High school chemical engineering internship and research fellowship
This high school chemical engineering internship lets students in Grades 9 to 12 follow waste as it turns back into useful material, with a mentor who reviews each step. You map how plastic and food waste are processed, then compare the energy use and emissions of each route using published data and simple calculations.
For school students who enjoy IB Chemistry or Design Technology and want to see how recycling and composting work as step-by-step processes. Online, with field work near home and a parent or guardian present at every self-guided activity. The fellowship is paid because every student receives time and attention from senior researchers and leaders.
Why chemical engineering matters for sustainability
Turning waste back into something useful takes a series of steps. Plastic has to be sorted by type, washed and melted before it can become something new. Food waste that rots in a landfill gives off methane, a strong greenhouse gas, and composting it with plenty of air gives off much less. Chemical engineers map steps like these and work out which route wastes the least energy and material.
Earth5R helps housing societies go zero waste by composting wet waste on site. Some of these societies use drum composters that Earth5R designed from reused industrial containers. Its teams have also visited informal recycling units and run waste and brand audits at cleanups. As a fellow you study processes like these through photos, published studies and a compost bin at home or school, with your mentor checking your calculations.
This work links to the UN Sustainable Development Goals: Goal 12, Responsible consumption and production and Goal 13, Climate action.
Available projects in this high school chemical engineering internship
Each project fits around school work and takes place near home. Your mentor shapes the final project with you.
Compost bin study at home or school
Track the temperature, moisture and smell of a compost bin at home or school each week, and compare how fast different kinds of food scraps break down.
Plastic recycling process map
Using photos, videos and published guides, map how plastic moves from sorting to washing, shredding and melting, and mark where energy, water and material are lost.
Plastic types in your family’s waste
Sort a week of your family’s dry waste by the recycling code printed on each item, count each plastic type and research which types are easiest to recycle.
Life-cycle comparison for one plastic item
Use published life-cycle studies to compare recycling, burning and landfill for one item, such as a water bottle, and show which route has the lowest emissions.
What you do in the field
- Sort and weigh dry household waste with your family
- Draw process flow diagrams with inputs and outputs
- Check compost temperature and moisture on a fixed routine
- Do simple mass balances in a spreadsheet
- Read published life-cycle studies and pick out the key figures
- Present your comparison in a research conversation and defend your numbers
Skills you build
On a high school chemical engineering internship, you collect your own data near home with a parent or guardian, using the Earth5R app and data forms. Earth5R checks the data on its platform before it goes into your project report.
How a high school chemical engineering internship fits your school programme
For IB, IGCSE, CBSE and ICSE students. Your school decides what counts towards its own requirements.
IB CAS
Setting up a compost bin at school and showing classmates how to use it can support a CAS project with a service element. Your CAS coordinator decides what fits.
Extended Essay and IA
A chemistry or ESS Extended Essay or Internal Assessment needs a focused question and data. A compost study or a plastics comparison can give you a starting point.
MYP, IGCSE and CBSE projects
A composting study or a plastics audit can fit the MYP Personal Project and the project work in IGCSE, CBSE and ICSE chemistry.
University applications
A process map and an emissions comparison your mentor reviewed give you specific work to describe in a chemical engineering personal statement or interview.
How the high school chemical engineering internship works
Every student moves through four phases. Your mentor checks each phase before you move on, and sessions pause during board exams.
Observe and Map
Go into the field near home, with a parent or guardian, and collect primary data for your project in Chemical Engineering.
Frame and Design
Find the root cause in your data and frame a problem worth solving, with your mentor.
Model
Build a working model, analysis or design for your solution, and test it.
Build and Deploy
Put your solution to work, measure the result and publish a verified record on earth5r.org.
Along the way you take part in research conversations with professors at MIT, Oxford, Cambridge, LSE and other universities, and ask your own questions. See how FIELDWORK works.
Where this can take you
University courses this leads to
- BEng or BS in Chemical Engineering
- BEng in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
- BEng in Materials or Polymer Engineering
- BSc in Chemistry
- BSc in Environmental Science or Engineering
Careers in this field
- Process engineer
- Recycling and resource recovery engineer
- Life-cycle assessment analyst
- Sustainability engineer in manufacturing
- Green chemistry researcher
Universities to aim for in Chemical Engineering
Chemical engineering admissions tutors look for students who can follow a process from start to finish and back their ideas with numbers. A high school chemical engineering internship gives you a mapped process, calculations your mentor checked and a verified record of the work on earth5r.org. Students use a high school chemical engineering internship to build a record of real work for applications to universities like these.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
USA · Department of Chemical Engineering (MIT ChemE)
MIT Chemical Engineering offers several bachelor’s programmes, including Course 10 in chemical engineering and the flexible Course 10-ENG. In Course 10-ENG, students can pick a concentration such as energy or environment and sustainability. Environment and sustainability is also one of the department’s research areas.
University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley)
USA · Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (CBE), College of Chemistry
Berkeley’s Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, in the College of Chemistry, offers a BS in Chemical Engineering. Students build up from chemistry, physics and maths to thermodynamics, transport processes, kinetics and process design. One research area combines energy sustainability, catalysis and electrochemical engineering.
USA · Department of Chemical Engineering
Stanford Chemical Engineering runs an undergraduate programme built on core science, maths and engineering principles, with a coterminal route into a master’s degree. Its research is grouped into three themes, the chemistry of life, the chemistry of energy and the chemistry of the environment.
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
USA · Chemical Engineering, Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering (CCE)
Caltech teaches undergraduate chemical engineering in its Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. After a broad core, students choose a track in their junior and senior years, focused on biomolecular, environmental, materials or process systems work. Design problems run through the core courses.
Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech)
USA · School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (ChBE)
Georgia Tech’s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering offers a BS and a five-year BS/MS programme, along with graduate degrees. Energy and sustainability is one of its strategic research areas, alongside biotechnology, materials and nanotechnology, and complex systems.
UK · Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology (CEB)
Cambridge’s Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology teaches an integrated BA and MEng in Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology. Its research follows a healthcare theme and a sustainability theme, and the sustainability work runs from energy generation and storage to sustainable manufacturing and materials.
UK · Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering
Imperial’s Department of Chemical Engineering teaches undergraduate courses as well as MSc and PhD study. Energy and environmental engineering is one of its research themes, next to separations, soft matter engineering, and reaction engineering and applied catalysis.
UK · Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering
Manchester’s Department of Chemical Engineering offers undergraduate courses that are all accredited by IChemE. Its Industrial Hub for Sustainable Engineering has pilot plants, labs and workshops, and its Catalysis Laboratory works on emissions control and the use of carbon dioxide. Research themes include sustainable industrial systems.
Switzerland · Institute for Chemical and Bioengineering (ICB), Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences
ETH’s Institute for Chemical and Bioengineering belongs to the Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences. Undergraduate chemical engineers start with two years of core chemistry before moving on to chemical engineering courses. Research covers chemical aspects of energy, catalysis and polymer reactions, as well as safety and environmental technology.
National University of Singapore (NUS)
Singapore · Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, College of Design and Engineering
NUS Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering offers a Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering, with a related Minor in Hydrogen and Low Carbon Technology. Environmentally benign processing and sustainability is one of its research areas, next to biomolecular engineering and nanostructured materials and devices.
This list is for guidance. These universities offer undergraduate study in Chemical Engineering. Earth5R has no admissions arrangement with them, and admission decisions rest with each university. Students get help researching universities, scholarships and applications, depending on the programme.
What your fellowship fee pays for
An internship fellowship at Earth5R is time and attention from senior researchers and leaders. Each part below takes staff time and resources that we set aside for every fellow.
Live mentoring with experts
One-to-one mentoring in most fellowships, with regular check-ins on your project.
Dialogues with global researchers
Academics from international universities and renowned scientists, who answer your questions and discuss your work.
Support in the field
Guidance while you collect data and work on your project in the field.
References for your next step
References when you apply for jobs, higher studies and research programmes.
Your work, hosted for life
Your work and data stay on Earth5R’s website and servers for life, where universities and employers can check them.
Time from senior people
Each fellow receives time and attention from senior researchers and leaders, set aside for them.
Fee details available on request.
Choose your fellowship
The Multi-Year Fellowship can run from Grade 9 to Grade 12, with more scope each year.
The fee pays for live mentoring, dialogues with global researchers, support in the field, references and lifelong hosting of your work. Fee details available on request.
High school chemical engineering internship: common questions
Is there lab work with chemicals in this high school chemical engineering internship?
No. You don’t handle lab chemicals. Lab data comes from published studies, and your own tasks are simple and safe, such as sorting dry waste or checking the temperature of a compost bin at home or school.
Do I need advanced chemistry to join?
No. School chemistry is enough to start. Your mentor introduces process diagrams and mass balances step by step. Students who take higher level chemistry can go further into polymers or reaction rates.
Is it safe for my child to handle household waste?
Yes. Students sort only dry household waste from their own home, wearing gloves, with a parent or guardian present. They don’t visit recycling units or handle chemicals, and wet waste goes straight into the compost bin.
Is the high school chemical engineering internship paid?
Yes. FIELDWORK is a paid, mentored programme. The fee pays for live mentoring, dialogues with global researchers, support in the field, references and lifelong hosting of your work. Fee details are available on request.
Can my child do this high school chemical engineering internship online?
Yes. Mentoring sessions run online, and field work takes place near where you live.
Is a parent or guardian present during field work?
Yes. A parent or guardian is present at every self-guided field activity. Online sessions are for students.
Does FIELDWORK pause during board exams?
Yes. Sessions pause during board exams, so the fellowship fits around school work.
What do students get at the end?
A certificate, a letter of recommendation, a project report and a verified profile on earth5r.org, where universities can check the work.
Related subjects for school students
Already at university? See the Chemical Engineering internship fellowship for university students.
Apply for a FIELDWORK fellowship in Chemical Engineering
This high school chemical engineering internship is for students in Grades 9 to 12. Work on a live Earth5R project with a mentor, take part in research conversations with global researchers, and build a verified record of your work. Fee details available on request.
