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[20.8.2010]
Week 9
At lunchtime on Monday, each department had to take part in the Space hoper challenge as part of 'Get active'. I took part for my department! I had to hop to a table and put a flag on the correct country in Africa and then hop all the way back. I am terrible at geography. It was so funny trying to race other people on tiny space hopers and as well as having a laugh our team won.

On Tuesday we had our poster presentation where employees at NTC could walk around and visit interns posters looking at the work they had completed so far (as well as eating the chocolates on the tables!) It was a really good session. Lots of people were interested in my project and it was a great opportunity to make connections with other departments to expand my project.

On Thursday I took part in another 'Get active' challenge. It is a nice way of getting to know other people from departments. Our department didn't do as well this time in the Frisbee game. We lost 11-2, but it was a great experience.

Week 7 & Week 8
Week 7 was a busy week as I ran some more experiments as well as analysing the results. I had to prepare the results in a presentation and show them to my supervisor and section head.

In week 8 I started to prepare and finalise my poster for a poster presentation taking place in week 9. It was hard trying to squeeze everything I had done so far on. The next day my department had a 'Get active' breakfast where we could eat lots of fruit, cereal and bacon sandwiches. There were so many bacon sandwiches left we brought them back to the office to munch on later in the day.

Week 6
This week all the interns had lunch with a couple of the managers from different P&G sites. We were provided with a buffet whilst they spoke about their life at P&G and what their job entails today.

On Wednesday I carried out one of my experiments which takes a whole day to run. It is really exciting to plan your own experiment, carry it out and see what the results will be. I feel a lot more independent in the laboratory since University, as they would always provide you with an experiment layout. It has started to give me a lot of ideas for my final project in my fourth year of University.

In between running my experiment, I had a department meeting catching up on everything that has been happening in Product design. I love meetings at NTC as it is fascinating to here what is going on outside of your project … and they provide you with sweets and chocolate biscuits :-) .

Week 5
In week 5, I sat down started to plan out my project over the year creating a list of all the things I need to complete in the next couple of months. I also started to plan some experiments I wanted to run over the next couple of weeks so I could order in the test items I needed. Its amazing the different types of tests that can be carried out here and there is so much I never knew about detergents.

Also in this week we had a site panel discussion with FC R&D VP's Kathy Fish and Maurizio Marchesini and FC R&D Process Director Jose Vega. Everyone on site was invited to come along to ask questions and share ideas. It was interesting to here where they started at P&G and the different things they have done to get where they are today.

[30.7.2010]
Week 4
Last week was the launch of 'Get Active'. This is where we had to write a list of pledges which we have to stick to for 6 weeks. We also have to take part in daily site walks and different sport competitions against other departments. By participating you earn points which all tallies up and the department with the most points wins the 'Get Active' trophy. Our department won it last year, so there is a lot of pressure to maintain our title.

On Thursday we had a 'Rollercoaster event'. This is where we were split up into teams and were given a case study. We had to tour around all the departments, learning what each department does in producing a detergent and we had to create our own detergent and learn what problems can occur. At the end of the tour we had to present our new detergent we had fictionally produced. Our team won :D

In the evening we had a cookery session at Newcastle College and made a 3 course Spanish buffet. Afterwards we were wined and dined and could sample our creation. Luckily no one was food poisioned. I managed to win best chef in my group, which I don't know how that happened as I can't cook! It was a fantastic night and it was a great way to socialise with the mentors at P&G.

I have had a fantastic month,
Will keep you posted.

Best wishes,
Sarah :-)

[23.7.2010]
Week 2 and 3
In weeks 2 and 3, I spent most of our time going to training sessions, reading SOPs and filling our training assessments. It was a great chance to see the equipment I would be using for my project. I was also introduced to my project which I would be working on whilst here.
During week 2 NTC had a champagne celebration to celebrate all the work that had been done over the year. This was amazing! I had the afternoon to meet other employees, discover what work had been done and a chance to eat lots of chocolates and strawberries.
As well as the champagne reception, a charity sale was put on in week 3 where employees could buy P&G products in bulk packs and the money would go to charity.

[16.7.2010]
Hello Everyone!

My name is Sarah Emma Wyllie and have recently started my internship at Newcastle Technical Centre, England for a year. I attend Sheffield Hallam University studying biomedical science and as part of my course I have the opportunity to take a placement year in between my 2nd and final year.
I started my placement at P&G on 21st June 2010 and I work in LSP Formula Design CEE and WE. My first month at P&G has been so much fun and I would definitely recommend people applying to P&G as it is a fantastic company and they really look after their employees.
I arrived in Newcastle the day before I started at P&G. I moved into student accommodation which P&G provided, where I was able to meet other interns who were here as summer and year placement students. That evening a coach picked us up and took us to a bar on Quayside called 'Pitchers and piano'. We had a chance to meet and ask questions with our mentors, previous interns and the recruitment team at P&G. As well as mingling with employees, we had a presentation of the history of the company and how it has expanded and developed. Later we were provided with a buffet tea whilst taking part in quizzes and 'ice breaker' exercises. It was a fantastic evening and we were all very excited to start work the next day.

Week 1
On our first day, a coach came and picked us up from our accommodation and took us to the NTC. We went straight to a conference room where we were provided with breakfast and drinks. At that moment you could tell P&G looked after their employees. After breakfast, we were given presentations about the different departments at NTC and the types of jobs each one of us would be carrying out whilst here. We were also provided with a buffet lunch and were given a chance to see the site. After work we were driven back to our accommodation.
For the rest of the week we were put into our departments and had training sessions, meetings and presentations where we met other employees and learnt about the different projects they were working on.