By Ikha
Hello everyone!
Time flies when you’re having fun, these are the perfect words to describe what’s happening to me now. My internship will end in two weeks, and I still can’t believe it. In this post, I‘d like to share about my internship at Air Liquide Global E&C Solutions Poland S.A., what challenges I’ve overcome, the work culture, and what I have learned so far. But first of all, I’d like to give you a brief insight about this company:
Air Liquide Global E&C Solutions Poland S.A. is a part of the Air Liquide Group, the world leader in gases, technologies and services for Industry and Health and present in 80 countries. Air Liquide Engineering & Construction is a technology partner for the design, engineering and construction of processing facilities and related infrastructures. It has 15 engineering centers worldwide out of which one located in Kraków. As you know, I'm finishing this internship at Air Liquide Global E&C Solutions Poland S.A. in the beautiful touristic city, Kraków.
“Any intern here expects to be challenged in a way that gives them as much valuable knowledge and experience as possible”
My internship is mainly about designing hydrogenation technology to convert glycerin into monopropylene glycol, which is used in many industries (like lubricant, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and even the food industry). I strongly believe that, just like it was for me, any intern here expects to be challenged in a way that gives them as much valuable knowledge and experience as possible. And I’m quite happy with this internship because it always challenges me. Although I joined the team almost at the end of the engineering phase, I still got engineering tasks to do. For me the biggest challenge came after the engineering phase ended, when we review vendors' technical proposal for the conversion technology.
You could say it’s a simple task, but it’s a long-term one. Generally, this is when we compare our requirements with the data offered in proposals. It involves a lot of reading and checking, not only the proposals but also any related documents such as data sheets, specifications, drawings, standards, and codes. Sometimes, it also requires calculation, simulation, and analysis to clarify or solve certain problems.
At the beginning, I wasn’t sure I could accomplish this very well since it requires more experience to identify critical parameters already included or not yet written in the proposals. But me and my colleague managed it! We also sharpened our communication skills and creativity to present easy understandable reviews for the proposals revision.
“ I feel valued by what I’ve performed here.”
Something that I'll miss from Air Liquide is the positive work environment, which provides wide opportunities for professional development and growth. First, I feel valued by what I've performed here. During my internship, I'm supervised by a senior engineer, who has profound knowledge and experiences in the field of gas technology. Despite his busy work, he checks all my accomplished tasks thoroughly, discusses and answers my questions, listens and corrects my analysis for any issue which might affect the technology design or simply to advance my knowledge.
Second, the relationships between co-workers are very good because the people here are open and very helpful both at and outside of work. I'm working intensively with one engineer to review proposals. As one team, we don’t find any difficulties in exchanging our ideas, we keep reporting our findings to each other so we’ll both keep updated. Such good atmosphere fosters camaraderie, productivity, and excellence. For those reasons, I always feel motivated to go in to work.
“It’s not just about gaining but also about sharing knowledge what makes working in a team worthwhile”
Doing an internship in a global environment helps me understand the importance of communication and language skills with a new perspective. Since English isn't my native language, it forces me to pay more attention and always be focused during discussions. It also pushes me to be more confident when I speak. Thank's to reviewing proposals, I learned a lot on how to communicate effectively speaking and writing to others. Of course, mastering these skills requires an extra effort to solve problems and one can still make mistakes, but I do really enjoy this learning stage.
As I mentioned before, the fact that I'm working in a team it makes my internship worthwhile, because it’s not just about gaining but also about sharing knowledge. And this ‘give and take’ behavior for me is always beneficial for everyone and fundamental to build trust in the team.
At last, I hope this post ensures everyone to embrace the challenge to do an internship abroad, especially in Air Liquide Global E&C Solutions Poland S.A.
See you on the next post!