Chippewa Valley Times

Two UW-Stout computer and electrical engineering seniors contributed to the development and testing of advanced technology during their summer internships at nVent.

Easton Sailer and Evan Pettit participated in the creation of high-density liquid cooling (HDLC) products, which offer a more efficient and sustainable alternative to traditional air-cooling methods for data center servers. These systems enable closer component packing and greater computer capacity within the same footprint.

Sailer, from Pound, Wisconsin, began his seven-month internship last January after taking a semester off from school. He found the opportunity particularly interesting because it reminded him of water-cooled gaming PCs but on a larger scale. "Water cooling units for data center servers are a relatively new concept in the field," he said.

Pettit, from Rosemount, Minnesota, joined nVent in May and was mentored by Sailer. Their responsibilities included creating plans, developing automated test scripts using Bash—a Linux software scripting language—collecting and analyzing data, and troubleshooting machines in the lab. They used various electrical tools such as multimeters, differential DC power supplies, digital oscilloscopes, wire cutters, crimpers, and strippers.

The internships aligned with Program Director Wei Shi’s goals for her CEE students: “to equip them with skills in solving real-world problems, develop practical abilities in analysis and design, and train them for and help them gain experience in working with industries before they even graduate.”

nVent is a $3.3 billion company with over 11,000 employees worldwide offering solutions for industrial automation, commercial buildings, power utilities, renewable energy infrastructure applications including HDLC development.

Career Services Director Bryan Barts highlighted that nVent provides UW-Stout students with opportunities locally and internationally. "In the past 10 years we have experienced 60 students working at nVent," Barts said.

Sailer has always been interested in understanding how things work. His interest shifted from mechanical to electrical engineering when he fixed a four-wheeler at age 14 by teaching himself through YouTube videos. Pettit discovered his interest in electronics around the same age when he built his first computer in middle school.

Both students plan to continue their careers post-graduation; Pettit aims to pursue computer engineering due to its demand while Sailer is interested in embedded systems engineering within the defense industry.

According to Career Services’ First Destination Report 100% of recent CEE graduates are employed or continuing education with an average starting salary of $71,000.