Intern Adventures - New Roles and Experiences

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Posted on August 3, 2014 by Beata Strubel

Boxes of clothes and books have filled my room as I begin the packing madness I now associate with every August. I finished my internship last Friday and am in Indy for a few weeks before I move up to Purdue. I can’t wait to get back to Purdue!

The summer flew by. I worked with a great group at P&G, and I learned a lot from my team. I ended my internship with a final presentation of my work this summer. I enjoyed reflecting back on all my projects. It’s incredible what you can accomplish in 12 weeks.

End of Summer Intern Banquet

Compared to last summer, I got more exposure to the business side of things this internship. I helped explore how some upstream anti-aging research can be leveraged for business insights. My team from last summer in the Beauty Technology Division (they do the most upstream technical work) is currently developing new understanding around skin aging. In my role this summer, I translated this research into product ideas and concepts that I presented to consumers in various tests. I then modelled the consumer responses to help my team understand what aspects of the design were driving consumer appeal and what areas of research we should pursue further to create delightful products. (Our aim at P&G is always to delight the consumer.)

A Discrete Choice Modelling test was one of my favorite projects. I took several of the concepts from my previous tests and looked for the variables that created each concept. I then looked at how we could change each variable to sample from the larger space of possibilities. (Think of it like a Mr. Potato Head. You can choose one of many sets of eyes, noses, and mouths to create lots of different Mr. Potato Heads.) We fielded an online survey where women were asked to choose between a pair of these concepts. They indicated their preference among a series of pairs. Several hundred women completed this survey. We used their responses to create a model of how each variable influenced the appeal of the concept.

My Internship (Dreaming Big)

Internships are great opportunities to explore different roles and see applications of your school work. This summer I was pleasantly surprised that my products research role was more technical than I expected. I enjoyed creating models to develop consumer understanding. I learned a lot and look forward to more new experiences next summer. What is your dream internship?

With my coworkers at P&G summer zoo event

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