Delaney - US Summer Professional Enrichment Program

Hello all,

My name is Delaney, and I am studying Marketing and Management at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. At Evonik I have been able to broaden my knowledge of marketing, learning how it influences product development. This has been with the significant help of the network at Evonik including people I have met through the Summer Professional Enrichment (SPE) and working under the Global Marketing team, for Cleaning Solutions.

Evonik was a company I have never heard of until a few years ago, until I met someone who worked for the company. They have been with the company for 25 years and had great things to say about it. At that time, I did not have a full understanding of what the company did and how it operated. Now that I have spent several weeks at Evonik I have learned more than I ever expected. It has taught me in a professional way what the various products do for example I never knew what a surfactant was before coming to the company. Now I know it is an ingredient that emulsifies dirt and grease so it can be rinsed off with water. It also has allowed me to be a better consumer of products because I have been able to familiarize myself with the cleaning products Evonik is producing like Bio-surfactants.

In my team I have been able to witness and contribute to product development by leading surveys; these consist of looking into end-consumer pain points and unmet needs. Additionally, I have been helping with the creation of the front end of our website by giving suggestions and helping with migration of the information. Also, I have been able to help with analytical research on customers to help the sales team with potential leads.

On top of that my SPE team has created sustainability initiatives to implement within the company. We then pitched them to our sponsor and in return he asked us to help him produce game plan to launch these two ideas. Within this process I was able to create a network inside and outside of Evonik. Outside Evonik I have the opportunity to network with other platforms that can help make our initiatives come to life. Inside Evonik my team and I have the opportunity to collaborate with employees outside of our regular teams. We asked them for advice on our ideas. Through sharing our ideas, we received more interest in our sustainability initiatives than we originally thought.

My favorite part of working at Evonik is the people. They are enthusiastic, inquisitive, and ignite curiosity in me. I have had compelling conversations about topics that were related to products we were working with and how these ingredients shape the products we consume in our everyday life.

#PartsOfSomethingSpecial is something I have felt throughout my internship. I never thought I would have so much say in things that can shape a new product which could lead into effecting consumption in the world.

Kind regards,

Delaney

On the students@Evonik blog, students, who work at Evonik, share their experiences about life and work in the company.