Each year, Grenova welcomes a team of talented interns to its Richmond headquarters to develop new skillsets and to prepare for future careers that will impact communities all over the globe. Throughout the summer, college students participating in Grenova’s internship program are able to gain valuable, firsthand experiences in a cutting-edge manufacturing facility that is creating the world’s only pipette tip washing technology. In addition, they become part of a family of passionate Grenovaians working to spread the word about reducing plastics in the lab industry, and throughout the biotech and life sciences community.
Grenova’s internship program allows both STEM and liberal arts majors to thrive in a close-knit and fast-paced environment. Manufacturing and engineering interns at Grenova are positioned from day 1 to become part of a team at the forefront of innovative solutions. Together the interns have an opportunity to shadow seasoned professionals as they create Grenova’s portfolio of groundbreaking products. Meanwhile, marketing interns at Grenova receive an opportunity to be a part of an organization’s mission to communicate the benefits of reducing plastic waste in the lab industry by washing and reusing pipette tips by leveraging Grenova’s patented technology.
Best of all, an internship at Grenova allows college students to have the freedom to explore a variety of roles in the workplace and to see what field they are most passionate about pursuing in the future. After looking into several different roles, Brennan Chaloux, Grenova’s R&D intern for the summer of 2020, as an example, decided to pursue his interest in quality assurance and the efficiency of pipette tip washing solutions.
Paul Kokulis, another Grenova engineering intern during the summer of 2020, identified the production of an innovative product from start-to-finish as an area of focus and learning opportunity as part of his interactive internship experience.
“For me, the best part of my experience at Grenova was that I was able to learn about the creation of a client-ready product,” says Paul Kokulis, one of Grenova’s engineering interns. “We were able to experience the entire production and distribution of the product, and it was really cool to see how that work impacts the lab industry while improving the environment.”
Other interns played an important role over the summer of 2020 as they learned about the production of Grenova’s innovative product line, such as the TipNovus and TipLumis. “I got a lot more out of my Grenova internship than I’d even hoped,” said Kwaku Gbordzi, a manufacturing intern. “From day one, you’re really doing a lot of hands on stuff and getting familiar with the assembly and the electronics.”
Kwaku adds, “Since I’ve been here, it’s felt less like an internship and more like a real-life experience. From the teambuilding lunches to the different learning opportunities, Grenova feels more like a family than a group of coworkers and has made it more than just an internship for me.”
At the heart of the Grenova internship program is a mutual respect between students and employees, and the celebration of new perspectives. Together, interns and employees leverage cutting-edge strategies, techniques, and technology to make our world a healthier, happier, and greener place to live and work.