BASF creates chemistry with Alabama Southern Community College interns

MCINTOSH, AL, August 11, 2015 – BASF welcomed six college students as interns this past summer. Students received firsthand working experience in the areas of chemical process technology and engineering.  

“BASF is pleased to provide the summer internship program to students who are pursuing careers in the chemical industry,” said George Vann, Vice President of the BASF site in McIntosh. “It is important to us that local students have opportunities to prepare themselves to be leaders in our industry.”

In addition to the summer internship program, BASF’s McIntosh site annually offers two-year scholarships for students participating in the Chemical Process Technology Program at Alabama Southern Community College (ASCC) in Thomasville, Alabama. The program prepares students for jobs in the chemical industry. Scholarships are awarded based on the students’ academic accomplishments, testing, and personal interviews. The BASF scholarships cover each student’s tuition and fees for up to four semesters at ASCC.

“Each scholarship recipient is offered a summer internship at our facility,” said Lyna’ Schell, Human Resources Business Partner of the BASF site. “Engineering students at the University of South Alabama participate in the summer internship program as well. This allows students to connect what they’ve learned in the classroom with real industry applications.”

This year’s summer internship participants included three students from ASCC: Grady Busby, Brandon Threadgill, and Zane Warr; and three students from the University of South Alabama: Benjamin Burleson, Rajendra Khadka, and Jessica Lacy. All three students from ASCC are studying paper and chemical technology.

“BASF is a great place to work,” said Busby. “Safety comes first and getting the job done follows immediately after. With this experience, you can really determine if this is the correct career choice.”

Throughout their internships, they participated in supervised, on-the-job activities including sampling repositories from ground water remediation, working with operators in the Light Stabilizers Unit and performing calibrations in the lab with safety as their foremost priority.

“Everyone here cared about my safety and wanted me to learn,” said Warr. “This experience gave me the extra drive I needed heading into college.”

Busby plans to graduate from ASCC in 2016, while Threadgill and Warr are planning to graduate in 2017.

Download photo, suggested Caption #1: Grady Busby, ASCC intern, works with Joey Smith, Operator, Light Stabilizers Unit, on a lock out tag out operation.

Download photo, suggested Caption #2: Zane Warr, ASCC intern, performs field analysis and comprehensive sampling of groundwater wells.

Download photo, suggested Caption #3: Brandon Threadgill, ASCC intern, loads product bags in the Light Stabilizers Unit.

About BASF - The Chemical Company

BASF Corporation, headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, is the North American affiliate of BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF has more than 17,000 employees in North America, and had sales of $20.6 billion in 2014. For more information about BASF’s North American operations, visit www.basf.us.

At BASF, we create chemistry – and have been doing so for 150 years. Our portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products and crop protection products to oil and gas. As the world’s leading chemical company, we combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. Through science and innovation, we enable our customers in nearly every industry to meet the current and future needs of society. Our products and solutions contribute to conserving resources, ensuring nutrition and improving quality of life. We have summed up this contribution in our corporate purpose: We create chemistry for a sustainable future. BASF had sales of over €74 billion in 2014 and around 113,000 employees as of the end of the year. Further information on BASF is available on the Internet at www.basf.com.

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