By Jeanne Siler

In less than five short years, an idea about summer internships for U.Va. engineering students has grown from the proverbial twinkle in attorney James Turner's eye to a stellar set of experiences for some 50 young men and women. This summer, the Science and Technology Policy Washington, D.C., Internship Program has once again offered a select group of engineering students a chance to earn credits while exploring the ways science and technology influence—and are influenced by—public policy in the nation's capital.

The students, typically third- and fourth-years, work directly with key policy-makers at federal agencies such as the National Science Foundation and Department of Health and Human Services, and in think tanks, Congressional offices and foreign embassies.

"We try to place our interns at the highest possible levels within organizations," notes environmental historian and internship director Edmund Russell. "While the goal is not to have our interns go into public policy careers per se," he says—nevertheless flashing a grin at the thought of a U.Va. engineer as a future U.S. president—"we hope that as a result of the program, our interns will carry with them, whether into business, medicine or law, a knowledge of public policy-making that will benefit those careers."

Turner, chief Democratic counsel for the House Committee on Science and a parent of an Engineering School alumnus, was aware that MIT students had been enjoying successful summer internships in D.C. He contacted then-Dean Richard Miksad about creating a parallel program for U.Va. engineering students. Turner now helps secure placements within the national—and international—science community in Washington, for about 10 students each year.

The program, which is fully funded by contributions to the Virginia Engineering Foundation Annual Fund, continues to thrive as the sophistication of the students, their placements, and the mentoring increases.

"We're getting some very talented and interesting students applying for the program. The agencies remember their previous U.Va. students, and nine out of 10 interns got their first choices," Turner says with clear excitement. "Everybody is working for a mover and shaker in Washington."

To prepare for their summer experience, all prospective U.Va. Washington interns enrolled in STS 500, a graduate-level spring semester course taught by Russell. The course's demanding academic focus reviews the U.S. government's role in policy formation. Beginning with the American Revolution and the Constitution, students examine when, why, and how the federal government expanded its reach. At mid-semester their studies look at such early scientific agencies as the Department of Agriculture to trace the government's growing engagement with science.

But it's not all history-based. The course stresses the importance of following and reflecting on the latest developments in science and technology policy, with an expectation that class members will read a major newspaper like The Washington Post daily, and give weekly briefings to each other.

Case studies of federal departments and agencies such as the National Science Foundation and the Department of Defense are followed by oral and written reports on the agencies where each student will intern and on current policy issues facing those agencies.

Russell, who wants his students to view him as a kind of "coach," planned a series of guest lectures, asked students to start tracking their evolving ideas and questions about public policy in a journal, and put in place processes for summer networking—all of which prepared the group members to maximize their successes.