Paid Internship in Chemical Engineering / Industrial Chemistry

The aim of the project is to identify new chemicals and chemistries, that would be capable of reducing the cement consumption in concrete manufacture or clinker content in cements, by 2 main levers: improving the efficiency of the cement hydration by chemical activation of the cement phases; or by optimizing the dispersion of the cement particles with novel polymers, to reduce the water demand. This will be achieved by screening existing chemicals but also by synthesizing novel molecules/polymers, to map and being able to design the most efficient products and formulations.

• Learn and understand the cement hydration chemistry and mechanisms, and the state-of-the-art chemical admixtures used to boost the strength and the dispersion of cementitious systems;
• Implement and set up a robust testing procedure to evaluate the performance of those chemicals that will be tested, in both fresh and hard state, on paste, mortar and/or concrete;
• Screen and map chemistries, using the defined procedure, to identify the most promising leads which could be synthesized in-house or selected from available chemicals;
• Evaluate leads on real projects and applications, to be further industrialized and commercialized in collaboration with the other teams and groups of Cemex.

• Knowledge of spoken and written English at least B2 level;
• Student status;
• Education in the field of Chemical Engineering, Industrial Chemistry, Chemistry, etc.;
• Documents required for application in English: Personal CV, personal letter of motivation;
• European Passport or ID (Swiss law requirement);
• Documents nice to have: professor’s letter of recommendation, validation of English fluency.

• Monthly salary;
• Assistance with accommodation upon arrival in Switzerland;
• 2 weeks vacations per every six months;
• The student can use the topic of his research internship experience to write his thesis after the conclusion of his internship and together with his thesis advisors, can also publish an article on a refereed journal;
• Development of your technical and soft skills through mentoring and feedback;
• Enhancement of your resume and portfolio with real-world projects and achievements.