Process Innovation Intern

About Ingredion:

Join Ingredion, where innovation impacts lives worldwide! Without even realizing it, you’ve experienced our work in your favorite chocolate, your pet’s food, the paper you write on, and your everyday snacks. As a global powerhouse across more than 60 industries, we harness the potential of natural ingredients to transform lives. Whether you’re just starting your career or bringing years of experience, there's a place for you here to make a real difference. Be part of our team that values a wide range of perspectives and is committed to shaping a better world with every product we create.

Location: Bridgewater, NJ

Workplace type: On-Site

We have an exciting opportunity for an ambitious student to join our R&D team for Summer 2026!  As the Process Innovation Intern, you’ll gain hands-on experience with membrane-based separation technologies and contribute to projects that connect fundamental science with real-world industrial applications. This role offers a unique chance to work in both laboratory and pilot plant environments, supporting the development and optimization of innovative separation processes.

Are you passionate about sustainability and curious about how science can help reduce waste and create value? This internship allows you to work on meaningful challenges in ingredient innovation—focusing on how overlooked material streams can be transformed into something useful and impactful.

As an intern, you’ll get hands-on experience in:

• Exploring how underutilized materials can be turned into valuable ingredients
• Learning about processing technologies and how they’re applied in industry
• Researching market trends and applications in food, beverage, and beyond
• Supporting pilot trials and analyzing data to help guide decision-making

This is a great opportunity to build skills in product development, process engineering, and sustainability—all while working with a collaborative team that’s driving change in the industry.

What you will do:

• Tackle real-world separation challenges using advanced membrane systems.
• Support pilot plant runs to validate scalability and performance.
• Collaborate with process innovation and product development teams.
• Conduct literature and patent reviews, and summarize findings.
• Perform lab and pilot experiments, analyze data, and make recommendations.
• Document results in ELN and communicate findings to project teams.
• Present final research outcomes and recommendations to management.

What you will bring:

• Progress toward a Bachelor’s degree in food science, chemical engineering, biochemistry, or a related field with laboratory research experience.
• Prior laboratory experience, preferably in separation technologies, including membrane filtration (preferred but not required).
• Ability to work safely in both laboratory and pilot plant environments; prior experience in either setting is a plus.
• Strong analytical skills and ability to interpret experimental data.
• Interpersonal, verbal, and written technical communication skills, e.g., making presentations and writing technical data/reports.
• Reliable transportation is required to get to and from the facility each workday.

Who you are:

• Eager to explore careers in the food & beverage industry.
• Passionate about separation processes and innovative technologies.
• Comfortable working in lab and pilot plant environments, including tasks that may involve handling materials up to 50 lbs.
• Ability to work collaboratively with peers and others.
• Creative problem-solver with a continuous improvement mindset.
• Desire to see and create results.

To be eligible for consideration, candidates must:

• Currently possess unrestricted authorization to work in the United States. Ingredion does not intend to sponsor work visas with respect to this position or to provide this position as OPT or CPT.
• Be a currently enrolled student in a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree program. If currently enrolled in an undergraduate status, must have completed at least two years of coursework with status as a sophomore, junior, or non-graduating senior.
• If you have completed your degree, please consider other opportunities with Ingredion, posted at ww.ingredion.com/careers.

Why Join Ingredion?

Discover why Ingredion is the ideal place to advance your career with our exceptional rewards and benefits package designed to help you thrive. Create the future with us and enjoy:

• Total Rewards Package – competitive hourly salary based on your degree program. Housing stipends off