Community Updates

1,150 Students Experience STEM Careers During BASF’s 27th Annual Responsible Care Week

More than 1,100 fifth-graders and 50 children of BASF employees became plant workers for a day during BASF’s 27th annual Responsible Care Week at Brazosport College in Freeport, Texas.

Brand Provided | By BASF | Published 5 years ago | About a 2 minute read

Image: BASF

For three days, students worked in the process equipment trainer (live-scale) plant, conducted chemistry experiments, became virtual welders and participated in various activities. More than 150 BASF volunteers supported the program to highlight STEM (Science Technology, Engineering and Math) careers, sustainability and technology.

“At Responsible Care Week, we have the ability to impact a child’s future,” said Laura Windsor, Responsible Care Week Co-chair and Line OSIH/Lean Coordinator. “Several children who experienced this three-day program in fifth grade later choose STEM careers because they saw early on where their passions could fit in an industrial career. This event is about children experiencing that they can be a welder, drone pilot, chemist, engineer or plant technician.’”

Engineering students representing Engineers for a Sustainable World – University of Texas and Texas A&M Chapters joined the event to discuss sustainability and to challenge the fifth-graders to live sustainably. They brought their BASF sponsored mobile aquaponics unit, a symbiotic environment that combines the raising of fish with the cultivation of plants, as well as a bicycle that generates power as it is ridden.

“BASF is committed to creating chemistry and innovation to help sustain the world of tomorrow today,” said Chris Witte, Senior Vice President and General Manager of the BASF site in Freeport, Texas. “We want our community, and our world, to be a better place to live for the next generation. BASF’s Responsible Care Week helps to prepare our potential future workforce and betters our community in the process.”

About BASF

BASF Corporation, headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, is the North American affiliate of BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF has more than 20,000 employees in North America and had sales of $19.7 billion in 2018. For more information about BASF’s North American operations, visit www.basf.com.

At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. The approximately 122,000 employees in the BASF Group work on contributing to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio is organized into six segments: Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, Surface Technologies, Nutrition & Care and Agricultural Solutions. BASF generated sales of around €63 billion in 2018. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchange in Frankfurt (BAS) and as American Depositary Receipts (BASFY) in the U.S. Further information at www.basf.com.