Daniel Grisham, an environmental engineer from the Environmental Engineering and Compliance Section of the Tulsa District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, enhanced his education and expertise this spring and summer, thanks to mentoring from experts at the Engineer Research and Development Center’s Environmental Laboratory.
In exit interviews, Tulsa District’s Daniel “Dan” Grisham shared his background, career goals and experiences as an ERDC intern.
Q: How did you learn about ERDC and decide on EL?
Grisham: “I heard about ERDC through other co-workers who came here for rotations. As for EL, I picked it because the lab works in my field of Environmental Engineering.”
Q. What is your education and previous work experience?
Grisham: “I have done multiple civil and military projects with Tulsa District, most recently the High Explosives Pressing Facility (HEPF) project at Pantex, managed by the Corps of Engineers.”
Q. What type of work did you do at EL and what was most interesting or rewarding?
Grisham: “I worked on a potential effect with plasmons, causing localized heating of water with light to help treat water.”
Q. What are your career goals?
Grisham: “My goal is to obtain my professional engineer license within the next year, potentially getting my master’s degree while working in the Corps organization and continuing my career in the government.”
Q. Where are you going from here?
Grisham: “I plan to go back to the Tulsa District to work on multiple projects in engineering and construction.”
“Dan Grisham performed research work on the use of plasmons to enhance membrane filtration,” said EL’s Dr. Victor Medina. “It was a very novel approach, and his work has provided a background which will guide further studies in this area.”
EL’s mentoring program is coordinated by the office of the deputy director and continues to attract top interns from across the country.