ASTM International will sponsor David Catt, a civil engineering student at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, in the 2014 Washington Internships for Students of Engineering (WISE) program.


Ranked as one of the best internship opportunities in the U.S. by the Princeton Review, the WISE program is a paid 10-week summer internship in Washington, D.C. The interns are outstanding third- or fourth-year engineering students selected in a nationwide competition. During the program, interns learn about the public policy process, including how government officials make decisions on complex technological issues and how engineers can contribute to legislative and regulatory public policy decisions.

A senior at the University of Kansas, Catt is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering with a minor in sociology. He is a member of the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society as well as several other university groups, including the KU Energy Club and the Self Engineering Leadership Fellows (SELF) Program, a flagship program aimed at cultivating business, vision and leadership skills in engineering students who will help guide the technology-based corporations of tomorrow.

Catt has a special interest in water resources, and will concentrate on water policy, specifically direct potable reuse (DPR), during his time in Washington. DPR involves introducing purified water directly into a potable water supply distribution system or into the raw water supply immediately upstream of a water treatment plant. Post graduation, he has plans to join the Water Division of Black & Veatch, a global water services leader, and feels the WISE internship will be an invaluable experience.

Management of water resources is becoming increasingly critical worldwide. Catt’s work in the WISE program will add to the information and research ASTM has developed across a broad range of water-related topics, as demonstrated in the ASTM Water Portal (www.astm.org/waterportals).

To learn more about the WISE program, visit www.wise-intern.org. For further information on ASTM’s academic outreach activities, visit www.astm.org/studentmember or contact Jim Olshefsky, ASTM International (phone: 610-832-9714; jolshefs@astm.org).

ASTM PR Contact: Erin K. Brennan, Phone: 610-832-9602; ebrennan@astm.org

Release #9594