Today we took a visit to a Dutch location of the chemical engineering company Nouryon! The company was about an hour and a half bus trip from our hotel. We were firstly greeted with a presentation from a former Pitt alumni who is currently working for the company! How exciting! She explained the process to us of how she’s made her way to the country since her graduation and how we could also if working abroad interests us. She explained the company’s roles in sustainability in both the engineering and business aspects of the company. The company aspires to follow many of NATOs sustainability goals and have ten specific ones that they can specifically apply in their concept to consumer process. Nouryon puts a high emphasis on keeping their company sustainable and is currently working towards making many of their plants carbon neutral, which they’ve already obtained in a few locations. They also achieved an A- and gold rating in their sustainability efforts.
We then began on our walking tour of the company where we got to see up close different machines used to split and observe particles. Being a business major who doesn’t dabble in science too much, this was so cool and something I’ve never seen before. We also got to see the dishwashing room, where they experiment with different water concentrations to find the best wash. We also finally got to watch different chemical reaction explosions in the lab which was very exciting! After our tour we took a break at the hotel and then went back out for our alumni panel. This was so exciting and I got to meet so many different pitt alumni from over the world. I had a great conversation with the VP of Sales for Nouryon, a Pitt alum who moved to the Netherlands in the past few years. We found out we were even in the same sorority at Pitt! I got to talk to her directly about being a woman in business and how some business practices differ in the Netherlands versus the states. She said one notable thing is that The Netherlands really puts an active initiative on sustainable practices much more than the states in her personal experience. She also explained how as a woman in business, she feels she is seen less seriously in European countries versus in the states. She discussed how she’s sometimes regarded as less important in the work place and seen as only getting her position due to being a woman. As an aspiring woman in business I completely related to her struggles, and she shared great insight on how to navigate the European culture of not taking women as seriously in business positions and not let it affect her, and how the environment completely changes depending on the country she is working with. Her talk was very inspirational and I hope to use her advice as I navigate the business world!
After finishing the alumni panel we wrapped up the day by walking to a local festival across the street and getting some churros to snack on. The festival was so cute and reminded me of all the festivals I have in my hometown! However I will say the food was definitely better here. We finally took the bus home after a busy day full from our sweet treats.
