Powering the Future: SBU Program Graduates Students into Next Generation of the Energy Workforce

Seventeen high school students celebrated their graduation from Stony Brook University’s Summer Youth Employment: Powering Your Future program on August 21, marking the conclusion of a seven-week experience designed to prepare them for careers in renewable energy and advanced infrastructure.

The students are the second class of the program, offered by Stony Brook University in collaboration with Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and Suffolk County Community College, with sponsorship and support from Suffolk County Department of Labor, Licensing, and Consumer Affairs, Haugland Group, and Ørsted.

Participating students from Longwood, William Floyd, and South Country school districts were paid $16.50 per hour and worked six hours each day, four days a week. They immersed themselves in hands-on experiences designed to prepare them for career and educational pathways, experienced a ‘Day in the Life’ of trade-based jobs, and received networking training.

“This program exemplifies how Stony Brook leverages partnerships with industry, government, and education to strengthen the regional workforce,” said Kevin Gardner, vice president for research and innovation at Stony Brook. “Together with these strategic partners, we are creating pathways that prepare students for in-demand careers while building the talent pipeline New York needs for its clean energy transition.”

Students practiced welding and soldering, built simulations of next-generation power systems such as wind turbines and battery storage centers, and learned computer-aided design (CAD). They also learned from scientists at BNL and toured industry facilities including National Grid, an electricity, natural gas, and clean energy delivery company serving more than 20 million people in New York and Massachusetts, and Hauglund Group, an infrastructure services holding company with affiliates that provide energy and civil construction services.

“This was their summer,” said Derek O’Connor, workforce development manager in the Office for Research and Innovation, who addressed the graduates, family members and industry leaders in the Center of Excellence in Wireless Information Technology (CEWIT). “Every day they traveled from their high schools, got on the bus, and put in the work. They learned, networked, and grew as students and as future professionals.”

For many participants, the program helped solidify future plans. Salvatore Cimilluca, a rising junior at Longwood High School, said the experience at BNL helped shape his career goals.

“Over at BNL, we focused a lot more on the science being done there. We talked about everything from wind to solar, geothermal, and nuclear energy,” Cimilluca said. “Before this program, I was in between what I wanted to major in, and what I wanted to do in the future. But it really helped solidify the fact that I want to go into nuclear engineering and energy.”

Auston Burger, also a rising junior at Longwood High School, enjoyed and appreciated all of the aspects of the program. “I’ve always wanted to do engineering, and through this entire program, it’s been reinforcing the fact that this is something I’ve wanted to pursue and that I’m going to pursue later in my life,” Burger said. “It’s been a wonderful experience and I’m so blessed that I’ve been able to get this opportunity.” He added that the hands-on work at BNL and the engineering discussions at the Hauglund Group were especially helpful.

The initiative comes at a time when the energy and infrastructure workforce is aging out and the demand for skilled labor is rising. With statewide electrification goals accelerating, industries urgently need workers who can weld, stabilize the power grid, install and maintain geothermal systems, and adapt to fast-changing technologies. 

Stony Brook Vice President for Equity and Inclusion and Chief Health Equity Officer Judith Brown Clarke addressed the graduates and emphasized that the skills they acquired are part of a toolkit that makes the program graduates adaptable and employable in an evolving workforce.

“You have a set of flexible skills that are marketable,” Clarke said. “It takes the pressure off of saying, ‘I want to be this.’ What you really are is a destination. People will want you because you have the skill set, the discipline, and the hunger to be the solution.” She encouraged students to stay curious, embrace growth, and pursue work that excites them, stressing that the ultimate goal is more than a paycheck, but also a fulfilling and sustainable career.

This year’s ceremony also included remarks from Jannat Majid, a graduate of the inaugural 2024 cohort. Majid reflected on how the program reshaped her career ambitions and gave her confidence to explore fields she had never considered. “Going into the program, I did not know what I wanted to do,” Majid said. “I did not think I’d be interested in energy infrastructure or welding, but I grew to really love it. The industry fascinated me.”

After completing the program, Majid was offered a summer internship with the Haugland Group in the government and community affairs area and will begin studying at Vassar College, supported by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, planning to major in environmental and political science.

She told the graduates that the program was not just a summer job but a foundation for her future. “It was more than a job. It was my future,” she said. “This is something you’ll carry with you for the rest of your life.”

Rosalie Drago, vice president for external affairs and strategic engagement at Haugland Group, offered closing remarks and said she was impressed by how students had connected their passions with potential careers. “You get to find what you’re passionate about, connect that with what your God-given talents are and earn a good living making good money with wages and benefits for yourself and to make generational change,” Drago said. “You should not have to choose between earning a living and using your gifts and talents to make the world and your life a better place.”

Drago noted that partners including Brookhaven National Lab, Suffolk County Community College, National Grid, Ørsted, and others all committed their time and resources because they see the program as essential to building the workforce of tomorrow. “These world-renowned education and research institutions, multi-million and billion-dollar corporations, thought it was important to invest in you,” she told students. “We need your innovation, your curiosity, your skill to help us design a better future, a more resilient future. And we invite you to join us in building it.”

Clarke reminded the students and their families that while technology is advancing rapidly, it is the next generation who will be tasked with harnessing it to solve critical problems. “There are very few people who can do this,” she said. “You were born at the right time for what we need moving forward. You are brilliant, scrappy, and determined. And we are counting on you.”

Materials and services were supported by Haugland Group, Ørsted, Whymaker, New York State Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), National Grid, and LevelUp Kitchen, as well as SBU’s Office of Admissions, University and Medicine Community Relations, Center for Grid Innovation Development and Deployment, Division of Information Technology, Office for Research and Innovation, Office of the President, Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives (DI3), and the University Facilities and Services Division.