International Paper

This summer was one to remember! Over the last 10 weeks, I completed my first internship at International Paper in Franklin, Virginia and had the opportunity to work on several meaningful projects. International Paper is the world's largest paper company by revenue and transforms renewable resources into products people depend on every day, from planet-friendly packaging and recycling to absorbent pulp. As an Engineering Intern under the Capital department, I supported the implementation of the mill’s various enterprise wide initiatives focused on the mill’s safety, reliability, and improvement efforts. My main focus was on three significant projects: 1) Assisting with capital-funding proposals and tasks, as part of which I drafted proposals using the Front-End Loading (FEL) process and hosted business alignment meetings to help jumpstart major projects identified as high priority by the mill senior management. The completion of these tasks has allowed my manager the flexibility to start these projects at short notice in future. 2) Collecting water usage data on mill processes, with the focused goal to ensure that the mill was optimizing the maximum amount of water used for different processes. Gathering and analyzing the water data allowed me to understand the extent of the reuse of water within various processes and how the mill leverages this sustainable initiative as an integral part of their standard operations. 3) Creating usable data and displays for specific mill processes, which provided an opportunity to leverage and further improve my expertise in the area of data visualization. I was able to utilize PI Asset Framework, PI Vision, and (my favorite!) Power BI to make templates and displays to be used by the engineers at Franklin. It was meaningful to me to see engineers and senior management use my displays to understand and troubleshoot some of the mill’s critical operations. Finally, my time at International Paper was something that I will never forget. I learned so much more than I could have imagined in my first internship. The opportunity to grow as an individual both on my personal and professional fronts was extremely rewarding. I wanted to say thank you to the following people for the incredible time that I had at International Paper’s Franklin mill. To my manager, Michelle Hudson, for being my mentor and entrusting me with these projects. To the rest of the Capital team - Roger Mcclellan, Alex Bridges, and Rachel Smith for being so welcoming and willing to help with anything. And last but not least, to Libby Berter and Steve Hardy for assisting me and providing direct resources to my specific projects. #IPIntern

Last week, I wrapped up my internship International Paper by presenting my final presentation! I was able to share all of the projects I worked on throughout the summer to the communications department and engaged in a Q&A following the presentation. My time at IP was nothing short of exciting, and I am so incredibly grateful to Helen G. and the rest of the communications department for guiding me through projects, answering my questions, and challenging me to think outside of the box by embracing creativity. This summer taught me so many different things about corporate communications, and I can’t wait to bring that knowledge and experience into my senior year at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and into my career post-grad! Thanks you, again, IP for such a wonderful summer!

As my internship comes to a close, I wanted to take some time to reflect on some of the things I did that helped the purchasing department here at International Paper Georgetown. First and foremost, I want to thank Devin Hamill, Christopher Knutsen, and Paul Scheatzle, Jr. Each of them showed me what it was like day to day in their respective roles, and I appreciate their willingness to listen to questions I had about whatever the task was that day. I learned a lot and I am glad I got to be a part of the team. Most of my time was spent in the storeroom with Devin and the storeroom crew. We were able to make steps towards storeroom optimization through communicating with the maintenance managers of the Pulp, Power, and Paper departments to get rid of obsolete materials that don’t turn. Ultimately, I was able to save the mill over $100,000 this summer alone. Additionally, I worked on a scope of work for a warehouse extension that would store large motors. I met with multiple contractors to complete walk downs of the structures and get quotes about how we were going to engineer the concrete for the building. This will end up being a capital project at some point in the future. Lastly, I ran MRP (Materials Requirement Planning), created purchase requisitions, and completed Stock Transport orders for the mill. These are basic duties of a storeroom buyer that are completed through SAP interface which I am glad I got to experience this summer. I am very thankful for my time at the Georgetown mill and all of the things I learned. I look forward to seeing what the future holds!