the University of Minnesota, and it is funded by a grant from the Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance. Approximately ten full-time professional staff with backgrounds in science and engineering and work experience in industry provide free technical assistance to businesses hoping to reduce costs by reducing waste.
The intern program is an extension of MnTAP's mission to reduce and manage waste. Each summer, interns are hired and paid to work with various Minnesota companies, researching how to reduce waste within the companies. At the end of the three month internship, students suggest alterations in manufacturing processes that will allow the companies to save on disposal and raw material costs, reduce waste, and decrease the regulatory compliance burden.
Project for Pillsbury
Nancy Mahagnoul, a chemical engineering major, spent her summer trying to reduce wastewater output at Pillsbury Bakeries and Foodservice in Chanhassen, Minnesota. She was not sure what to expect from the internship. "At first, I was very timid -- afraid to make a mistake or talk to people I didn't know. I finally realized that the project would not be successful if I didn't involve anyone else. With only three months to make a difference, I had to work fast."
The first step Mahagnoul took was to quantify the water used by each piece of equipment in the plant. This allowed her to identify where the most water consumption was occurring, in addition to comparing the actual water consumption to the manufacturer's specifications quoted for particular pieces of machinery.
Mahagnoul gives an example of the types of problems she encountered. "I found that a pan washer was using 2.6 GPM [gallons per minute] while the manufacturer said it should be using 1.6 GPM. Maintenance staff and I located a hidden rinse line that was damaged. That part was replaced, and I observed the pan washer to use only 1.0 GPM. I didn't think that a savings of 1.6 GPM sounded like very much, but in a 22.5 hour production day, this [savings] amounted to 2,100 gallons per day!"
At the end of the summer, Mahagnoul compiled all of her work in a report which she presented to the managers at Pillsbury. The report included the results of her findings as well as a guide to continuing waste reduction efforts. Mahagnoul's work has led Pillsbury to reduce its annual wastewater output by over 1.8 million gallons!
Finding Solutions for Fiberglas Fabricators
Fiberglas Fabricators, a small company in Le Center, MN which produces fiberglass structures for the utility, electrical, and telecommunications industries, benefited from the hard work of Kevin Sandstrom. Sandstrom's task was to find ways to reduce the waste generated in the manufacture of fiberglass boxes, namely how to avoid spraying fiberglass past the molds and onto the floor. Alternatives included either careful training of the fiberglass gun operators or installing robotics to do the spraying.
"My job was to study the rate of waste production, the feasibility and savings of re-training the operators, to research the cost and waste savings of employing robotics, and to investigate the grinding and recycling of the fiberglass scraps into polymer concrete," explains Sandstrom.
With so much resting on his shoulders, Sandstrom set to work. "The work was very dirty and very hands-on, and I had to start working very early each morning, but I really enjoyed it just the same."
Sandstrom became an integral part of the company through his three months on the job. "The people I met at FibFab are a great bunch of guys, as well as Deb McKinley and Randy Cook of MnTAP. Being able to work with these people and become friends with all of them was the best part of this job. I worked with a wide variety of people at FibFab, including the president and the plant operator, so I learned a lot about the business in general as well as my specific project goals."
After examining all of the alternatives to reduce waste and save money, Sandstrom developed a report with the results of his analysis. "My findings were that the company was wasting a lot of money and raw materials and sending tons of solid waste straight to the landfill."
Sandstrom found that the best option for maximum savings was to install two robots to spray the fiberglass. According to Sandstrom, "This would cost approximately $400,000 to buy and install, but would reduce (along with recycling the remaining waste) their raw material use by $125,000 annually and save about one hundred tons of solid waste per year from entering the local landfill."
Individuals Making a Difference
Both Sandstrom and Mahagnoul agree that MnTAP is a unique experience. Sandstrom says, "You are your own boss."
"The success of the project is up to the intern," concurs Mahagnoul. "Students should apply if they want to see a project develop as their own and see their knowledge applied to a real industrial setting."
The independence of the projects requires a lot of work on the part of an intern, but the rewards are immense. At the end of every summer, MnTAP compiles a summary of projected annual savings and the amount of waste reduction resulting from each intern project. Last summer alone the projected waste reduction resulting from MnTAP intern projects include 83,600 pounds of paper waste, 5,300 pounds of coolant, 216.5 tons of fiberglass, 32,935 feet of wire, and 25.4 million gallons of water.
"It was a much better experience than any job I have had before," Sandstrom reflects. "I learned a lot and feel my work was very beneficial."
Mahagnoul concludes, "[MnTAP] gave me a chance to educate the decision-makers [at Pillsbury] in resource conservation. It was a great sense of accomplishment to do something good for the environment."
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
www.mntap.umn.edu
For info about applying for MnTAP internships, Deb McKinley
