Electrical Engineering Senior Paves Career Path Through Co-Ops

Electrical Engineering Senior Paves Career Path Through Co-Ops

Kaiden Snyder brought a fascination with computers to The University of Toledo's College of Engineering.

"I always wanted to work on the motherboards," said Snyder, an electrical engineering senior who was building his own desktop computers even before his freshman year at Northwest Ohio's Gibsonburg High School. "Motherboards, semiconductors, processors, that kind of stuff."

So, to find himself working toward a career in nuclear power is something of a surprise, he reflected recently.

Now in his second semester at Vistra's Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Plant in Oak Harbor, Ohio, he credits the College of Engineering's career expo and integrated cooperative education program with introducing him to an exciting industry that's seeing increasing demand as a safe and reliable source of clean energy.

"This is the opportunity of a lifetime," Snyder said of his co-op at Vistra. "What we do here is really interesting, and you can't find this kind of work in a lot of places. Until I started my co-op, I wouldn't have thought it was something that I could do here in Ohio."

Snyder followed a strong reputation to UToledo's College of Engineering, where students benefit from experiential learning opportunities that begin as early as their first semester. The College of Engineering stands out as one of just eight in the country to integrate a co-op program into its academic curriculum, ensuring that engineering science students graduate with a full year of relevant work experience on their resume.

Snyder connected with Vistra during one of the Engineering Career Expos that the college hosts twice annually to support students seeking co-ops and post-graduation employment. Expos routinely draw representatives of more than 150 companies to UToledo's Savage Arena, including alumni and recruiters from 27 corporate partners.

Vistra is one of five corporate partners on the Fortune 500. The integrated retail electricity and power generation company operates four nuclear power stations across the United States, including the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Plant that's located on the shores of Lake Erie approximately 30 miles from UToledo's Main Campus.

Snyder completed his first co-op semester in electrical design, supporting long-term projects benefiting the power station primarily from his computer. This summer he's working in plant support, addressing emergent electrical issues in a new role that lends itself to more plant interaction.

"We work on the issues that have to be dealt with sooner rather than later," he said. "My functions kind of vary day to day because it really depends on what happened the previous night before or the weekend. I might be working on an issue with one of the elements that pass through a voltage buffer - really anything that has to do with wires."

The co-op program is designed to complement lecture and laboratory courses with on-the-job training. Snyder said he can clearly see the applications of foundational concepts that he learned back on campus in courses like Electrical Energy Conversion.

"Sometimes I'll do something and I'll think: Why didn't I understand that when I was learning that in the classroom?" said Snyder, who recently passed the Fundamentals of Engineering exam that's a first step toward licensure as professional engineer. "Because here it makes so much more sense. It's really applying what I've learned."

Vistra's Brian Kanney works closely with engineering students like Snyder. As an alumnus of the co-op program at UToledo's College of Engineering, Kanney said he appreciates the opportunity to work with his alma mater to line up future talent for Davis-Besse.

"With engineering management at Vistra looking to staff co-op students year-round, it is important for us to work with engineering programs that require and highly encourage co-op rotations as part of their degree programs," he said. "Students such as Kaiden, when they are brought on early in their education, have the opportunity to complete multiple rotations with multiple engineering groups within the company. This acts as an extended job interview to the benefit of both the student and the company as we get to learn a lot about each other before full-time employment is considered."

The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that the nuclear industry will need to bring on 375,000 trained workers by 2050 - a goal supported by its Nuclear Reactor Safety Training and Workforce Development Program including the UToledo-led Great Lakes Partnership to Enhance the Nuclear Workforce.

With a firm foundation and a network of connections in the industry thanks to his co-op semesters at Vistra, Snyder is hoping to be among these 375,000.

"I'm really enjoying my co-op," he said. "I'm hoping to be here full time next year."