Kriti – Intern in Process & Technology Engineering

Hello everyone!

My name is Kriti, and I am currently pursuing a Master's in Science in Industrial Chemistry at the National University of Singapore. As a part of my program, I was required to do my internship and write my master’s thesis. This is where Evonik comes in. For the past six months, I have been interning at Evonik as a Process and Technology Engineering (PTE) Intern. As a Chemistry major student in my bachelors, my Master's course was all about learning the other side of chemistry – the engineering component. So, when I was given the chance to interview for the PTE department at Evonik, I leapt at the opportunity.

However, before the internship started, I had my doubts. Could a chemistry student understand and blend well with a department full of engineers? All my doubts were defied on my first day at work. I was the sole intern in the department, consisting of six other brilliant minds who made me feel welcome from the very beginning. To add to it, there were many other research and development interns, belonging to various branches of science at the Asia Research Hub who also made me feel included.

Despite being an engineering intern, my supervisor never limited my projects to those related to process engineering. I had the chance to support multiple projects from different business lines, interact with people from different departments and even different countries, and develop new skills. For the first three months, I had three main projects: I assisted in the development of digital dashboards using Microsoft Power Bi to monitor the manufacturing, health and safety, and production KPI’s at the Oil Additives site. I supported the customization of an application using Microsoft PowerApps to create, track, and receive work orders and print orders for the Additive Manufacturing team. The last project was assisting in lab tests for membranes and observing their permeance, flow rate, and rejection. These inter-departmental projects gave me the chance to interact and network with people from different backgrounds.

The last three months consisted of working on my thesis and supporting the introduction of 5S methodology for the labs at Asia Research Hub. The topic of my thesis is to optimize the process of raw material recovery and develop its simulation using Aspen Tech. Having limited experience and expertise in this field had me stumped for a while, but with the encouragement and support of my supervisor and fellow colleagues, I was able to make progress.

My favorite part of the internship has to be the people at Evonik. Everyone is enthusiastic and passionate about each of their projects. They made me feel welcome and valued. No question was ever considered dumb, and no idea was ever disregarded. It was easy to have long discussions on topics not only related to work, but also about their passions and hobbies. Despite being just an intern, the people in my department made a constant effort to make me feel included at department meetings and team dinners. Additionally, I truly appreciated the cultural diversity at the company. There are people from all over the world working together to achieve similar goals and make the company better. Celebrating different events and holidays with this amazing group of people is an experience I will always be thankful for.

Evonik gave me the platform to explore different fields, work with insightful people, learn about products beyond my imagination, and acquire technical and soft skills. Given the opportunity, I would love to contribute to the wonderful culture of the company and continue to be a #PartOfSomethingSpecial.

Best,

Kriti

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