Riverland Community College

Internships

Our Laboratory Sciences Program offers optional paid internships with the University of Minnesota Hormel Institute, Hormel Foods Research and Development, and NuTek Biosciences.

Partnerships

University of Minnesota Hormel Institute

Started in 1942 by Jay C. Hormel, The Hormel Institute, University of Minnesota has a nearly eight-decade history of making significant scientific discoveries aimed at improving the health of the world. The Hormel Institute is an independent biomedical research department within the University of Minnesota’s Office of the Vice President for Research. Collaborative research partners include Masonic Cancer Center UMN (a Comprehensive Cancer Center as designated by the National

Cancer Institute, N.I.H.), the Mayo Clinic (US News & World Report’s “Best Hospital in the United States”), and many other leading research centers worldwide. The Hormel Institute, which tripled in size in 2008 and doubled again in size in 2016, is home to some of the world’s most cutting-edge research technologies and expert scientists. Over the next few years, The Hormel Institute will broaden its impact through innovative, world class research in its quest to improve human health.

Hormel Foods Research & Development Laboratories

Our global research and development mission is to deliver technical expertise to enable company growth. Our department is comprised of approximately 120 team members spread between the product development building and the research and development laboratory. Our various workgroups operate within six areas to support our key results: food safety, new product development, team member development, skillful creativity, product limits verification, and support of existing products. Hormel Foods has a long-standing tradition of providing high-quality laboratory results to our customers and first began laboratory testing began in the 1940s. The new Hormel Foods Laboratories opened in 2016  and earned the ISO 17025 accreditation after assessments conducted by the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation(A2LA). One of the key requirements of ISO accreditation is having a system that focuses on customer satisfaction and shows our customers and consumers that we have a system in place dedicated to customer service and the quality of our testing results.

NuTek Biosciences

Nu-Tek BioSciences develops and manufactures peptones and protein hydrolysates for industry leading biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. The Company’s portfolio of products is used in a variety of applications ranging from mammalian cell culture to industrial fermentation. They are also used in the manufacture of allergen-free probiotics and other high value nutritional products.

Nu-Tek is an industry leading solutions-based manufacturer delivering superior customer service and performance improving cell nutrition. Extensive manufacturing experience has enabled the company to develop proprietary manufacturing processes. They can be used to produce nearly any peptone or hydrolysate of interest and have made Nu-Tek the go to option for custom manufacturing.