On March 1, 2023, the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Economic Impact and Diversity’s (ED) Office of Minority Education Programs (MEP) Minority Educational Institutions Division (MEI) hosted an Awareness, Interest and Access Virtual Workshop featuring the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) National Accelerator Laboratory. The attendees learned the best practices to access business and educational opportunities including internships, technology transfers and guidance on responding to request for proposals (RFPs).

The event started with a warm welcome and agenda overview from Christy Jackiewicz, Chief, Minority Educational Institutions, Office of Minority Programs, Office of Economic Impact & Diversity, followed by,  a SLAC overview from Nicole Colley, Operations Strategy Manager.

Hillary Freeman, Human Resources, and Dr. Giulia Lanza, Vacuum Assembly, led a discussion about Education Opportunities. Ms. Freeman educated the audience on internships, the application and selection procedure and concluded with examples of the types of projects that interns can work on. Dr. Lanza, in addition to her role at SLAC is also the co-founder of SAGE Journey program. The Science Accelerating Girls’ Engagement (SAGE) Journey is a workforce development program for growing the number of women and other gender minorities in STEM roles, specifically to provide opportunities to help them move into technical staff and leadership positions within DOE’s National Labs. Dr. Lanza informed the attendees on SAGE’s application process and how the SAGE Journey Program could help students with a future internship.

The virtual workshop then shifted into a conversation centering Business Opportunities led by SLACs Procurement Operations Manager, Jennifer Aral and Technology Transfer Program Manager, Jose’ Zavala. Jennifer is charged with overseeing a department of four procurement teams charged with providing acquisition services to support the goals and objectives of the lab’s world class research.  Jennifer gave an overview of SLACs Procurement Process, Supplier Registration Process, and the Solicitation/RFP Expectations. Jose’ gave an overview of DOEs National Lab’s Complex, the types of partnering agreements with National Labs (CRADA/SPP) and accessing SLAC IP.

Tom Best, Co-Owner of AXIS Mechanical and Johannes Clark, Project Manager, led the event’s Supplier Spotlight: AXIS Mechanical. AXIS Mechanical Inc is a Local MBE Union Contractor that specialized in Mechanical, Process Piping, and Plumbing. Axis Mechanical works in a broad range of facilities including biotech, clean rooms, data centers, healthcare, education, federal and large corporate offices, supporting project in various sizes. They discussed the benefits of hiring locals skilled in the trades, services offered by AXIS Mechanical’s Project Team, and recently completed projects.

The Virtual Workshop transited into Breakout Rooms focused on Q&As. Breakout Room 1 was focused on MBEs and was co-led by Jennifer Aral who answered questions about SLACs Procurement Process and Jose’ Zavala who provided clarity on How to Partner with SLAC. Breakout Room 2 was focused on Students and Faculty.  Dr. Giulia Lanza answered questions relating to SAGE Journey’s Workforce Development and Hillary Freeman answered questions about SLACs Innovative Internship programs.

Following the breakout rooms, the groups came together for the conclusion of the event with closing remarks provided by Chester Scott, Program Analyst, MEI, MEP, ED.

A big thank you to all who made this Virtual Workshop a success. Including the dedicated staff at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, DOE’s MEI staff, AXIS Mechanical INC and the student attendees.

To watch the event, visit our Event Calendar under “Event Recordings” or to request an opportunity to present your DOE National Laboratory or other DOE STEM effort, please reach out to Chester Scott.