Nestlé Health Science Research and Development Internship

Our ten-week internship allows you to lead a business project from start to finish and gain experience outside of the classroom.  You apply the analytical and technical knowledge gained in the classroom in a real-world setting supporting the Nestlé Health Science Research and Development team. During the internship, you will focus on an R&D project that requires a new perspective to deliver results against our immediate and future business needs. The experience requires collaborating with team members from different business divisions, networking with cross-functional employees, and participating in social engagements with interns from other programs.  Additional activities are planned to provide insights into day-to-day life at Nestlé.  You will have the opportunity to present your project findings at the end of the internship to functional team members.

Potential Project Areas

• R&D Science and Technology: You will evaluate different ingredients and technology to transform ingredients and formulations into prototypes with the desired properties/nutritional differentiating attributes. You will focus on the Nestlé Health Science Ready to Drink category to study the impacts of process parameters for the formulation of whey micelle, milk protein sources, and recipe fortification on the stability of nutritional beverages high in protein and energy. You will further improve and validate predictive methods to test the product stability against processing and formulation parameters.
• R&D Product Development: You will explore various, alternatives to carrageenan, such as gum gellan, citrus fiber, and pectin in model systems and analyze results for effectiveness to help identify clean label-friendly alternatives. You will conduct trials (bench and microthermics) and analyze results through viscosity measurements and microscopy. Finally, you will make recommendations based on research results for long term stability assessment.
• Nutrition, Technology, and Innovation (NTI): The project activities may include searching the literature for scientific evidence regarding health benefits of various ingredients, evaluating the level of evidence, and assessing the science for potential claims associated with these benefits. In addition, you may search for new ingredients to propose as potential ingredients in ongoing or future concepts and projects.
• Analytical Lab: You will work on getting experience with different analytical methods, supporting new methods–implementation and verification, and improving quality system documentation. You will work on the IDDSI (International Dysphagia Diet Standardization Initiative) method validation for the establishment of a Nestlé Laboratory instruction. You will also work on a proposal/creation of a process for the establishment of shelf-life/stability of products.
• R&D Quality: You will participate in the clinical trials process for Nestlé Health Science, based on nutritional improvements of patients and consumers. You will gain an understanding and learning of the Nestlé research and development of new products and processes. You will participate in the release of products intended for clinical trials studies which include revising clinical trial protocols, analytical testing plans, manufacturing of these products in the Pilot Plant, and evaluation of manufacturing data and documentation.
• Product Development: You will assist in evaluating the Peptamen matrix and various hydrolysates used across various Nestlé factories. You will identify recommendations for modifying Peptamen. You will also perform tests to evaluate the Peptamen products matrix (lab, bench scale, Pilot Plant).