We are so pleased to welcome Alex to the Watts Urethane team joining James in the laboratory, meaning that we now have two full time chemists and a wealth of experience to help with our customers requirements.
Meet Alex…
What was your role or experience prior to starting at Watts?
I have been working as a chemical engineer since my graduation in 2003 including 10 years experience in the Polyurethane field. I’ve worked on many varied projects including galvanic manufacture for railway transport, polycrystalline silicone production for solar cells, chemical aspects of energy saving equipment and more recently on unsaturated polyester resins projects.
My role was mostly about organising, developing and testing new chemical processes and operations, starting production of PU and adjusting technologies from launch. I have worked for a variety of companies in three different countries (Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan and Russia). As a result, I have obtained very diverse experience which now gives me the passion and the confidence to handle new challenges at Watts.
What are you looking forward to most about your new job?
To apply my chemical knowledge to the maximum extent; for me this means to develop production and develop personally in the best possible way in order to generate maximum benefit and joy for both Watts and for myself.
What do you enjoy doing most in your work?
I enjoy recognizing PU components’ chemical content and properties, using this knowledge to solve production issues and tasks. This means lots of laboratory experiments but gives me proper understanding of the materials I work with (instead of just using what I think of them, which is not always the same) and how they can be applied. This approach provides me with a great possibility to find practically important things where you would not normally expect them.
How have you found your first few weeks?
Even though I am familiar with the technical side of the production of PU parts very well and have spent more than 10 years working on it, my few weeks at Watts have amazed with how much different PU production can be when driven by dedicated people with a unique mentality (which is specific to the UK!). It was very inspiring for me to meet such professional colleagues and to learn things from them which were not so obvious to me before.
What are your passions?
For me, the more chemically conscious you are, the more interesting is the world you live in becomes. That is why I am happy with my role which provides me a possibility both to apply and to develop this skill.