R&D Internship Program

Every summer, Fuchs North America’s R&D team invites one or two students from Food Science programs at institutions like Penn State and the University of Maryland to intern with the department. The program began in 2012, and Associate Food Scientist Brian Swing was the first to hold the role. Our R&D interns work directly alongside food scientists, assisting on a wide range of projects.

“My internship with Fuchs R&D was meaningful because it showed me what I wanted to do with myself after college.  Fuchs has a great team that took the time to teach me about food science and the industrial side of business that academics almost never talks about,” Brian explains.

And Brian isn’t the only intern to get hired on as a full-time employee after college. Associate Food Scientist Mia Andrisani excelled in her internship here in 2016 and was hired on full-time immediately after her graduation from Penn State.

Since its conception, the program has proved to be beneficial for all involved.

The goal of the internship is that the intern gets some real life experience in the field by working on the bench alongside our team and assisting with various projects that happen to be going on at the time. At the same time, the intern is getting familiar with the various spices and ingredients that go into a seasoning blend, what the ingredients look, smell and taste like and what their function is in the blend as well as in the finished product the seasoning is used in.

Depending on what the scientists are working on at the time, the projects may include duplications of existing flavor profiles or developments of new flavor profiles for the various products. Interns may also help with projects like sensory set up and testing of seasoning blends, alternate vendor ingredient testing as well as testing physical parameter of such as flowability and dusting.

Just this summer, our R&D team welcomed Kaitlyn Davey, a Food Science major from the University of Maryland College Park, to intern in the department. Kaitlyn found the field of Food Science to be intriguing, as it combined many of her hobbies and passions. This summer, she was able to apply her knowledge from the classroom to the real world, assisting our team with various projects.

“My favorite aspect of the internship was working alongside a scientist to create new seasonings and duplications. Additionally, I enjoyed learning about flow aids and how important flow is in a seasoning. Overall, I had an amazing summer learning and applying skills in Food Science,” Kaitlyn describes.

In addition to academics, Kaitlyn is currently president of the Food Science club, a leader in the Juggling club, and a member of the Gamer Symphony Orchestra Chorus at the University of Maryland. In her free time, she enjoys archery, cooking, volunteering at robotics events, and practicing and performing a variety of circus arts including juggling and unicycling, which she demonstrated for us at our annual company picnic.

While our R&D department has the longest standing internship program, Fuchs also has welcomed interns in marketing, production, engineering, and maintenance. To learn more about interning at Fuchs, contact us.