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Brad Matheis and Indri Hardjasatya work in the Department of Food Science's pilot plant laboratory. The food science majors help set up equipment in the test facility for food processing research. (Photo by Tom Campbell) |
Pilot testing
Student jobs in Purdue Agriculture also paved the way for summer internships for food science majors Brad Matheis and Indri Hardjasatya.
Matheis and Hardjasatya simulate common food processing and manufacturing facilities in the Department of Food Science's Pilot Plant. The simulations benefit companies that use the Purdue research facility for food and food processes testing.
Hardjasatya, a senior from Cirebon, Indonesia, enjoys setting up machinery for a processing line—an activity, she says, that goes way beyond classroom theories. Matheis, too, likes assembling and disassembling the processing line, but he particularly relishes the opportunity to talk with food company representatives about new developments.
"Working in the pilot plant prepares me to deal with the physical aspect of food as well as to communicate with people,” says Matheis, a Fort Wayne, Ind., senior. This experience came in handy last summer during an internship with Atys US Inc., a fruit preparation company. Matheis traveled throughout California, Oregon and Washington, visiting production facilities where the company purchases fruit. “I enjoyed getting to know the workers on the line,” he says.
While Matheis was on the West Coast, Hardjasatya was building her résumé in the Midwest. She worked in a lab at Quest Internationals in Hoffman Estates, Ill., where she made citrus-flavored beverages and tested the shelf life of products.
"The projects that I have worked on confirmed my decision to pursue product development when I graduate,” Hardjasatya says. “The work I do in the pilot plant and my internship have helped make me a more versatile person. I can work well in a lab environment as well as a production facility.”
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