Kyan Kraynack Takes Mechanical Engineering to the U.S. Department of State
Looking for ways to fulfill his co-op requirements, Kyan Kraynack ‘26 spent more than two months in Washington, D.C., representing York College of Pennsylvania as one of many mechanical engineering interns.
During his 2025 Spring Semester, Mechanical Engineering major Kyan Kraynack ‘26 participated in an internship at the U.S. Department of State, working in the Bureau of Overseas Building Operations (OBO).
For 10 weeks, Kyan was exposed to work within his field of interest and networked with students from all over the country and government officials, all while fulfilling the requirements for his co-op experience.
“I'm deeply grateful to OBO and the Department of State for this opportunity,” Kyan said on LinkedIn. “It was incredibly meaningful to contribute, even in a small way, to the infrastructure that supports U.S. diplomatic missions around the globe.”
Putting in the Work
Kyan was among 500-1500 other interns who went to Washington, D.C. in January 2025. The interns who were accepted came from a wide variety of majors, ranging from marine biology to math, public affairs to foreign relations, and more.
“Each of them would go to a different bureau doing all sorts of different work, but mine in particular was Overseas Building Operations, which is the bureau that builds and maintains all the embassy complexes that the U.S. owns across the world,” Kyan said. “I was only in the mechanical engineering department, so what we were doing was a lot more of the mechanical, electrical, plumbing kind of stuff.”
Kyan worked as a mechanical engineering intern in that respective department along with 8-10 other mechanical engineers. They also had the chance to work on projects with electrical, civil, and structural engineers as part of the OBO’s Design Engineering Team.
“Over the course of this experience, I collaborated with OBO engineers and technical experts to support the design and verification of HVAC and chilled water systems for U.S. diplomatic facilities around the world,” Kyan shared on LinkedIn. “I gained hands-on experience in mechanical system design and helped ensure projects met international standards for safety, efficiency, and durability.”
Kyan's main project was the new embassy compound in Lagos, Nigeria. He found it to be a fantastic experience that allowed him to not only utilize the skills he had developed in his education, but to learn from professionals with the other mechanical engineers he worked with.
A Passion for Serving the Public
Kyan’s decision to participate in the internship stemmed from his desire to work for the government and serve the public after graduation.
“I’ve always had an interest in going into some sort of public-serving job because my dad’s been in the Navy for 14 years now,” Kyan said. “And then when this opportunity came up, I was like, ‘well, this is a good way to get my foot in the door if I ever want to go federal service.’ Because now that I’ve worked at one of these places, it’s pretty easy to transfer that kind of information to the other federal branches.”
The U.S. Department of State internship appealed to him because it would allow him to work in a large federal agency with people worldwide. The program paid its interns well and provided paid housing and transportation, allowing Kyan to work in a large city with financial support.
Another benefit from the internship that Kyan discovered was that it could count towards the co-op requirement that York College of Pennsylvania had its engineering majors complete. Juniors are required to complete a minimum of 15 weeks for their Spring Semester, so Kyan completed the 10 weeks of the U.S. Department of State internship program while doing his remaining weeks at another location over the summer.
After reaching out, Kyan returned to Coupling Corporation of America in Jacobus, PA, where he completed his first co-op experience and has been working toward completing another 10 weeks of work experience. The manufacturer creates and distributes couplings for high-tech machinery, something that Kyan has been gaining a lot of experience with since his last visit there.
“Basically, a coupling is what goes between a generator and an engine,” Kyan explained. “So if you’re having power come out of an engine into a gearbox, you’d have a coupling going through that. So it’s all high speed, high torque stuff for all sorts of industries; oil, and gas is a big one, manufacturing, and then, of course, the defense, whether it’s a ship engine or for planes and helicopter test stands.”
Networking and Preparation for the Future
Kyan expressed that one of the greatest takeaways from the internship was being able to network with fellow interns and professionals he worked with. He even shared how his time at York College impacted his ability to connect with the people he interacted with at the internship and his confidence in asking questions and learning more about the industry he wants to work in.
“Being at the environment created at York [College] by the professors of being able to ask whatever you need to know, and they’ll just be happy to talk with you and happy to show you how to do it and work your way through it was really good to know when I got to this,” Kyan said.
“That was a main thing; the networking opportunities at the College, being able to go out and talk to industry people at either career fairs, or they bring companies into the engineering building specifically to talk. That was very good for the interviews we had to do, going into it, and that kind of stuff.”
The preparation from York College and his classes allowed Kyan to find his place within the projects he was assigned. Even after returning from Washington, D.C., Kyan is still working hard to improve his skills and use everything he learned from his internship as he heads into his senior year of college. It was truly an unforgettable experience.
As Kyan shared on LinkedIn, “Representing our country through engineering was both humbling and inspiring—and I’m excited to carry what I’ve learned into the next phase of my career.”
