ICT Students Visit Pharmacia

Last week a group of more than 25 students in Ferris' Industrial Chemistry Technology, accompanied by several faculty and staff, visited the Kalamazoo headquarters of Pharmacia, formerly the Upjohn Company. Such off-campus field trips are an annual event for ICT and allow for the students to gain an appreciation for what is involved in working in an industrial chemistry laboratory setting. After a brief lunch, all visitors were invited to meet with and ask questions of lab directors and technicians. A lengthy informational panel discussion, which involved seven Ferris ICT alumni now at Pharmacia, capped off the day's activities. "The need for newly employed chemists seems particularly acute this year," remarked Leon Clark, a Pharmacia director of operations and ICT advisory board member at Ferris. "We are looking at up to 50 new hirings just in the area of quality control this year."