When I accepted my offer for a 12-week Research & Development internship at Procter & Gamble back in December 2024, I had no idea just how transformative the experience would be. It was exciting—and a little nerve-wracking—knowing I’d be spending the summer in Cincinnati, Ohio, the farthest I’d ever been from home. But by the time May rolled around, I was packed and ready to dive into the unknown.

Procter & Gamble (P&G) is a global leader in consumer goods, known for brands like Tide, Pampers, and Gillette. But beyond the household names, P&G is deeply committed to environmental sustainability. Through its Ambition 2030 goals, the company is working to make all consumer packaging recyclable or reusable by 2030, cut greenhouse gas emissions across its operations, and reduce its use of petroleum-based plastics by half. This aspect is what really caught my eye and excited me for a potential future in product development.

Over the first few weeks, I became acquainted with my workplace and truly understood the “why” for my project. R&D is truly the heart of Procter & Gamble, and I quickly realized that throughout my internship. My role was in Process Delivery & Design, and my goal was to provide enhancements and solutions for current in-market products. Almost right away, I realized that sustainability wasn’t just a checkbox that they needed to satisfy – it mattered when evaluating the product I was working on. This realization prompted me to explore how environmental responsibility is woven into corporate decision-making, from sourcing materials to lifecycle assessments. It was eye-opening and made me appreciate how much thought goes into creating products that are both effective and responsible.

The shift in perspective really changed how I looked at my work during the internship. I started asking different kinds of questions—not just “Does this work?” but “Is this sustainable?” and “How will this impact the environment long-term?” Once I started thinking that way, it changed how I showed up in team meetings. I started noticing that the amount of effort going into making products wasn’t just effective but also environmentally responsible.

From there, the weeks started to fly by, and I was already presenting my ideas and recommendations to senior technical leaders. I was in awe of their truly considering what I had to say and their extreme support of continuing the work even after I left. I gained confidence and saw the potential of my ideas coming to life.

Besides my core projects, I was encouraged to branch out and meet other leaders in different disciplines within the company. This allowed me to really dig deep into my other interest in sustainable packaging. One of my highlights was being able to meet with a senior packaging director, and he told me how packaging isn’t going anywhere, which means that we must find smarter solutions to benefit our environment. Sustainability isn’t a temporary trend, but instead a long-term responsibility. My main takeaways from our conversation were on how P&G designed packaging that’s functional, cost-effective, and environmentally conscious. This made me excited about the different aspects of innovation within such a large company.

As my projects wrapped up, I was able to present technical findings and design recommendations to R&D leadership and cross-functional teams, iterate on product prototypes based on lab results, consumer feedback, and internal reviews, and document experimental procedures, design iterations, and outcomes in technical reports for future reference and scale-up. It was hard to believe the output that I had in 12 weeks, but I was proud of myself for being able to take on the task at hand and tackle the problem.

My time at Procter & Gamble gave me more than just an internship, but an experience instead. What I enjoyed most was the sense of belonging and purpose. I wasn’t just an intern—I was part of a team that cared deeply about making a difference. The culture at P&G was incredibly welcoming, and the people I met—from lab technicians to senior directors—were passionate, supportive, and eager to share their knowledge.

Cincinnati itself was a pleasant surprise. The city grew quickly with its vibrant food scene, friendly locals, and scenic views. It started to feel like home, and I’ll always cherish the memories I made there.

I will make sure to apply the skills I learned during my internship with my research position this fall semester with Dr. Venditti and Dr. Pawlak for Developing Sustainable Alternatives to Plastic Foam Packaging. I am excited to continue discovering my interest in sustainable packaging from an educational standpoint.