Courtesy Photo | On Nov. 18, 2024, University of Virginia fourth-year student Rhiannon Staley explains...... read more read more
A fourth-year student at University of Virginia and intern, Rhiannon Staley is changing and educating the Defense Logistics Agency Energy acquisition workforce.
A college senior, majoring in Statistics and minoring in Data Science, Staley has been working for the Business Process Support Directorate as part of the Department of Defense’s College Acquisition Internship Program.
Staley was recently tapped to lead a day-long training event with Quality Managers from Americas East on how to utilize the Microsoft Teams Quality Dashboard Application within Power BI, a data reporting tool designed to streamline essential information into one place.
“Introducing new technology into the workplace was an exciting opportunity for me,” Staley said. “While I’ve had the chance to explore and learn various technologies in school, I’ve always wanted to see how those skills could translate into a real-world setting. When I was approached to help with this project, I was excited to share my knowledge and introduce new tools to colleagues who might not be as familiar with this kind of technology.”
Eamonn Knights is an analyst in the Business Process Support Directorate. One of his many roles as a supervisor is to train interns, including Staley.
“One of my responsibilities is making sure all my staff is trained to do their job,” Knights said. “My goal is train interns to be analytical thinkers, to be able to utilize data, and think out of the box. Rhiannon’s role was notable, as this was her first work trip, and interns rarely participate in field training sessions. She provided a structured and accessible guide to using the dashboard effectively and serves as a resource for future reference.”
The in-person training included an overview of features and capabilities within Power BI, and a feedback session for the BAT team to make live updates to individual reports. The training concluded with hands-on training to ensure the quality managers knew how to use the reports, and access to Enterprise Business Systems data to ease and facilitate the workload.
“Power BI lets you easily connect to your data sources, visualize and discover what's important, and share that with anyone or everyone you want,” Staley said. “This application provides in-depth reports on Energy receiving reports, delivery orders, and quality notifications, all of which are important to the day-to-day operational efficiency.”
Staley’s involvement in developing the training deck and in the training highlights BAT’s commitment to fostering emerging talent and creating growth opportunities at every level of the workforce.
“We have a higher retention rate at DLA Energy when we hired interns and turn them into Pacers,” said Ditu Kasuyi, Chief of the Acquisition Workforce Development Office for DLA Energy.
Kasuyi is a passionate advocate for hiring interns to develop them into future Energy employees.
“Interns are the students who are still in school working on their degree,” he explained. Successful interns upon graduation can apply to become Pacers who help fill the entry level for positions within the government.”
DLA Energy has intentionally set out to hire more Pacers and seen a 3,000 percent increase in applications in recent years. The emphasis on technology and better business practices is attracting interest from other colleges and universities to participate in the acquisition intern program.
“I really enjoy explaining technical concepts to non-technical audiences, she said. “It challenges me to break down complex processes into their simplest components and deepen my own understanding of the process. This kind of work excites me and gives me a sense of purpose as I know I can help. I was a little nervous about how this new technology would be received but seeing the responses have been very positive.”
“In the future, I hope to continue working with the DLA and apply my statistical and data science skills to enhance its business processes,” she added. “I am passionate about using data-driven insights to solve problems and improve decision-making, so I look forward to doing this here.”
| Date Taken: | 12.18.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 12.18.2024 14:15 |
| Story ID: | 487823 |
| Location: | FORT BELVOIR, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 45 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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