Southwest Research Institute

Depending on your division a chemistry tech performs different tasks. I was in petroleum products research department. We did titrations of all kinds as well as flash tests, rust tests, and viscosity tests.

SwRI is a good place to start as a chemistry tech with room to move up. If you have a chemistry degree you could quickly become a scientist.

Southwest Research Institute has a ton of specialties to choose from, so for me, having a coding background was very important. As a student engineer, though, if you’re open to learning and not afraid to try problems on your own, you’re already prepared, just bring that enthusiasm and open-minded...

Day to day life was great. The work day starts at 8:00 AM, worked until lunch (with a tea/coffee break or two in the breakroom with another student or my mentor). Often, the students would go out to lunch together either at the on-site cafeteria or one of the nearby spots, since there was an hour...

An openness to trying things on your own. You may not get it right, but tackling problems independently, then checking in with my mentor to see if there was a better solution, was hugely helpful for me to develop as an engineer.