Prairie State Generating Company is excited to welcome Meena Lahiri as a mining intern for the summer of 2017.
Lahiri, a native of Danville, Kentucky, currently resides in St. Louis, and is a junior majoring in mining engineering at the Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla. This is her first internship and she is taking the opportunity to soak up all of the experiences and information that hands-on work gives an intern.
Lahiri is interested in mine safety, which drew her to the Prairie State Internship program.
“Safety is taken really seriously here at Prairie State. That’s really important to me,” she said. “Safety was something I asked about in my interview and it was great to hear about the daily safety meetings. A coal mine can be more dangerous than a metal or non-metal mine, so I was glad to hear that safety is Prairie State’s first priority.”
While safety is a passion of Lahiri’s, most of her work thus far at Prairie State has been with the compliance department at the mine. She is learning the ins and outs of mining regulations by working directly with Prairie State’s compliance department as well as inspectors from the state of Illinois and the Mine Safety and Health Administration. Lahiri said she could see herself working as a mine inspector in the future.
Like most of the 2017 intern class, Lahiri likes to spend her time outside. She enjoys exploring caves and is starting to take an interest in hiking. She is also taking summer classes online from Missouri S&T while she works with Prairie State.
Lahiri is a junior at Missouri S&T, but is studying in a five year program so she will not finish her education for two more years. After graduation, Lahiri will search for a job in the mining industry.