TTU students gain real-world experience at BASF

(Sept. 12, 2024) - Four college students spent the summer gaining real-world experience, networking with peers and expanding their skill sets during paid internships at BASF’s site in Sparta, Tennessee. Interns Adam Ohm, Andreea Marinescu, Karlyn Alessandra Ortiz Pineda, and J.D. Rankin worked alongside BASF professionals to enhance their capabilities and gain hands-on knowledge working in manufacturing.

Through BASF’s internship program, the Sparta site provides meaningful projects and positions for chemistry, engineering, and computer science students.

“These students represent the future of manufacturing,” said Andy Schmitt, Site Director for BASF in Sparta. “From the moment they walk onsite until the end of their internship, we guide them by providing real-world experience and industry knowledge. The detailed feedback these students receive during their internship gives them the tools needed to move forward on their path to becoming successful industry professionals and members of our future workforce.”

The interns were selected from Tennessee Tech University, where students from a broad range of academic disciplines are prepared to enter a technologically driven world.

The students were able to connect what they have learned in the classroom with real workforce applications and experiences by working on projects focused on enhancing the use of digitalization, improving the efficiency of certain processes, reducing energy usage in specific parts of the site, and other assignments designed to optimize the work being done onsite.

 “The summer internship with BASF was greatly beneficial both professionally and personally,” said Andreea Marinescu. “I was given the opportunity to manage my own projects, which allowed me to work with different people and departments and grow my interpersonal skills. The culture at BASF is great and I enjoyed working with a team that had a continuous improvement mindset.”

In addition to the internship, Marinescu earned $1,000 from BASF’s endowed scholarship for students pursuing a degree in engineering or chemistry at Tennessee Tech University with a minimum grade point average of 2.5. Students must also have interned at BASF’s Sparta site to be considered for the scholarship.

For more information about careers and internship opportunities at BASF, visit www.basf.us/tn.