A throwback to the third-year internship of Martin

Martin Appelman (23) student in Food Technology started his third-year internship at Wafilin Systems in February this year. At Wafilin, Martin had the opportunity to work on a new technology: the fractionation of milk. You could not get Martin more enthusiastic for this chance. Martin took this opportunity with both hands. At the moment his internship is coming to an end. In this article, we get some insights into Martin’s project and how he experienced his internship at Wafilin.

For the past five months, Martin has been working full-time on his research: fractionation of milk. Martin explains: “During my internship, I discovered that milk is special and, combined with membrane filtration technology, does not always give you the results that you expect from the theory, so that’s why it is important to execute practical experiments”. Martin has done a variety of tests. Although the expectations did not always match the results, Martin was able to do all the experiments according to the plan. “It was planned quite ambitious, but we succeeded because all the preconditions were met correctly. The milk made available by the Dairy Campus for carrying out the research, the test unit that was available at all times and with questions, I could always find someone in the company who could help me to get further “.

Project runs smoothly
The project Martin was working on went smoothly. While testing it soon became clear what works well and what doesn’t. Martin also enjoyed the fact that he and his practical supervisor at Wafilin were able to have good discussions that helped determine the right direction for the project. At the question, where Martin is the most satisfied with the project, his eyes gleam. “While performing the tests, I got once a result that was unpredicted put a positive one. For example, every time I did a test,  a specific component in the milk was damaged. But in this special case, this didn’t happen. Of course, such a result makes you enthusiastic to do more research” says Martin.
It appears from his advisory report that even more tests must be done to optimize this new technology.

Unforgettable internship
The evaluation shows that Martin experienced his internship at Wafilin as very positive. Martin says: “The best thing about this internship is the atmosphere in the company. Everyone can get along well and during breaks it is fun. It is a small-scale and flat company so you can easily ask someone a question. Before Wafilin, I did an internship at a larger company and experienced a different atmosphere. Working in this team was good. As an intern you are really taken seriously, you count as a member of the team and you get a lot of responsibilities. You are expected to be able to carry out assignments independently, but there is always someone willing to support you. The best memory of my internship at Wafilin is the Friday afternoon drink with a beer brewed by a colleague from Wafilin and the annual BBQ where interns are also welcome”.

Martin will start his graduate internship at another organization after the summer. We want to thank Martin for his dedication and contribution and wish him success during his graduating.

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