Today we had a very packed day full of activities at a chemical company, Nouryon! The company was founded in 1838, when two friends discovered how to make flour! They used chemicals to further their research and bleach the flower, which is how we get white bread.

We had the amazing opportunity of hearing from multiple guest speakers and taking a really intense tour of the facility. Kirsten, a Pitt alum, taught us all about Nouryon’s values and sustainability practices. They earned an A- in the climate score, and they hold a gold rating, which they are hoping becomes platinum again in the near future.

I had little background knowledge about Nouryon and what they do aside from the small presentations in class before the trip. I was shocked to find out they are the building blocks for so many large corporations across the world. They produce formulas and chemicals for a variety of categories. For example, food and agriculture, households, beauty, paints, and more. In arenas, they are the backbone for sanitizers, the sports fields, athletic shoes, soccer balls, technical sports-ware, and hard/soft drinks. In households, they help with biodegradable beauty products, low toxicity paint, solar panels, detergent, and my favorite, sunscreen! We also learned about the major companies they supply the formulas for. The ones that stood out the most to me were Johnson and Johnson, Sherwin Williams, and P&G. Connecting back to more of the work we did in class, they subscribe to all of the pillars of sustainability from the UN, but in they actually only practice 10, which I think is a great start.

From a business perspective, it was really interesting to hear how Kristen, with an engineering background, ended up working more on the business side of things at Nouryon. She explained to us how everything is interconnected, and it is so important to have some knowledge of business practices no matter what your career is, especially if you are working in a foreign country. I also enjoyed hearing about the supply chain methods used in the structure of their company and the process to get the chemicals to their consumers. Nouryon sells to companies who formulate to supply a service or create a product. It is also crazy to think about how many day-to-day items we use that have chemicals from Nouryon, and a lot more goes into creating a product that seems so simple to us.

After having the information session, we began the official tour! We were shown a series of small experiments about pressure and flamability of different chemicals. During one experiment, there was a small, but purposeful, explosion that gave a lot of my group members a scare.

We had a small break after the long car ride back to the hotel, where we got ready for the alumni networking event. I loved talking to the Pitt alum who have a lot of different educational backgrounds, and hearing how they ended up in The Netherlands. It gave me a unique perspective on how to conduct global business, and what it means to be an international leader within their companies, especially since I want to pursue a certificate in International Business.

See you tomorrow!