Jul

Uniquely D.C.

The Office of Facilities Management and Reliability welcomed a large group of interns from around the United States this summer. The OFMR Facility Management internship program helps undergraduate and graduate students learn about the special requirements of facility management in cultural institutions and historic or otherwise iconic facilities.

In addition to the intern events presented by the Center for Education and Museum Studies, OFMR also offers opportunities that are unique to Washington, D.C. In late June, many of the interns toured the United States Green Building Council headquarters to learn about sustainable interior design and building operations. USGBC is the first commercial interior certified platinum under the new LEED version 3 standards. (LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Deisgn, is an internationally recognized green building certification system. Click here to read more about the Smithsonian’s own achievements in LEED certification.)

Back row, from left, OFMR Intern Advisor Judie Cooper, Samantha Young, Angela Person, Bryn Gibson, Clarissa Judkins, Dianez Smith, Gloria Baird, Meredith Platt, Alyssa Brown, Gustavo Serratos and Nick Guarino. Front row, from left, John Andreoni, Anthon Petty, Derek Ho, David Luck, Matt Romney, Zack Smith and Gilbert Hopkins. (Photo by Lonnie Plotner)

After the tour of USGBC, the group took the Metro to Arlington for lunch at Ray’s Hell Burgers, made famous when President Obama and Vice President Biden made a surprise visit for lunch last year. The burgers must really be great, because President Obama was again eating lunch there with President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia. The interns had a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get some great pictures of the two leaders as they left to go back to the White House for an afternoon press conference. Later that afternoon, President Medvedev tweeted that he really enjoyed the burgers at Ray’s—and so did the OFMR interns!

(Contributed by Judie Cooper, a facility management analyst in the Office of Facilities Management and Reliability. Her major areas of responsibility are organizational development, research and implementation of best practices, strategic initiatives, and staff professional development and training—including overseeing a successful internship program.)