KIT-Students visit the process engineering department of Evonik in Hanau

Students from the Course “Process Development and Scale-up” at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) visited the department “Process Technology & Engineering” at Evonik Industries at the Hanau-site at the end of April. The visit was designed to provide students with an understanding of the role of a process engineer at Evonik and an insight into the relationship between studies and work. In the profile subject, students learn how to use various tools in process development and scale-up of chemical plants. This ranges from reading and creating Piping and Instrumentation Diagrams (P&ID) to economic feasibility studies and the creation of mass and energy balances.

At Evonik, students gained an insight into the everyday work of a project engineer using an example project from Evonik. This was supplemented by an exchange of experiences based on a picture tour of various engineering projects at Evonik. The highlight of the event was a tour of two process facilities. One of these is renowned as a GMP facility for its production of clinical and small-scale commercial pharmaceutical lipids (see picture). The students were also able to engage in a question-and-answer session with Evonik colleagues, gaining valuable insights into the working life of a specialty chemicals company.

We would like to extend our gratitude to our colleagues at Evonik (Niclas Rothenbücher, Dietmar Jarmer, Bernd Glöckler, Linda Gerhofer, Sven Ude and Jürgen Hajdo) for providing us with this invaluable opportunity.