Summer Interns Thrive at NCFIL

The NC State Food Innovation Lab (NCFIL) is working with a new class of summer interns. Hailing from three different universities in the region, Maddie Brenner, Andrew Beaver and Ginger Jacobson are eager to learn all they can from this distinctive experience.

Maddie Brenner: Trader Joe’s Enthusiast

Brenner, a rising junior at NC State University, is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Food Science with minors in Microbiology and Nutrition. 

While looking for a summer internship related to food science on LinkedIn, Brenner came across the opportunity at NCFIL. After doing some research about the facility, she became really interested in the work and machinery in the Pilot Plant, and happily accepted a position as a Pilot Plant and Product Development Intern.

In her role, she will be working on projects in which companies send ideas or raw materials to utilize NCFIL’s machinery to process, analyze, and package it for them. Starting in July, she will be working on a sustainability project in which she is tasked with utilizing by-products from a common North Carolina produce.

“I am most curious to learn more about the product development process as I take on my own product next month as well as all the products that the NCFIL will do research and development for while I am here,” Brenner says. 

Citing the solids analyzer as her favorite piece of equipment to work with so far, Brenner shares that it has been beneficial to operate machines and appliances she has been learning about in her food science and engineering classes. “We were not able to operate these machines in labs at school due to liability concerns, so it has been awesome to really take in the machines’ capabilities.”

Brenner looks forward to working with numerous products in various facets of the industry and all she will learn during her internship. “I love how I get to interact with all types of plant-based products from carbonated beverages to sweet potato products to plant-based wings. This exposure to different products is exactly what I need in order to propel my career in the food and beverage industry.”  

Andrew Beaver: Novice Snowboarder

A rising sophomore at Appalachian State University, Beaver is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Nutrition and Foods – Dietetics. 

After hearing about NCFIL’s purpose and goals from his stepmother, a NCFIL employee, he became interested in learning more about plant-based food research and production. “I was interested in this internship because I want to gain more experience in the nutrition and food industry since I am a nutrition major. While this internship focuses more on food science, I am gaining a broader knowledge of what I may or may not want to do in the future.”

He’s quickly gaining experience with a variety of NCFIL’s equipment as a Research and Development Intern. His responsibilities include ensuring the machinery in the Pilot Plant is cleaned and sanitized properly, runs smoothly and correctly, and all safety protocols are carried out. 

“The spray dryer intrigues me the most because I am familiar with the products it can produce such as protein powder, or any sort of beverage or food powder. I never knew how these powdered products were made, and now I know! I am interested to learn more about it and work with it further,” Beaver says.

While Beaver admits he’s “only had a plant-based food outside of the lab here at NCFIL once and didn’t like it,” he has been very pleased with his experience so far. “My overall impression of NCFIL is that they are awesome. I think very highly of the people here as well as the company.”

Ginger Jacobson: The Vegan Eater

Jacobson is a rising sophomore at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill majoring in Business Administration with a minor in Sustainability.

Jacobson learned about NCFIL from her father after NCFIL presented at Davidson College, where he works. “He knows I’m interested in alternative proteins. This was what originally piqued my curiosity and inspired me to learn more about NCFIL and what they do. I called them, emailed over my resume, and had an interview with Bill when I was home during spring break to secure my internship!”

As a Product Development Intern, Jacobson will work on a variety of different projects including tasks in the Pilot Plant and Test Kitchen as well as some organization and inventory work with all of the ingredients housed onsite. She’s currently working to find more local companies from which to get ingredients.

“I’m excited to learn about the product development aspect and the process of creating the perfect product for different companies,” she says.

NCFIL has impressed her with its expansive faculty and high tech equipment to create a wide variety of products. So far, her favorite piece of equipment is the extruder: “I’ve never seen anything like it. I was able to watch it create soy protein, which was very exciting! I have been vegan for over a year, so working at NCFIL is a great experience for me to see how alternative proteins are made.”