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Chemical engineering major Jessica Dotson ’02 (Frostburg, Md.) is gaining insight into how employees in her field interact through a summer internship at Merck & Co., Inc. in West Point, Pa.
Since June 4, Dotson has been working in the vaccine operations department within the company’s sterile manufacturing division. Her job includes validating several pieces of equipment, designing new equipment racks for the labs, and various other small projects.
“Most of what I have learned so far involves how to deal with people,” she says. “The projects that I am working on require me to work with people in several other departments, both supervisory personnel and union workers. I am learning a great deal about how a large company such as Merck operates on a daily basis, and I feel that this is very valuable experience for me. I am hoping to be hired full-time by the company after I graduate next May.”
Dotson secured the job through contacts she made at Merck during a January externship arranged through Career Services and the Alumni Association. Her internship concludes Aug. 17.
Doton was part of the Alternative School Break Team that built homes in Johns Island, South Carolina this year through Habitat for Humanity. She is a member of Tau Beta Pi (the engineering honor society), the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and the Society of Women Engineers. She also was vice president of membership for the Delta Delta Delta sorority last school year.