Clariant Corporation

Chemical Engineer Intern

May - December 2022 • Louisville, KY

What I liked

At Clariant, I enjoyed the openness of everyone around me and the casual atmosphere provided by the company. I was able to connect with my co-workers and supervisors on a more personal level to where they understood my situation better in terms of my education. Additionally, Clariant provided me a position to where I could work with multiple departments of the industry every day. I was hired under the production side of the plant; however, I was able to work with R+D, Pilot, and the operators which showed me other avenues my career can take. Especially with the operators, I was able to see both sides of engineering: the planning with all the blueprints and meetings, and the application where the parts were installed and used in the daily processes. This fit perfectly with the classes I have taken at the time at college to where I could see how the material I learned in class applies to real-life industries. After another semester at Clariant, I can say that everything I said before is still true. Clariant and its employees offer a friendly work environment where I can build connections and relationships with my co-workers. Moreover, I can know work better with my co-workers as we understand each other better which allows us to be more efficient and proactive for the company. Clariant has also offered me direction as they allowed me to work with the different departments of the company. I was able to work in the Quality Control lab, assist with R+D identification, and learn about safety regulations with ESHA. This opportunity has allowed me to further define my goals for the future and pick a career once I graduate. The work I had done was also helpful as I was able to use my knowledge from the classroom in new ways I could not before. The reason this is important is because what you learn in the classroom is different from what you learn in the field, but they should be able to help each other to find the best solution.

What I wish was different

I wish the document filing was more organized as I found myself searching through the cloud for a certain document for a long time. This also applies to the main operating program Clariant uses as it is not operator friendly. It took me a while to understand how to navigate the program and - at the time of writing this review - I still do not understand everything the program does. To rectify this problem, my supervisors could create a basic manual to aid new co-ops/interns in this program as well as other common sites the engineers use. Another thing I wish was different was my role in more professional projects. At the beginning of my co-op, I was able to sit-in during meetings of other projects so that I could learn how the meetings are organized; however, as time went on, I was unable to join in on these meetings. So, I wish I could have more of an active role with bigger projects that Clariant is working on. Another aspect of my co-op I wish was different is the communication between departments. In my experience, majority of the problems that arose during the day was miscommunication between individuals of different departments. This led to confusion between the engineers, production operators, maintenance workers, and lab technicians which could have been avoided if someone ensured everyone was on the same page. The reason I think this occurs is because of the lengthy communication chain used for each project. Because the message in question gets sent to different people before arriving to its designated personal, the true purpose of the message gets lost in transit. There is also a lack of communication between the engineers and me. I was not informed of system status changes, nor was I included in the weekly scheduling meeting. So, every day I had to hope the system I needed to work on was functioning so I may complete my work. If not, then I would have to find out the estimated downtime and continue there on after. All in all, I believe Clariant can improve their communication methods through both their data collection software and between employees. The system needs to be simplified to prevent miscommunication and confusion.

Advice

One piece of advice I have for future interns is to not to be scared in asking your co-workers for help if you do not know something. While your co-workers do expect you to have some knowledge on the industry due to your education, you are new to the company and need to learn how all the operations work. This does not only apply to engineers; the factory workers know how the systems work mechanically so ask them for a walk-through or ask them a question on the machines. Moreover, be sure to read through the previous co-ops notes or documents on the cloud. This will allow you to see how other people might approach the problem and give you on some ideas on how to improve the projects or systems. Chances are that the engineers will ask you to continue an existing project that a previous co-op student did not finish, so you should be able to learn how they ran the tests so you can correctly collect data for it. To add on to what I said previously, it is also important to stay vigilant with your work because if you are not then your project will fall behind and you will not be able to finish on time. You will be given work you cannot complete by yourself, so it is important that you find someone who can help you do it while you work on another part. Having said that, you must keep communication with this individual regularly to ensure the data is being collected how you wanted, and you are acquiring information you can use. If you do not, chances are the data will not be recorded or some unforeseen variable will have affected it. The reason I bring this up is because anything can affect your projects and you must be able to adapt to it or else you will never get any work done. An example that happened to me was when the batteries died in a thermocouple I was using for a 24-hour test. Because of this, that data trial had to be thrown out due to incomplete samples and I had wasted a day for that project. So, be sure to regularly check in on your projects so that you can prevent your projects from being affected in any way.

Be the first to mark this as helpful

Engineering Co-op

May - December 2022 • Louisville, KY

What I liked

First Semester. The aspect I liked most about my time here at Clariant are the workers and environment the company creates; specifically, how every worker from production, quality, engineering, etc. are always helpful and ready to answer any questions I might have. This community at Clariant allows me to understand a system and/or problem from multiple perspectives and gain new insight on an issue. In terms of my labor tasks, I enjoyed how I am provided different types of tasks so that I better understand the tasks of the engineers; for example, I receive long-term projects to which I am supposed to complete in a few weeks, weekly tasks I am supposed to finish by the end of the week, and daily tasks I am to finish by the end of the day. This work environment allows me to receive a broad perspective on my future responsibilities as an engineer in the chemical field. The community at Clariant allows me to gain further insight on my daily, weekly, and monthly projects from all aspects of production, quality, engineering, etc. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Second Semester. This semester I was allowed to expand my experience to new areas of the factory I had not yet been involved with; for example, this semester I worked on a new system in building 50 where I updated a few P&ID's, orchestrated a material balance project, completed a Lump Sum Project, and aided the process engineers in daily tracking measurements. Moreover, I was given the responsibility of interacting with other Clariant sites in America and other countries to aid in sample shipping or process modeling. While this semester was just an extension for many of my projects in the first co-op semester, I was also exposed to a plethora of new opportunities and branches within this field that has expanded my understanding of the field. All in all, I enjoyed how I was able to further my learning opportunity through this semester by being exposed to new branches, procedures, and systems that enlightened me to more aspects of the industrial field for chemical engineers.

What I wish was different

First Semester. I wish I could have spent more time learning the different aspects of the company such as quality control and testing in the company labs so I may understand other aspects of chemical engineering; specifically, there are many steps before a process reaches the engineering sect of this company and I never truly experienced those areas. I believed experiencing a process in its early test phases and working with it to finally witness it on the production floor would have been an amazing experience for myself and future co-ops. Furthermore, I wish I would have been exposed to a more hands-on assignments such as doing quality tests myself; for example, simple Loss On Ignition tests (LODs) or temperature tests would have been an interesting experience for me. I believe, however, all my wishes as stated in this paragraph will be alleviated by another co-op semester with this company. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Second Semester. I wish this semester would have been different through my education and academic progress thus far; specifically, while I was given the responsibility of greater projects this semester, I was not exposed to the imperative tasks the Production Manager or Process Engineer were. I understand it is still early in my academic career and there are mountains of information I still need to learn, but I thought it would be interesting to at least show me an example of a project relating to my future classes such as Transport Phenomenon or Fluid Dynamics. This would have allowed me to apply what I have seen in the field to what I learn in the classroom in the future. Moreover, this semester I was not exposed to the quality lab control as I had wished the last semester, but this is fine as this semester I was still exposed to a multitude of other branches in the field such as Logistics, R&D, and Shipping that expanded my perspective on the industrial field.

Advice

First Semester. Ask questions! As I stated in a previous paragraph, everyone at Clariant is willing and ready to answer questions about systems, processes, and issues that might arise. If I did not know an answer to a question or an issue arrived in one of my projects, then I would ask either the engineers or production crew for their input and how best to tackle the problem; however, do not ask a question without having a possible answer or solution. If you have a list of possible answers, then your employer will be impressed with your independence with problem solving. Furthermore, do not be afraid to introduce yourself to the production workers as the relationship between production and engineering is pivotal for the future of the company. This relationship builds connections and community for yourself as well as for the company. Do not be afraid to meet new people or building a relationship with other workers as that is how a company like Clariant works at their best. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Second Semester: This semester I recommend future interns to expose themselves to all the departments and aspects of the field early on so that they may begin to generate relationships with each branch. These relationships are what build a company and make certain all processes are running smoothly; for example, the relationship between Production, Floor Operators, and R&D is pivotal as these three branches work daily to better the processes of the plant. Moreover, a relationship between Inventory and Engineering would allow both Process Engineers and Plant Engineers to make certain the site has the needed materials for either a sample shipment (for Process Engineers) or the correct piping/machinery for a new project (for Plant Engineers). Another piece of advice I have is to always carry a notepad, notebook, or legal pad with you to take notes, assignments, or requests because it shows your superiors you are a diligent and perspective worker.

Be the first to mark this as helpful