From Study Hall to Sucrose: Gaining a Real-World Education

For Stephen Douglas, a chemical engineering major at Louisiana State University, an internship in Gramercy is turning out to be far more than he first expected.

This summer, for the first time, Imperial Sugar Company (ISC) is offering an internship program that allows six outstanding engineering students the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in their field.

“It’s a fantastic program, and I’m excited to have six great students,” says George Muller, vice president of administration.

George Muller, vice president of administration.

“This isn’t your typical summer job where you goof around for barely-above-minimum wage. This has some real teeth to it. And the feedback I’ve gotten is that all six students are very engaged, taking it seriously and learning as much as they can.”

One intern is at ISC’s refinery in Gramercy, La. The other five work full time at the refinery in Port Wentworth, Ga. Each intern is spending the summer focusing on at least one substantial project for the company, and each one is partnered with a different ISC engineer, who will serve as mentor.

For Stephen Douglas, a chemical engineering major at Louisiana State University, an internship in Gramercy is turning out to be far more than he first expected. He started in the lab, transforming product test spreadsheets into automated graphs to identify trends in the purity and consistency of granulated sugar.

Add to that, his current project at the molasses blending station, where he’s designing a filtration system that uses automated, self-cleaning filters. Douglas, who will be a senior this fall, sums it all up this way: “I’ve been exposed to a lot of different areas, which has turned into a really valuable experience, depending on where I work afterward.”

Rising senior Emma Sebeey is originally from Cameroon, West Africa, but now studies chemical engineering at North Carolina State University (NCSU). Sebeey’s first project of the summer is to help improve the process of removing impurities from liquid sugar and, in turn, gain cost efficiencies. “I’ve learned a tremendous amount in only three weeks,” she says.

Raised in Dubai, Seena Mehrabanzad is earning a master’s degree in engineering and technology innovation management. He’s working with senior process engineer Chris Gordon to optimize one of the steps in the sugar crystallization process.

Explaining why he transplanted himself from Carnegie Mellon for the opportunity, Mehrabanzad says, “The fact that the company is rebuilding was intriguing to me. I hope that I can help with some processes to make them even better than they were before.”

Rising sophomore Will Flores, also at NCSU, is pursuing an academic path in computers and electrical engineering. To match his interests, ISC engineers tasked him with a project that involves replacing a programmable logic control – a computer – for the mechanical stretch wrapper, which wraps clear film around sugar packages stacked on pallets.

“It’s been a help to talk to my mentor, Tim Strozzo, about whether this field is worth poring over all the electrical engineering books,” Flores says. “So far, so good!”

Interns at Port Wentworth refinery are: (l-r)Will Flores of NC State University, Seena Mehrabanzad ofCarnegie-Mellon University, Evan McConnell of NC State University, Emmanuella Sebeey of NC State University and Ian Avera of NC State University.

Evan McConnell, who will be a senior at NCSU next year, says he likes the fact that he can apply what he’s been learning at school. “I’m working on a project with the plant’s steam turbines,” he says. “It’s funny, because the last class I took before coming here dealt with turbines and how they operate. I’ve really enjoyed how new tasks come up every day. It’s very refreshing!”

Originally from Homer, Alaska, Ian Avera will earn his mechanical engineering from NCSU after one more semester. His multiple projects fall under the category of energy savings. For example, Avera is weighing options for recapturing lost energy and condensate from the refinery’s steam boilers.

“It’s a huge opportunity in terms of savings,” says reliability engineer Andre Jeffries, who is Avera’s mentor.

Like the others, Avera points to the hands-on benefits of the internship. “This isn’t my first internship,” he says, “but I consider it to be my best. It’s the first experience where I’ve been able to combine the nitty-gritty calculations and analysis that I’ve learned in class with hardcore engineering experience.”