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Name: Jacob Ostertag
Title: Milling Intern
University: Kansas State University

What drew you to intern with Didion?

Didion was a company that was opening a brand new corn mill. They themselves were in the process of learning their new equipment, and they expressed their desire for an intern that could come in and provide hands-on work to help them improve their process. An intern position focused on process improvement, where my input would be listened to, sounded like the perfect fit for me and would allow me to learn a lot.

What projects have you worked on/are currently working on?

Currently, I am working on commissioning all of the automated mill alarms. We are in the process of turning on the audible alarms for operators as well as cleaning up our digital control system which currently feeds operators many faulty alarms a day due to instrument miss-calibration and inaccurate alarm parameters. Next, I will be helping commission the corn mill bran recovery system.

What attracted you to the milling profession?

Milling and agribusiness are perfect for me because it allows me to have a position where I can troubleshoot and problem-solve from a desk, but also be active and hands-on in the mill. It is also an industry in which no day is the same and new challenges are presented every day.