Imagine being an engineering student and given the responsibility at age 20 or 21 to create real-world solutions for a community. No books, no lectures — only work in the field guided by people who believe you have the skills and talent to make change possible.
A handful of students throughout the country are given exactly that opportunity each summer at Appledore Island, in a hands-on program that has resulted in some significant sustainable changes there.
The sustainable engineering internship was the brainchild of Mike Dalton, retired president and chief operating officer of Unitil Corp. and long a docent on Appledore.
Appledore's primary mission each summer since 1966 has been to provide marine science internships to college students. Jointly run by Cornell University and the University of New Hampshire, the island boasts labs, classrooms buildings, a library, dormitories and a dining hall.
And everything, from the electricity to the meals, has to be either produced on site or shipped in.
Dalton said he'd been coming to the island as a volunteer since the late '90s. An engineer himself, "I got to thinking what a great place to bring students who haven't seen a complete system, and give them an opportunity to analyze it and suggest changes."
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