Industry Experience

As a mechanical engineering intern at Evonik, I spent my time wearing a hard hat, steel-toed boots, and a PPM monitor when out in the plant. I learned about chemical processes (like carbon chaining) and manufacturing, pipe inspections, maintenance, and pump redesign (there are so many pumps at a chemical plant). I worked in the HCN (yes, that is hydrogen cyanide) plant; I was always fascinated at how a highly toxic chemical (HCN) was used as part of the chemical process to produce methionine, which is a protein that Evonik used for chicken feed to support wing growth (p.s. the methionine plant smells really bad; I also worked there for a little while).

Evonik also makes a cool structural foam called Rohacell, which we used in our senior design project at the University of South Alabama to build a fuel-efficient single-cylinder car. Evonik was a huge donor/sponsor for out project, so you can see there logo front and center on our vehicle.