Soon-to-be senior cornerback, Andrew Clark '14, is working for Koch Industries in Wichita, Kansas this summer as a intern in the software development department. This is just one example of some of the unique and life-changing opportunities presented to Grinnell football players every summer. Stay tuned for more stories like this one!
I have the opportunity to intern with Koch Industries in Wichita, KS this summer. For those of you wondering, Koch is a privately held business with a focus on energies. Their big money maker lies in the oil industry, with large refineries in Minnesota and Texas. My role is to work as a software developer for one of Koch’s subsidiaries, Flint Hills Resources (FHR).
Throughout the summer, myself and 4 other software developer interns have been and will continue to work on improving existing applications that the customers of FHR use. Our focus is on making the process of correcting orders much simpler. As of right now, customers have to go through a lengthy process with multiple screens in an effort to correct an order. The goal of our project is to condense everything down into one screen, leaving logic and processes to be done by our code. I’ll spare you the technical details…
This internship has been a great learning experience so far. I have been exposed to many programs I did not know existed, and then proceeded to gain extensive skills in those programs in very little amount of time. Work just seems more interesting when I am doing something that will eventually impact people and make a difference. My mentors encourage innovation, and challenge us to even “break stuff” to create new solutions. Let’s just say that we have been great at breaking stuff this summer (but we have also made a lot of progress).
