DuPont Teijin Films helps the next generation
October 2009
Bill MacDonald, Business Research Associate at DTF
DuPont Teijin Films has recorded five years of supporting students keen to learn more about the industry.
The company has a yearly intake at its Research Facility at The Wilton Centre with the students selected from Strathclyde University, Glasgow.
Students learn a vast array of skills over their twelve-month placement, including how to work in a research environment, to project plan their own work, to develop presentation skills and in some cases gain experience of working with external customers and suppliers.
Each student is given a role working on the semi-tech plant or in the laboratories supervised by DTF's professional research scientists.
At the end of the placement, the students write an Industrial Placement Report which counts towards their degree.
For DTF, it provides the opportunity to bring in useful additions to project teams, and also helps the company to tap into the expertise at Strathclyde.
Bill MacDonald (pictured), Business Research Associate at DTF and Visiting Professor in the Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry at the University, said: "We have a historical relationship with Strathclyde University which goes back to the 80s, one which sees us share good relations with the university's academics.
"John Liggat, who once worked for ICI at Wilton, is now a Senior Lecturer at the University and is the Supervisor for all our students.
"Strathclyde have a strong position in polymer science and active programmes underpinning our own film developments in areas such as UV, flame retardancy and polymer stability.
"DTF is perceived by Strathclyde as one of the few innovative research centres left in the UK and as such is seen as an attractive placement for students."