Purdue Environmental and Ecological Engineering student Jillian Hirsch is about to graduate this December 2025! One experience that has helped propel her to the finish line was her 2025 summer internship in Los Angeles California with Nalco Water, an Ecolab company.

Nalco Water strives to “help minimize water and climate impacts while maximizing outcomes at an optimized total cost.”

Jillian worked in a hybrid role as a technical sales intern within the company and had the opportunity to engage with cooling towers, boilers, and wastewater for customers in the food and beverage industry. Jillian worked alongside a large dairy product manufacturer and collected water quality data from some of the towers to identify ways to use chemistry and water more efficiently. 

“[Through this experience,] I gained a better understanding of the importance of interpersonal skills in addition to an engineering background,” said Jillian. “My main project for the summer was to optimize the cycling of evaporative condensers/cooling towers at a customer site. While completing this project I not only improved upon my technical knowledge of water-based systems, but I also improved my soft skills through meetings with the customer.”

Because of her work in the Co-op, Jillian unlocked valuable skills that she has brought back to her classes in the School of Sustainability Engineering and Environmental Engineering (SEE). She is now working to connect these skills to her professional career post-graduation.  

Jillian shared:

“I have already been able to apply what I learned from my project at Nalco to the water chemistry class I am in this semester. In my water chemistry class, I must complete a literature review for the topic of cooling water in data centers. It has been much easier to work on since I spent the entire summer working with water cooling systems at manufacturing sites…After completing an internship that requires proficient interpersonal skills in order to succeed, I’ve realized how applicable this is to any role I may have in my professional career. Whether it’s for an interview, a promotion, or technical sales, these are skills I plan to continue putting in the work to improve upon. I am so thankful for this opportunity and experience as I start to consider a full-time position post grad.”

For more information about Purdue’s School of Sustainability Engineering and Environmental Engineering, please visit: https://engineering.purdue.edu/SEE