Office of Facilities Management & Reliability

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Office of Facilities Reliability and Management Projects

The purpose of an internship is twofold: to provide a practical learning experience in the activities and practices of a major facilities management program; and to offer exposure to day-to-day activities of an office within the largest museum complex in the world.  Some internships with Office of Facilities Reliability and Management may involve manual labor; exposure to adverse weather conditions (particularly heat and humidity); and exposure to dust, dirt, and possibly some chemicals.

Special projects are typically added to an intern’s regular duties so that they can practice project management skills needed to see a project through from start to finish. Projects vary greatly and are determined on an individual basis. They may include everything from record-keeping, analyzing systems and researching programs.

National Zoo Water Sub-metering

Assess National Zoo facilities for installation of sub-meters on all water service entries.  Intern will prepare a survey and scope of work which can form the substance of a request for proposals to contractors for the installation of water sub-meters at every building in the National Zoo.  Monitoring water consumption in each building will enable automated, centralized consumption-trending and targeted conservation efforts.

General Facilities Maintenance Internship

To work closely with the building managers in the zone, and the OFMR maintenance executive in order to be able to articulate and determine the prioritization of upcoming facility maintenance and repair projects. 

The project is to create a document that will articulate maintenance and repair projects and plan the streamlined procurement of the planned maintenance program for the zone.  The document will define the project, justify why this project has been assigned the priority it received and why it requires funding over other projects that are being competed in the zone and within OFMR.   

Systems Engineering Building and Systems Performance

Consolidate data from the building automation system into month by month histories of the environmental (temperature and humidity) picture of each facility.This internship will afford the intern opportunities to experience the broad range of activities involved in facilities management in a cultural institution.  The intern will assist with the development and implementation of new concepts, theories, systems, metrics, reports and methods to improve the quality and effectiveness of OFMR performance.  Student(s) will use/create macros to consolidate large volumes of data into charts that show actual temperature and humidity performance of the buildings over time.

Systems Engineering Repository of Facility Data/Reports

Research and create a usable library-style repository of facility data/reports. This internship will afford the intern opportunities to experience the broad range of activities involved in facilities management in a cultural institution.  The intern will assist with the development and implementation of new concepts, theories, systems, metrics, reports and methods to improve the quality and effectiveness of OFMR performance.  Student(s) will gather hard and soft copy reports from various SED staff and conduct face-to-face discussions to create a usable library-style repository of facility data/reports.

Building Automation System Environmental Reports

The Systems Engineering Division assembles data from various sources describing building and systems performance, energy consumption, condition and operations.  This project would be to assess the data and to develop procedures and processes to summarize the data so it can be used to plan repairs and/or replacement of systems and components. This internship will afford the intern opportunities to experience the broad range of activities involved in facilities management in a cultural institution.  The intern will assist with the development and implementation of new concepts, theories, systems, metrics, reports and methods to improve the quality and effectiveness of OFMR performance.  The intern will research data from various data bases in SED and develop spread sheets that summarize the data and present the data in a logical and understandable format.

General Facilities Operations

This internship will provide the intern opportunities to experience the broad range of activities involved in facilities management in a cultural institution.  The intern will assist with the development and implementation of new concepts, theories, systems, metrics, reports and methods to improve the quality and effectiveness of OFMR performance.

The project is to create a document that will articulate maintenance and repair projects and plan the streamlined procurement of the planned maintenance program for the zone.  The document will define the project, justify why this project has been assigned the priority it received and why it requires funding over other projects that are being competed in the zone and within OFMR.

Smithsonian Environmental Research Center Maintenance Project

The intern will assist the Maintenance Work leader and other staff in the planning and execution of re-furbishing existing signage and benches throughout the Smithsonian Enviromental Research Center. The intern will have the opportunity to provide a safe site preparation for protecting the surrounding area while the work is being completed. Learn about and use the proper Personal Protective Equipment as well as how to prep the material to be worked on, selection of the proper materials and applications. 

Development and Implementation of Facilities Training Programs

This internship will afford the intern opportunities to experience the broad range of training and professional development activities involved in facilities management in a cultural institution.  The intern will assist with the development and implementation of new training programs based on best practices from national and international facilities organizations.  The intern will also learn concepts, theories, systems, metrics, reports and methods to improve the quality and effectiveness of professional facilities training.  Student(s) will use/create automated templates to consolidate large volumes of data into charts that reflect actual OFMR performance.

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• Smithsonian On-line Academic Appointment System
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