On January 7th, the Marinette and Menominee Chamber of Commerce Education and Business Partnership Committee hosted the Career Opportunities Exposition at UW-Green Bay, Marinette Campus. ChemDesign participates in this event annually as part of the company’s “Helping Science Make Sense” community education initiatives. For 2019, the company received the Education Outreach Award for participating in events like this. CEO, Dave Mielke, and Building Manager, Erica Beaumier volunteered this year to demonstrate science experiments to teach high school students about careers in chemical manufacturing and show them how chemistry works. Building Manager, Kevin Possi was also a panelist who told his story of success in becoming a chemical engineer and advising students on what it takes to get there.
Students Exploring Careers: The Marinette and Menominee Chamber of Commerce annually hosts the Career Opportunities Expo. for 10th grade students from the Northeast Wisconsin area. It helps students discover the UW-Green Bay, Marinette Campus and raise community awareness of area employers. This full-day event introduces students to careers, career pathways, and community role models. Students attend moderated career cluster panels comprised of individuals within that career field. Students then select their top career interests and attend those panels that closely match their interests, the high school sophomores can then use this information to pick out courses and better plan their education for their career choices.
Engaging Students in Chemistry: ChemDesign demonstrated an exciting chemiluminescent reaction that consisted of two separate liquids, that when combined, emit light, but not heat (this is what happens when a glow stick is activated). The second display was an ovulating clock equilibrium reaction that forced free iodine ions to bond with each other, then break apart again. This reaction can be witnessed by using a color indicator that changes the solution from pale peach, to blue, then back again, several times a minute.(video) These show-stopping displays served as ice-breakers to invite students to ask questions about the chemical reactions they observed, and many science career questions. It also opened several questions about ChemDesign as a company in the community, and some personal questions about the employee’s specific roles at work. Interesting in working in the field of science and chemistry? ChemDesign is an active Marinette and Menominee area employer. Check out our careers page here!