Prairie State Generating Company is excited to welcome Charles Gaberik as a mining intern for the summer of 2017.
Gaberik is a senior studying mining engineering at Southern Illinois University – Carbondale. This is his first internship and he is excited to be introduced to how a mine the size of Prairie State’s operates.
“I’m really liking the internship so far. I like the guys. I like everyone I’m working with. I like what I’m doing,” Gaberik said. “I’ve been underground working in the mine just about every day either hanging curtains or building cinder block walls. I think I could definitely do this for the rest of my life.”
Gaberik is a senior, but the mining engineering program at SIU is a five year track, so he still needs to complete two more years before finishing his degree.
“It’s good to get an idea of how a coal mine works with this internship,” he said. “I’m getting a good general understanding of how it works underground and gaining an understanding of underground mine operations.”
In the future, Gaberik sees himself working in the mining industry on the planning or engineering side of the process, helping decide where pillars in a room and pillar mine will go or managing a crew in a mine. He said he could also see himself working in a long wall mine in the western United States.