By: Charlie Pine PSE ’29

I just finished my first year of college and am working at Smurfit Westrock in Hopewell, Virginia. I still can’t believe that they let a 19-year-old who has only taken one paper class do what I do on a daily basis! I am working in the Power & Recovery department as a process engineering intern. Some of my daily tasks include performing tests on green liquor samples, calibrating analyzers, and running meetings. I am honored to work with my fellow engineers and operators; they have so much knowledge and are always willing to answer my never-ending questions when they have a spare moment. I enjoy getting to know the other interns who aren’t from NC State and what they do. I also know that I am very fortunate that my boss and my boss’s boss went to NC State through the same program as me. I see alumni thriving in the industry everyday. I am extremely grateful that I was able to have this experience so early in my college career, I will be able to take what I have learned in the field and apply it to my classwork. 

As I reflect over the summer, I realize just how much I have learned, it is more than I can fit into a paragraph. I learned how power and recovery run and got to see operations firsthand. Things like the boiler tripping are events that I learned about in class but being able to be in the control room while it happens and while the team works through it are so impactful. I gained a deeper understanding of paper manufacturing and what it takes to get a reel of paper produced from the back end of the mill. I got the opportunity to build meaningful connections with other engineers, co-ops and operators and there are many people here that I would consider a friend. I developed skills in different applications and software such as PI Vision, Ekhosoft, JDE, and CPro. I used data collection, trending, and analysis for my yellow belt project. These are skills I can take to my next internship or job in the industry.

I set myself up for success in the fall term. I have grown more comfortable with the processes around the Powerhouse, and I know that I will be able to accomplish even more in the fall now that I better understand some of the operations. I will be able to hit the ground running with some new projects and continue to do some of my weekly tasks I have gotten better at doing. 

Finally, I learned what it means to BE an engineer. I’ve grown up hearing about chemical engineers and paper engineers, but it is not something that has an easy job-description and it varies from role to role, but being around and learning from our process engineers, I can say with confidence that it is something I see myself doing after graduation.