Sky Chemicals are a Sheffield based business who produce and distribute industrial cleaning products, they develop cleaning and sanitising goods which are distributed across the UK, fulfilling contract orders from the public sector and medical industries.
Liam Grimshaw, Office Manager at Sky Chemicals saw the WRIPA summer intern bursaries advertised in the University of Sheffield Employer Newsletter and via LinkedIn. He identified a skills gap in terms of programming within the business and recognised that they could benefit from the coding and problem-solving skills of a physics student, with such knowledge complementing the existing chemist-heavy workforce.
The WRIPA team at the University of Sheffield approached a number of students who displayed specialised coding knowledge and who they felt who be suitable for the position of Python Programmer Intern. Chris Cotsford, a Sheffield undergraduate physics student, was successful in applying.
Chris worked with the team at Sky Chemicals to develop a model for the release of peracetic acid into a patented wipe system, the project involved utilising his Python knowledge alongside problem-solving and troubleshooting skills. The project benefited from utilising physics coding to understand chemistry phenomena.
The internship has been beneficial to both the student and business, with Chris applying his learning from the internship in his studies. He created a project around chemical production within an entrepreneurship module which is part of his degree programme. Sky Chemicals are interested in continuing the relationship with the WRIPA team and are keen to develop new internships.
