LSU Industrial Engineering Junior Interns in Argentina Over Summer

September 6, 2023 

BATON ROUGE, LA – While Louisianans have been sweating outside or hibernating indoors this summer, LSU Industrial Engineering junior Ana Alvarado was cooling off in Argentina during her three-month internship as part of the Argentina Business Program.

Alvarado, who is from Tegucigalpa, Honduras, was informed about the international internship in January and is the first LSU student to be selected for the program. Of the 338 applicants for the 2023 cohort, only 22 were selected. She interned with CGC, an independent energy company engaged in the development, production, and exploration of natural gas and crude oil. CGC is also the sixth-largest gas producer in Argentina.

“The Argentina Business Program offered a substantial number of engineering projects, all focused on the energy sector encompassing oil and gas services,” Alvarado said. “I had the privilege of working with CGC from June to August. My assigned project delved into conducting a comprehensive technical and economic analysis of the port operations at Punta Loyola, situated in Rio Gallegos, the southernmost city of mainland Argentina.”

Beyond being required to speak Spanish, Alvarado’s responsibilities ranged from scrutinizing port operations to curating a database tracking key operational milestones, all aimed at gauging port efficiency. She also documented diverse contracts inked with CGC’s clients, allowing for comparisons of lay-time standards and demurrage costs.

“The reason I felt comfortable doing this Argentina internship was because there is already a big energy presence here (in Louisiana), and the Argentina companies are part of that world,” Alvarado said. “When they accepted me, I was comfortable because I speak Spanish, and I’m not going into something completely new or unfamiliar.”

Along with gaining experience in the energy field, Alvarado also enjoyed discovering the eighth largest country in the world.

“I thought, because I was going to another Latin American country, that things wouldn’t be that different, but Argentina is a whole other world,” she said. “It’s like Europe but in Latin America. Their Spanish is a little different, too. They’re very warm people, and I was very well received wherever I went. I also saw a glacier. That was a really nice experience to have. They also have art, music and theater, and soccer is the biggest thing ever.”

Alvarado said her favorite part of the internship was the willingness and enthusiasm these companies had to bring her there.

“I didn’t pay for anything,” she said. “The company covered airfare, housing, and gave me a stipend. This endeavor was profoundly enriching, offering professional development growth as I immersed myself in a new cultural milieu. The experience also fostered global connections, introducing me to peers from various international universities. I’m enthusiastic to share my experience with others.”

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Contact: Libby Haydel
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225-578-4840
ehaydel1@lsu.edu