Developing Engineer Program Experience
Campbell Harrison, Developing Engineer - Chester, SC
"I was first introduced to Arkema’s Developing Engineer Program by an Alumni at my University who referred me to the program managers. I was easily assured that this was a great step in my career coming out of school. Preparing for my role was exciting for several reasons. The initial plant visit ahead of my start date allowed me to get familiar with who I would be working with at the site as well as a general layout of the location and what products our site was focused on within the business. The program is set up so that you spend about a month at your site before attending orientation at corporate with the rest of the Developing Engineers.
The rest of the DE experience is exciting as you are thrown into real world engineering problems from the start. You have the ability to lean on your peers in the program as well as your DE mentor for recourses and advice. Networking happens organically in Arkema’s Developing Engineer program because of the several off-site trainings you attend and the constant exposure you receive in the course of your work.
The benefits to joining the program are simple - a smooth transition from college to the workforce, gaining valuable engineering experience and being set up for long term success in your career as an engineer as well as within Arkema."
Chester, SC (2022 – Present)
Pat McKay, Developing Engineer - Grand Rapids, MI
"I knew about Arkema initially due to their role as a major player in the chemical industry. I really found out more after talking with a great group of people at the career fair at my school, the University of Kentucky.
The start was unconventional due to the Coronavirus pandemic (Summer 2020). I learned I would be at Grand Rapids and met the staff during an initial site visit prior to my start date. It was reassuring to have some check-ins with our DE representatives at Arkema, and I also started to have some contact with the rest of the Developing Engineers from my cohort. Orientation was a good chance to get to know everybody more, hear about their background and where they were working, and then be introduced more to the DE program and Arkema as a whole. This certainly helped prepare me during the early days of my DE assignment.
I worked as a plant engineer and my primary focus was project/process engineering, but I also worked with maintenance, contractor & project management, and learned a lot about process controls. Safety and sustainability were two areas I also participated in. Day-to-day I interacted with all departments including but not limited to logistics, maintenance, production, etc. I always felt like an important part of the team and I saw the whole picture of how a plant runs, while also contributing to its success.
During trainings I grew my network and got to learn about various topics that would help during my role and later in my career. There were always graduates of the DE program and others from multiple areas of the company who were around to meet, and this allowed me to see a variety of career paths and learn about the different functions at Arkema. Some of the training programs we participated in were instrumentation and valve training, problem solving, and process safety, in addition to a few others. The network you gain is a big plus and working for a company continuously trying to grow and innovate leaves lots of opportunity for the future."
Grand Rapids, Michigan (August 2020 – May 2022)
Savannah Skram, Process Engineer, Recipe Industrialization - Cary, NC
"The DE program gave me a great understanding of what being an engineer in a plant is like. I worked directly with operators, maintenance, other engineers and management to increase plant capacity, troubleshoot issues, and make plant improvements. I got to recommission a reactor line, make recipe changes to improve cycle times, specify and install instrumentation, schedule production, participate in PHAs, and run multiple product scale up batches all in my time at the plant.
I have had numerous opportunities to network with individuals from different business units and functions which has allowed me to better understand the company as a whole and the possible career opportunities that I have moving forward. I really enjoyed the trainings that were a part of the program which helped me further my knowledge while getting to interact with the other DEs in the program."
Developing Engineer - Mobile, AL (2020 - 2021)
Production Engineer - Mobile, AL (2022)
Process Engineer, Recipe Industrialization- Cary, NC (2023 - Present)