University of Tulsa

What did you want to be when you grew up? Making dreams a reality for Oklahoma college students, the OCAST R&D Intern Partnership program is providing hands on learning opportunities for undergraduate students at Oklahoma scientific and technical firms.

Dr. Surendra Singh, associate professor of electrical engineering, initiated the University of Tulsa engineering internship program in 2002 and has placed more than a dozen electrical, chemical and mechanical engineering students with some of the area’s most prestigious scientific and engineering companies including Qual-Tron, John Zink Company, Tucker Technologies, Railroad Signal International, Century Geophysical Corp. and Centrilift.

Students gain practical work experience and learn more about their field of interest. It is an important step in keeping Oklahoma’s best and brightest in the state by connecting them to high-paying, technically-challenging jobs.

JOSEPH COLLETTE, DAVIS, OK – At Centrilift in Claremore, electrical engineering student Joseph Collette works on the electric boards that control oil pumps and well sites in the Tulsa area.

Collette, a senior at the University of Tulsa, plans to attend graduate school and wants to design circuits upon receiving his master’s degree. He decided to pursue a career in engineering because he was good at math and his father is a petroleum engineer who also graduated from TU. Collette enjoys his internship at Centrilift because it allows him to work around high wattage equipment which is prohibited in school but important to his education.

Dr. Singh and electrical engineering student Joseph Collette on-site at a Red Fork Energy pump in Tulsa. Collette interns at Centrilift in Claremore.