A day full of innovation and practice

Every two years, when a new racing car is built, visitors get an exciting insight into the workshop work. This year, the open workshop day took place in this form for the first time. It promises interesting insights behind the scenes of the development of the new solar-powered speedster.

As soon as you enter the workshop, you can feel the energy of the team. Between workbenches, components and laptop screens, students are tinkering, screwing and testing. The team's two workshops are places where innovation comes to life. In the offices at the production sites, there were also lectures on driving strategy, simulation and safety. Worth knowing: when it's cloudy, the Sonnenwagen team drives faster than when it's sunny, simply because the cloud cover is then driven under faster. On the office level above the workshop, it was explained how the team's test bench works. The new Sonnenwagen 5 engine was tested live in front of the guests. A real highlight!

Anyone who wanted to know what it feels like to be part of the Sonnenwagen crew had the opportunity to experience this at the wheel changing workshop, for example. Brief introduction: safety goggles, capsule ear protectors, impact wrench for a team of four. Aerodynamic flap down. Then get to work on the bolts, tighten and loosen, everyone has their task. Wheel off, new wheel on and aerodynamic flap back on. What Team Sonnenwagen manages to do in under 90 seconds with three mechanics during the race is a real challenge for inexperienced drivers. In the end, more than three minutes are on the stopwatch.

“The open workshop day was a fantastic opportunity for us to experience first-hand the dedication and technological expertise that goes into developing a competitive solar car,” said Daniel Steinke, ����AV Project Manager for the Sonnenwagen project. “Here, we sponsors get to experience what it's like to be part of the team. My personal highlight was seeing the first ����AV products in the parts of the new Sonnenwagen 5.”

As the main sponsor, ����AV has been supporting the team for many years with innovative materials and expertise from its own ranks. This partnership is helping to make the solar car ever more efficient and sustainable. The big goal this year is once again to successfully participate in the World Solar Challenge 2025.

The countdown is on: Final preparations for the World Solar Challenge

There is almost only one topic during the breaks: from now on, everyday counts, taking a breather is not an option. There is not much time left until the World Solar Challenge in Australia. The car has to be ready by the next milestone in May.  The big roll-out event in Aachen is scheduled for May 26. The new Sonnenwagen 5 will then be presented to the public.

The team is working under high pressure in the decisive production phase. The outer shell is taking shape, the individual components under the hood and the chassis are being screwed, wired and soldered together. Testing begins as soon as the car is ready to drive. Everything for the one race. Across Australia, from north to south. That's why simulations are carried out under race conditions. The whole team is on site weeks before the start of the race. The final set-up is carried out there under the extreme conditions of the Australian outback to ensure maximum performance and reliability in the race. Because at the end of the day, there is one goal: to finally bring the world championship title to Aachen in the tenth year of the club. So far, everything is going according to plan.

The Sonnenwagen 5 is being built for the prestigious World Solar Challenge 2025 and will be presented to the public for the first time on May 26 in Aachen. ����AV colleagues are cordially invited to attend. Further information will follow.

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To prevent vague fears from taking hold, we need to broaden our understanding of security and develop a comprehensive strategy for societal resilience. That's why I'm pleased to see that the , which I'm attending, is addressing not only geopolitical issues but also social and environmental concerns such as "democratic resilience" and climate security.

In our fragile world, security goes far beyond preparing for military conflicts, countering hybrid threats, or fighting crime. It also means rebuilding sustainable ecosystems and fostering more inclusive societies. These issues are still too often considered in isolation rather than as part of a holistic approach.

Sustainable Growth: The Foundation of Stability

But there's more to it than that. A resilient nation and a functioning global system must be built on sustainable growth and prosperity. This is where a strong industrial sector becomes crucial. In my view, it forms the bedrock of political autonomy, environmental preservation, climate change mitigation, and a society that can withstand stress.

A strong industry is a cornerstone of the German and European economies. It includes the chemical sector which employs 480,000 people and generates 225 billion euros in revenue. Chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and plastics drive innovation and are the starting point for countless everyday products. And they form the backbone that keeps countries like ours running.

The COVID-19 crisis has shown us all how vital the pharmaceutical industry is to our society. Many other examples are easy to find. Take critical infrastructure: The data and power cables connecting Germany to the world only withstand harsh ocean conditions thanks to plastics. Or consider economic self-sufficiency: As a leading exporter, Germany relies on secure shipping routes. Without paints and coatings from the chemical industry, cargo ships would be less durable and less efficient.

Now I'm not here to sing the praises of "my" industry. Rather, I want to use it as an example to emphasize a crucial point: To remain strong and help shape the future, Germany's industrial base must not only be maintained but strengthened. At the moment, however, it's dangerously eroding.

To reverse this trend, many good proposals have been put forward. These include reducing bureaucracy, energy costs, and taxes; expanding transportation infrastructure, digitalization, education, and European integration; and promoting future technologies and the potential of all people. The next federal government must take these points to heart and implement them consistently.

The key to all of this is greater openness and cooperation across the board. The "Operation Plan Germany" of the German Bundeswehr from 2023, for example – to tie this back to the Security Conference – shows how politics, society, and the economy can meaningfully interlock in case of defense.

We should make this collaborative approach the norm. Only then can we fully harness the potential of industry to create a sustainable, prosperous, and resilient future.

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It's understandable that attempts are being made to put a stop to excesses - for example, with the European Union's "", the world's first set of rules for dealing with Artificial Intelligence, which has now come into force. However, as important as ethical principles and responsible use of AI are, it's equally important to make the regulatory framework practicable and innovation-friendly, given the extreme fast-paced nature of the tech world. The rise of the Chinese chatbot DeepSeek, which is challenging the incumbents from Silicon Valley, shows us just how quickly circumstances can change.

At this point, however, I want to talk less about the risks and focus more on the opportunities of Artificial Intelligence and digitalization as a whole. Particularly in relation to Germany, which has a level of digitalization that isn't exactly conducive to its endangered rank as the third-largest industrial nation.

Germany only mediocre in digitalization

Although of the population is now online, and great expectations are associated with digitalization, especially in areas such as education, health, mobility, and climate protection, the country ranks at best in the middle in various international . This is a finding we cannot be content with.

My hope is that after the federal election, more drive will come into key areas of action: strengthening the digital competencies of society, providing a functioning infrastructure and digital administration, and promoting digital transformation and innovation.

We need to hit the digital accelerator, especially for our industry, which is at risk of falling behind. According to a current , many companies are still far from exploiting the great potential of Artificial Intelligence, which can increase productivity by almost 20 percent on average. The authors speak to my heart when they describe AI as a "once-in-a-century opportunity" for Germany.

At ����AV, we're doing everything we can to seize this opportunity. That's why we recently included AI in our corporate strategy. We see it as a unique driver of innovation and engine of growth, and want to make it a fundamental part of our way of working, decision-making, and creating value for our customers and society. But this also requires the right attitude: not seeing AI as a threat, but as an enrichment, as a helpful assistant.

Such a mindset should be transferred to the entire country so that it can catch up as a high-tech nation. After all, the basic prerequisites are apparently not bad. At least, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has : Germany has a good starting position in the global competition for AI, especially in research and with its human-centered approach, which sets global standards. Now it's up to us to run with it.

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What particularly affects me as a pronounced optimist: Only about a third of all respondents still believe in a positive tomorrow. In my home country , where the study has just been presented, only 14 percent expect the next generation to be better off. And depression is accompanied by frustration: A full 69 percent – significantly more than the global average –harbor strong to moderate resentment here. Against political leaders, against companies, against the "upper ten thousand."

Given many omissions over many years, the desire for change is palpable. And the willingness to implement it, even by radical means, is increasing: Almost four out of ten respondents in Germany support hostile activism. With regard to the federal election, this should be a wake-up call for all actors in the democratic spectrum. An appeal for cooperation and solution orientation.

There is no shortage of concrete, albeit sometimes contrary, plans among politicians, economists, and experts of all colors on how to overcome the reform backlog. My industry, the chemical industry, is also contributing constructive proposals to the debate. Now it's about finding constructive compromises together.

At this point, however, I would like to focus primarily on two overarching aspects of the crisis of trust. On the one hand, the chemical industry, like the economy as a whole, must build or regain more trust. It must show that there are already many good solutions for a sustainable, smart, resilient, socially beneficial future. That many committed, conscientious people are working on groundbreaking ideas. That progress is possible, that doomsday mood and irritability need not be the prevailing state of mind.

On the other hand, however, sufficient trust must also be placed in the competencies of the economy and the chemical industry. Companies need freedom to play out their abilities. Those who want to lead us on a leash undermine our creativity and block our potential.

Away from political micromanagement

To create a climate of trust and openness again, a new style of politics is needed. Within the framework of the social market economy, the state must return to its regulatory steering function. This means setting general goals based on a supply-oriented policy – but leaving the path there to the economy and its expertise. Big picture instead of small details.

Companies usually find the best solutions in competition and implement them efficiently. To do this, they must be able to determine for themselves, according to the principle of technology openness, which processes and products promise them the most success. It goes without saying that they must be freed from a bloated bureaucratic apparatus whose often detailed requirements entail enormous effort.

But we need not only a new style of politics. We also need a new mindset throughout society. A Germany as the engine of Europe that finds its way back to its can-do mentality. That develops more sense of reality. That finally defines itself again as the driving force of technological progress. And in which empathy prevails. A Germany of high-tech and heart.

In a world characterized by rapid technological progress, climate change and social upheaval, traditional educational concepts are no longer sufficient. I therefore believe that we should rethink education in times of permanent transformation. We need a culture that promotes openness, flexibility and critical thinking. We should be more empowered to fundamentally change our thinking and actively shape the world.

That's easy to say, but let's think about the last time we personally learned something that really fundamentally changed our perspective. Do we really have examples of this? And how do we deal with information that challenges existing beliefs and differs from our own perspectives?

Transformative times require new content

Transformative learning asks these questions and encourages flexible thinking. It helps us to understand new realities and challenge existing paradigms, enabling us to face the challenges of a complex and dynamic world much more clearly. Transformative learning contributes to creating a knowledge-based, empathetic community that uses curiosity, commitment and expertise to turn the challenges of our time into opportunities. Transformative learning has a wide range of additional positive effects. Above all, it helps people to actively and consciously shape their lives and improve their self-efficacy. This supports them in acquiring new skills and actively shaping change.

For me, it's as clear as day: education doesn't end with school – quite the opposite. Often, we adults have to catch up on what we didn't learn or couldn't learn at school. Essential life skills such as managing consciousness, emotions, finances and mindset should therefore become more relevant in school in order to better prepare young people for a complex world. We all learned later that we not only have to master technology, but also learn to treat ourselves better. That means reflecting on and shaping our emotions, our thinking and our attitudes more consciously. For me, these are the real key competencies for a successful transformation, both at the individual and organizational level.

Learning as an integrated process

At ����AV, we are demonstrating that this is possible. Our company relies on a culture that promotes transformative learning. In addition to traditional training opportunities such as courses and workshops, we are increasingly offering formats that strengthen critical thinking, innovation and social skills. One example of this is Expedition C, which offers ����AV employees space for dialog, creativity and reflection. This internal training platform not only imparts knowledge, but – in my opinion – is also really fun, meaningful and connects employees with each other. This makes learning a fully integrated process that promotes personal development, well-being and professional success – exactly the right approach in the challenging times of transformation!

The examples show: Transformative learning creates a culture of continuous growth and innovation. This is good for companies looking to strengthen their competitive position and innovative strength. But it is also good for each individual, because education is much more than just the acquisition of knowledge. Education is the key to a sustainable and innovative future – and thus an opportunity for all of us! Let's seize it – each and every day!

However, the supposedly "liberal" camp should not reflexively retreat into a wagon-circle mentality and moral superiority. After all, national interests and egoisms have always underpinned even the high priests of multilateralism and globalization. It's just that their own interests were sometimes a bit obscured. This is particularly true for Europe and Germany. In this respect, the inauguration of the Trump administration could now be the wake-up call to finally define these interests more clearly – and to pursue them more vigorously.

Certainly, Europe should focus more on its commonalities in the field of tension between the USA, China, and other economic and political centers of gravity. But we must not be guided by black-and-white thinking. A future-proof collaboration approach means being open to all sides, juggling many balls simultaneously. This is my main conclusion from the current , which appears every year on the occasion of the WEF.

Future-proof collaboration: This means a maximum of agility, flexibility, and pragmatism in a highly complex, increasingly unpredictable world, where, as in a kaleidoscope, new constellations and challenges constantly emerge. But it's also a world that always offers new opportunities.

If we take this to heart, we can hopefully overcome the stagnation in global cooperation that has prevailed since 2020. Currently, we run the risk that progress is not keeping pace with the immense tasks that need to be solved, and for which a strong and innovative economy is needed. For example, a fragmentation is emerging in the development of future technologies that could jeopardize productivity growth.

This worries me, also and especially for Germany After all, the competitiveness of my home country is based primarily on innovation and cooperation. But Germany is in a downward trend here: in 2024, it has fallen another two places in the . It seems only a matter of time before we also lose our rank as the world's third-largest economy.

So, there is an urgent need for a fresh wind here as well. The upcoming federal election could offer the chance for this. Internally, the motto for all democratic parties must be to abandon friend-foe attributions, to emphasize commonalities more strongly, and to prove the ability to cooperate. Externally, we should continue to pursue multilateralism without committing ourselves too much to individual partners and anchoring cooperation in ideological categories.

Even if we don't like many things – we can't get past the realities. And a doomsday mood doesn't help either.

The reason is that socio-political developments are increasingly going in the wrong direction. The culture of dialogue is undermined. Controversy degenerate into discord, the opponent becomes the enemy. Instead of fighting together for solutions, the public discourse drifts into polemics, dogmatism, and isolation. The tone becomes hurtful, black and white thinking stifles differentiated considerations and too often catapults opinions that differ from the supposed majority to an extreme of the political spectrum.

These are worrying trends, also from an economic perspective. Fanaticism and zero-sum thinking have a deterrent effect on investors and skilled workers from abroad. And inventiveness, the driving force behind value creation and prosperity, can only flourish where there is diversity and exchange, where there is honest and fair, open, and factual discussion.

An engineer must be able to say that the combustion engine may still have a future without immediately being seen as a climate denier. The economist who thinks about extending working life is not automatically a heartless neoliberal. And anyone who advocates strengthening national competitiveness must not run the risk of being labeled and co-opted as an ethnocentrist

Discuss – don’t stigmatize

We must discuss without stigmatizing – this is worth remembering on the occasion of the International Day of Parliamentarism, which is celebrated every year on June 30th. It is no coincidence that the term parliament comes from the French “parler”: speaking and arguing is a constitutive element on the path to joint decision-making. Since the times of the ancient agora, negotiating conflicts, balancing interests, and working together to find solutions has been a good idea – and not just on a political level in the narrower sense.

Now I don't want to contribute to pigeonholing and defeatism myself. Of course, politics is arduous and often proceeds at a snail's pace - a "strong, slow drilling of hard boards," as the sociologist Max Weber once put it in a famous lecture. But a lot of things in the engine room of the parliamentary system also take place quietly, constructively, and efficiently; countless experts are working with full commitment. This also applies to the exchange in the pre-parliamentary area, where, among other things, business contributes its expertise.

Society can only progress through constructive cooperation; those who defiantly remain in their ideological and partisan corners torpedo innovation and progress. In order to overcome the many challenges, social interaction must be readjusted.

First: We need a real culture of debate again. By listening to other arguments – even seemingly absurd ones –, weighing them up and not dismissing them too quickly. By not defaming opponents –and by primarily focusing on consensus and solutions.

Second: We need more fact-oriented thinking and action. In view of the growing danger of disinformation and simplistic populism, it is crucial to convey the importance and benefits of factual debate more clearly.

Third: We need a truly inclusive, broad dialogue. Negotiating problems in public spaces must involve all social groups, on the basis of what is said above.

And fourth: We need more tolerance. Show the other person the respect that you would expect yourself; allow for ambivalence and overcome trenches. And within this system, be prepared to discuss sensitive questions such as the “tolerance paradox”, according to which excessive tolerance makes it possible for intolerant forces to gain the upper hand and limit or even abolish tolerance.

Maybe it is a matter of generations. When I talk to students or job starters there is more of a sense of matter of course as far as female leaders are concerned. As we celebrate this year’s International Women’s Day, I wonder whether my children’s generation will still need this day. Personally, I think we are not done with that day yet. Although there are voices who argue that on this day, all debates about what still lacks on the way to equality get their 24 hours of fame – and are quickly forgotten again tomorrow.

But every IWD is a reminder not to let that happen

In Germany, women continue to be significantly underrepresented in research and development. In 2021, the proportion of women in the research departments of German companies was particularly low at only 16 percent. Inclusion means taking the next step, every day. Start in meetings and take a look at research and project groups: Are women and minority groups represented? Are their contributions heard, valued and encouraged? Whenever we witness discrimination, we must speak up.

����AV is dedicated to recruit, retain, and develop female talent. We make sure talents get the support and resources they need to build their career. To foster a culture of equality and equal chances, it is important that also and especially top management shows strong support for the company’s measures to drive inclusion. At ����AV the share of women in the total workforce is rising constantly towards our goal to reach a quota of 40% by 2029. In the upper management levels, we have already achieved a share of women of 24%.

As I am a strong advocate of mentoring culture, I am proud to say that ����AV fosters mentoring and development schemes for women at every stage of their career. Why is this so important? Because sometimes young women don't realize what they can achieve. As leaders we must become allies of young talents. When I talk to women who have just started their career journey, I ask them: What do you want to achieve? What can only you do to make that impact and why can't you do it? As much as every person is unique there are also traits and attitudes that a lot of women share or can identify with. For one, women tend to be rather modest about their talents. Be bold about your talents! Women, for example, see crises more often as an opportunity to do things differently. And in my experience, women are often more flexible since they must balance the professional and private world of their lives. I have two boys and I had to rely on this flexibility. As long as we do not embrace equal opportunities and incorporate them into our lives with all their consequences, there will be no real progress towards equality for all.

This year’s IWD can be a good reminder to be bold – about your talents, about your career plan, about the work-life-balance that you wish for.

Let's seize this IWD as a catalyst for bold action – and #InspireInclusion!

The four apocalyptic riders of 2024 are extreme weather events, disinformation and misinformation generated by AI, social and political polarization, and rising costs of living. There are numerous other grievances. To many people, the world appears to be a series of seemingly endless crises and an accumulation of huge long-term problems, inundated by a flood of information and opinions. It is understandable that uncertainty, discouragement and, at worst, resignation are spreading.

But here the eternal dualism of pessimistic and optimistic perspectives comes into play. Is the glass half empty – or rather half full? The history of humanity: Isn't it ultimately – despite all the setbacks and catastrophes – a history of progress, technological innovations and social achievements? For me it's more of a rhetorical question. Because I am in the camp of (critical) optimists. Especially because – in addition to the ability to trust and act sensibly together – we also have another valuable raw material within us: inventiveness and creativity.

This raw material must be mined and refined again. Because it provides the innovations and sustainable solutions that the world so urgently needs. The economy, especially the chemical and plastics industry with its countless large and medium-sized companies, start-ups and cooperations, proves this again and again.

Repay trust capital

But it is just the trust in the management and implementation of innovations that is eroding enormously. And that brings me to what I derive from the Trust Barometer and this year's WEF motto “Rebuilding Trust”: the responsibility of companies to actively participate in implementing innovations, in stabilizing trust, in spreading confidence. Because companies continue to be shown the highest level of trust among all institutions. (Which doesn't mean that the economy doesn't also have to work hard on its reputation.)

With this capital of trust, with their great knowledge and influence, companies must become a lighthouse in our highly complex world. They must inform, explain, show solutions, and bring about change on all levels – ecological, economic and social. ����AV wants to promote such a change in 3D. When it comes to the environment, this means: With our decisive commitment to the circular economy, we want to help preserve our endangered natural resources. Circularity must become a global guiding principle in business and society.

At the same time, the entire economic system needs to be reconsidered. This includes the issue of sufficiency, the question of the right level of consumption and production. One thing is clear: In the future, value creation must be more closely aligned to sustainable goals in macroeconomic and microeconomic terms. ����AV promotes this idea by driving forward the green transformation in many areas with the help of circular, climate-neutral materials.

But change will not happen unless the social foundations for it are strengthened. This is particularly true for three interrelated spheres: the willingness to engage in constructive, rational dialogue, scientific education, and the acceptance and scope of science.

All three are under pressure. According to the Trust Barometer, the “infodemic” is a key cause of the crisis of trust, and the Global Risk Report names AI-driven misinformation and disinformation as the biggest risk over a two-year period. This should galvanize everyone, including the economy. All levels of society must now counter increasing populism and divisive tendencies with more fact-based thinking. In addition, the education systems are often neither forward-looking nor accessible enough. And skepticism of science is now growing again – after an increase in credibility in connection with the corona pandemic.

As a science-based, open company, ����AV wants to address these issues more closely in collaboration with like-minded people. It is essential to convey the value of rationality, education and research and to make innovations tangible that can advance the economy and society. We have to show that positive change is possible. And that it is worth it for everyone. Then hopefully trust can be regained.

By 2050, two thirds of the world's energy supply is to come from renewable sources. A good proportion of this is from wind power. There are enough expansion targets, but expansion is stalling. How come?

Peter Obling: We are working on nothing less than the conversion of our entire energy supply. It is understandable that there are sometimes setbacks or delays. After all, the demands and complexity of our industry are enormous and continue to grow, especially with the new expansion targets, such as in Germany. By 2045, at least 70 gigawatts of offshore wind power are to be installed here. Starting from just around 8-9 gigawatts at present. It's great to see that politicians have recognized the potential and want to expand – across Europe. But an industry must also be able to cope with this speed. It is important to have a robust, large-scale European supply chain. And this is currently not the case to a sufficient extent. Production capacities should actually double with the increasing investment in green technologies. In addition, our industry, like so many others, is struggling with higher material procurement prices. The current auction system for offshore wind farms in Germany is another challenge.

Why is that?

Obling: This is currently very much price-driven, which does lead to considerable revenue for the state. But this approach makes it more costly for energy-intensive industries and companies like ����AV to switch to green energy and could ultimately lead to a slowdown in the green transition. We need ambitious, predictable, long-term strategies where offshore wind can become an integral part of a low-cost, low-carbon and flexible electricity grid. And which offers the opportunity to create an industrial growth path. For example, through the integration of electrolyzers for the production of green hydrogen, which can then be used in shipping or the decarbonization of heavy industries.

And how are you still making progress?

Obling: We are of course continuing to expand, even under the current conditions. Just like in Germany, where two offshore projects are currently being realized. As the market leader, Ørsted has a considerable pipeline, which we can also implement thanks to existing contracts and good partnerships with our suppliers and service providers. And fortunately, there are rays of hope from the business world that are helping to drive the expansion forward: More and more companies want to become climate-neutral and are approaching us so that we can find solutions together. ����AV is a great example of this. We are very pleased that the plastics manufacturer secured green electricity from a wind farm early on with a direct contract, which did not even exist at the time. That gave us planning security. Borkum Riffgrund 3 in the North Sea is now under construction – the first large offshore wind farm in the world to be awarded the contract with a zero-cent bid.

Why is ����AV teaming up with energy providers?

Markus Steilemann: Our plants require as much energy as entire cities. At present, this is still predominantly fossil-based. However, to become climate-neutral by 2035, we need reliable large quantities of green energy. In addition, the energy crisis resulting from the war in Ukraine has shown that we should switch to sustainable sources wherever possible. We have been doing this consistently since 2019, when ����AV signed the world's largest electricity supply contract for industrial customers from offshore wind turbines with Ørsted. It is fantastic to see the first foundations of the towers being laid in the North Sea, from which we will be sourcing green electricity from 2025. At the same time, we are concluding more and more such contracts worldwide, most recently in the USA and also with Ørsted. Overall, we want to cover up to 18 percent of our energy requirements from renewable sources by the end of this year.

The chemical industry now has a dual role: not only a customer, but also a supplier to the energy industry.

Steilemann: Exactly, it is always said that no wind turbine would turn without the chemical industry. This also applies to our products. The core of rotor blades is made partly of wood and partly of synthetic resins from ����AV, which enclose carbon fibers, for example. This gives a rotor exactly the right balance between hardness and flexibility. To ensure that a wind turbine lasts a long time even in harsh weather conditions, especially on the high seas, it is coated with protective coatings, for which we also provide the materials. And our material is also used for the cables under the surface of the sea to prevent them from being damaged. All of this reduces maintenance costs for the operators and increases energy yield. So there is a real economic advantage to using good materials.

Obling: This example also shows how closely intertwined our two sectors are. I am very pleased that these ties are now being further strengthened, including in the context of energy policy. In Germany, for example, we want to use our associations to help advance the sluggish expansion of renewables with a joint position paper. This kind of solidarity should set a precedent across many other sectors. We need to take a holistic view of the energy transition, exploit synergies and, above all, work together across industries and countries.

So the economy as a driver of macroeconomic change?

Steilemann: Yes, we need to see the energy transition and ultimately the economic transformation towards comprehensive sustainability much more in context and coordinate the transformation of the individual sectors more closely. The chemical industry, for example, has set itself a huge, very ambitious program to achieve climate neutrality by 2045, but this will only work if many other wheels are turning. And the transformation in other sectors such as mobility also depends on progress in the chemical industry and the energy sector. And overall, the more climate-neutral products based on green electricity and green raw materials the chemical industry offers, the better the ecological footprint of countless companies will be. And this in turn supports the economic transformation towards climate neutrality and a circular economy.

Yolanda, four years ago you said goodbye with the words that you would like to be back on the mat at ����AV tomorrow. Is this the comeback you've been hoping for?

Yolanda Raffay: [laughs] Almost. I wouldn't quite call it a comeback yet. Because it's only one afternoon and I still need some time for my studies, it's not done overnight. But if it's up to me, I'll be very happy to come back. But then for more than just one day.

Chemistry was one of your favorite subjects at school. What happened to you after school?

The fascination is unbroken. I then chose chemistry as my field of study and, despite the occasional challenges, I do not regret this decision to this day.

Is the subject as you imagined it, or were there any unforeseen challenges that you had to overcome?

Partly, partly. Compared to school, you have to organize a lot yourself during your studies. The early days were a bit of a shock, but as soon as you get used to it, you find your way. The content of the course itself is exactly what I had hoped for – especially thanks to the support of fellow students.

To what extent did your practical experience at ����AV influence you?

Even before that, I had the intention of studying chemistry. However, my participation in "My position is top" encouraged me to go into industry later on. Before, I was unsure whether I wanted to work in research or industry. So this experience helped me. During my studies, I was particularly interested in technical chemistry. It's an area that's very close to industry, which only reinforces my inclination for practical application.

Are there any specific topics in chemistry that you are particularly excited about for your future work?

I haven't decided on a specific topic yet. There are many areas in chemistry that interest me and where you can really make a difference. And I'm not just thinking about big questions. There are also many small processes that can be optimized, for example, in such a way that less energy is consumed or fewer by-products are produced. I would therefore like to explore different research groups to see which topics fascinate me the most.

What advice would you give to other young people who are thinking about studying chemistry or starting an apprenticeship in this field?

You just have to dare. It's a lot of work, of course, but I really enjoy doing it. Standing in the lab and dealing with practical issues is something special. Chemistry is an absolutely fascinating science.

And what plans do you have for the future?

I will now first complete my bachelor's degree and then tackle the master's degree. If possible, I would like to go abroad for a research project. In any case, I would like to explore the world in my life – if possible, also in my later professional life.

... and then back to ����AV?

[laughs] If that happens, I'll be very happy to come back. But of course you can't plan everything in life, so I let things come to me.

A core challenge of the circular economy is that products today often contain a large number of materials that cannot be separated by type at the end of their life. Most furniture and products, for example, contain fabrics, perhaps foams, metals, various plastics, even wood with various adhesives and additives. The list goes on and on.

So if we are serious about the circular economy, the choice of materials and recyclability of products must be taken into account right from the design stage. Circular economy is therefore not possible without well-thought-out design. Due to these changing requirements for materials, the versatility of a material is a decisive factor. Plastics, for example, have great prerequisites for promoting closed material cycles due to their different material properties.

You yourself design furniture and everyday objects. What does such a "design for circular economy" mean for the future from your point of view? What do we have to be prepared for in our living room, for example?

By choosing the right materials and their connections, we can meet the demand for more conscious and sustainable materials.

In terms of shapes and forms, we won't notice any change if we don't want to. With modern materials and new manufacturing technologies, furniture can be created in any form. We can let the familiar remain familiar – or just think it in a completely new way.

A good example of this is a chair that I recently designed with ����AV and Arcesso Dynamics: The seat shell is made of a material that was seamlessly produced in one piece using a special process – Arfinio®. The result is a very sculptural and versatile piece of seating furniture, which can be easily dismantled and whose individual parts would be fully recyclable due to their mono-materiality.

What needs to happen for the vision of circular living environments of the future to become a reality?

Recycling and take-back systems need to be further optimized so that the materials can enter cycles at all. In addition, there is a need for awareness of the relevance of design and materials. And it needs people with such awareness in the right places in companies, design offices, universities. We have to reach out to such people and actively search and find like-minded people – because only such interactions and collective intelligence can lead to a breakthrough for change.

“Transformation is definitely one of those words that are used rather inflationarily. That is of course due to the fact that transformations occur in very different contexts, whether we’re talking about digital, environmental, or technological transformation. Often the different areas in which we come across transformations are also interrelated or affect each other mutually. It is important that we bring our employees with us on the journey of transformation.

In my opinion, the responsibility for propelling the transformation is shared. There are aspects of transformation that have to be driven traditionally from the top down by an Organization. For example, we cannot change the culture in the company unless certain values are exemplified by the Board of Management, demanded by managers, supported and then transmitted. HR plays an essential role in empowering the workforce and enabling them to participate in transformational topics. Not only do we need to support our employees in their learning, but we also need to integrate them emotionally. On the other hand, each and every employee also has a responsibility to view themselves as part of the journey and to be actively involved.”

Can you perhaps elaborate on that a little bit? For example, let’s take artificial intelligence as a field of transformation – how is ����AV handling this? How exactly can responsibility be shared here?

“At ����AV, many different areas are currently focusing very strongly on the topic of artificial intelligence. At HR, we also offer our employees a wide range of formats to familiarize them with the topic of artificial intelligence. As an example, we launched a holistic learning initiative, Expedition C, which focuses on six different areas of transformation. Employees across all functions and countries are encouraged to participate in this initiative and, for example, educate themselves further on topics like sustainability, culture, and artificial intelligence. What is important here is a respectful and, above all, honest discourse. Our employees are invited to share their thoughts and opinions openly with us once they have had their first experience with the AI system. This also includes naming their concerns and fears and asking questions. It would be naive to expect unanimous enthusiasm from our colleagues. However, this is precisely why there must be a space within the company for this. At ����AV, this is something our employees can discuss with experts and managers and get involved with. This is the aspect of responsibility that rests with our employees when we talk about shared responsibility.

Through training, exchange and empowerment, we strengthen our employees and ensure that they deal confidently with the topic of artificial intelligence. And a workforce that is self-confident because it is taken along on ����AV's transformation journey is capable of actively helping to shape it. Because employees can focus on future issues instead of remaining anxiously in the now. At HR, we take our role seriously, empower our employees and enable participation.”

And if you had a crystal ball, what do you think the future of work at ����AV would look like?

“Generally, I don't believe in getting carried away with forecasts that look more than two years into the future. Change and progress move too fast. I would like to see us continue to have enough jobs with creative freedom. Artificial intelligence is, in my opinion, a harbinger of the rapid development that lies in store for us. Human-machine interfaces are increasingly changing. This will lead to even more integrated collaboration, across departmental boundaries. Artificial intelligence will be increasingly integrated into our everyday working lives. At HR, we are taking on the question of how we deal with these changes. What do these changes mean culturally for our workforce – and how do we take our employees with us on these issues.

Human Resources is not only a driver of transformation, but is also transforming itself. Helping to shape these developments is incredibly exciting.”

Anyone who would like to listen to the podcast can find it here: (only available in German).

It all started when my fellow interns and I thought it would be nice to talk to the CEO. So we sent an e-mail to Markus Steilemann and asked for a meeting. And: He agreed!

Kindly, Sophie von Saldern, Global Head of HR, accompanied the event and addressed the HR-related part of our questions. For about an hour, we, the 25 or so participants, exchanged ideas - based on various questions that we had prepared and coordinated among ourselves. After Markus Steilemann's first joke, the ice was broken and our initial shyness vanished. A lively conversation quickly developed in an open, relaxed atmosphere. It gave us the opportunity to get first-hand information about the company's vision and strategy, general career tips, and even personal motivation for our own careers.

Afterwards, Felix Wammes, an intern in Global Technology Development, emphasized the importance of the event for himself: “The fact that Markus Steilemann responded to our request and took time for the exchange was a highlight in itself. I found his views on sustainability in the chemical industry issues particularly inspiring because of his detailed presentation of ����AV's sustainability plans in relation to the circular.”

Since the topic of artificial intelligence (AI) is currently on everyone's lips, we were naturally interested in Markus Steilemann's stance on it. For him, AI is a double-edged sword - highly overrated on the one hand, massively underestimated on the other. According to the CEO, AI is definitely the future, especially in research and development, and will open up new dimensions and greatly increase efficiency once again. We all found that very exciting in the meeting.

Markus Steilemann also answered our questions about career planning, among other things. For me, the decisive moment was when he emphasized that work is also about lifetime and that career decisions must also be made with this in mind. This perspective gave me important food for thought for my own future career. At the end, we definitely agreed: it was a fruitful meeting that allowed for an inspiring discussion on both sides.

Karin, Jan, what is the latest innovation that you have worked on? 

Karin: The chemical recycling process that we have developed within our first initiative Evocycle^® CQ Mattress: we are transforming end-of-life mattress foam directly back into renewed-alike polyurethane main building blocks – giving them new life. I am very proud of being part of these activities. We’ve been able to demonstrate that the two main raw materials originally used in flexible polyurethane (PU) foam from used mattresses can be completely recovered by chemolysis in our pilot plant in Leverkusen. 

Jan: My team and I currently strive to find a chemical recycling route for aromatic polycarbonates that can deliver good yield and selectivity, but is not too energy intensive. As polycarbonate waste is seldom selectively collected, applicability over a wide range of products and blends is also a must. Take a car part for example, car parts are mostly coated, so the process has to work for these material mixes as well. 

Jan, your work is at the beginning of the innovation cycle. Where do you find ideas what kind of technologies to try out? 

Jan: Recycling technologies are much like other R&D projects. The company strategy dictates in which direction to look. Then, everything starts with a literature study, the brains of creative researchers and the right network of experts. The combination of those three factors can then be used to start screening experiments for the chosen technologies. Once experiments come into play, it quickly becomes apparent which technologies could be promising, and where show stoppers pop up. 

During the process of bringing a new recycling technology to life, what did you struggle the most with? 

Jan: The availability of a clear feed stream for a polycarbonate recycling technology is much like a chicken or egg discussion. As there is no technology currently available to deal with a potential feed, there is no feed stream made available. Thus we have to develop both the technology and the “waste availability” in parallel. 

Karin: The keys for successful process industrialization are for sure the development and validation of innovative technologies on industrial level, but also the establishment of circular eco-commercial-systems. Only collected plastic waste can be recycled, like Jan said. It is therefore necessary to improve waste disposal as well as collection and sorting systems. In addition, legal regulations should prohibit the disposal of plastics in landfills. In the case of the mattresses, so far only some European countries have established collection systems enabling the recycling of mattresses. Thus we are working with recycling specialists such as Interzero and Eco-mobilier, as well as other partners along the value chain, to ultimately close the material cycle for polyurethane mattresses. 

When you hit that roadblock, how did that make you feel? 

Jan: For our technical experts who wish nothing more than to be creative in finding and testing solutions to technical questions, there is nothing more frustrating than discussing a hypothetical logistics question with no clear answer for the umpteenth time with your managers and stakeholders. So frustration is the right word to describe the feeling, I believe. 

Karin: Along the last years we faced some technical challenges and some questions are still not answered yet. This can be discouraging at times. On the other hand, working in such innovative projects, you are prepared for these ups and downs. So, usually, I manage to keep courage and confidence. 

Where did you find the motivation to keep going? 

Karin: To my opinion, it is crucial that the entire team, internal and external stakeholders believe on the success of the entire project. We need to be confident in doing the right thing! It is not only about being part of this huge transformation towards circular economy, it is furthermore the belief that the technology will change the polyurethane industry as a whole. 

Jan: The entire team believes in the technology we are developing, and we have always been confident that once the technology is available, there will be a feed stream made available. Now we know that we will certainly have ample waste product from several different industries and product groups for making the first steps in scale-up as soon as we are ready. If we can be successful there, we are convinced that this will create the necessary push to collect and recycle larger volumes to keep growing the scale and applicability of the technology. 

Karin, with Evocycle^® CQ Mattress you have already a few years of constant development and improvement behind you. How did you motivate your team to keep going during that project? 

Karin: Indeed, I am already responsible for these activities since 2019. To be honest, it wasn’t too difficult to keep going as our management decided very fast to upscale the technology based on our first lab test results. Since that time we, the entire team and me, got a lot of support, trust and commitment internally. And lately we had a positive customer feedback, being able to show that polyurethane foam is chemically recyclable. This was a huge success for us and a real booster for confidence in that we are on the right way towards the circular economy. 

After speeches by Prof. Malte Brettel (RWTH Aachen), Prof. Bernd Pietschmann (FH Aachen), Nico Michels (Siemens) as well as Etienne Pudell and Florian Fröhlich (Mercedes-Benz), the "Making of" video of the new Sonnenwagen is shown. Pure goose bumps! You can literally feel the energy that the students have put into the development and construction of the new Sonnenwagen. A feeling of immense pride spreads through me, then comes impatience – I want to finally see the new Sonnenwagen. And the countdown to the rollout of the new solar car starts running: 10, 9, … 3, 2, 1. Absolute silence. Slowly the black cloth is pulled off the car. The new Sonnenwagen is unveiled. Above the car the name "����AV Adelie". The enthusiasm is huge, the whole hall shakes with applause. Then question marks appear on the guests' faces. What does Adelie mean? And how do you pronounce the name correctly anyway? 

A photo of a penguin appears on the screen. Then it is explained: It is the Adelie penguin, a particularly aerodynamic penguin (Fun Fact: Due to its extraordinary streamlined shape, an Adelie penguin can swim a distance of 120 km on the energy of a meal of just 1.2kg of its favorite food, krill shrimp). So for the team, this is the ideal name for their new solar car. After all, the aerodynamics of the Sonnenwagen are one of the most relevant technical features. Even the smallest design changes can result in an increase in air resistance. Of course, this has to be avoided. After over 600 model designs and more than 200,000 hours of simulation work, the team has managed to reduce the aerodynamic drag of "����AV Adelie" by 20 % compared to its predecessor, the ����AV Photon. With extraordinary enthusiasm, the individual team leaders present their developments that are prone to help "����AV Adelie" win the world's toughest solar race, the World Solar Challenge in Australia. 

The figures are impressive: 16 % weight reduction of the structure and 20 % weight reduction of the chassis (the car weighs only 130 kg!), 567 solar cells that can generate a peak power of more than 1kW with a 96 % surface utilization, 600 km range of the battery without energy supply via solar cells (this probably made one or the other car manufacturer in the room pale with envy), 96 % overall efficiency of the powertrain. Some developments were also made to improve the driving strategy. For example, "����AV Adelie" and the so-called "Strategy Car" will communicate via telemetry during the race, weather data will be evaluated in real time, and optimization suggestions will be played to the driver of the Sonnenwagen via a vehicle model in the shortest possible time. It could hardly be more professional. 

The fact that ����AV is not only on the Sonnenwagen, but also in it, makes me particularly proud. Together with my colleague Daniel Steinke, I have been leading the Sonnenwagen project on behalf of ����AV since the beginning of this year. Since then, our top priorities have been to intensify the exchange with the students from Aachen and to identify material solutions for the Sonnenwagen. In the new car, polycarbonate was used for the battery enclosure, TPU for the seat shell lining, and various raw materials for bonding the individual components and manufacturing the structure. As part of the Growth Business Textiles, I am at just as happy that we were able to equip the team – also away from the car – with our more sustainable materials. In cooperation with our innovation partner, completely individual Sonnenwagen shoes were produced, as well as shorts using our bio-based polyurethane dispersions. 

It was (and still is 😊) a great experience to work with Team Sonnenwagen – their passion, team spirit, diligence and immense drive are truly contagious. Working together has shown me that "thinking differently" is the key to pushing the boundaries towards a more sustainable future! 

Now the Sonnenwagen team is about to leave for Australia. There, they can expect one more month of testing under real conditions and a final fine-tuning. Then, Team Sonnenwagen will compete with "����AV Adelie" against 41 other teams from all over the world. The aim is to cover the 3022 km distance between Darwin and Adelaide. 

I am sure that not only "����AV Adelie" but also, in particular, the will to win and the team's cohesion will help the students to find themselves on the top step of the podium after crossing the finish line. The anticipation of watching the race (even if only from a distance) is growing day by day. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you, Team Sonnenwagen – you deserve to win! 

SG: Safety has always been of paramount importance for us at all levels. The safety of employees, production processes and plants are at the core of our business. Our vision is an accident-free company, working towards this goal is a commitment we make every day. ����AV  has around 18,000 employees and sites all over the world. So, we need to take a close look at what factors contribute to a safe working environment and how it is possible to ensure the safety of highly complex production facilities at all times.

What role does an organization's culture play in the topic of safety?

SG: Let me be clear about this, trainings and safety guidelines are one thing, but a company’s culture is what makes all the difference in really living safety every day. At ����AV, employees are aware of their responsibility for the processes, themselves, and others. Their effort is the reason why ����AV has had a great track record in safety in recent years. Bottom line – we have made a lot of progress, but we are not there yet.

Carsten, how can “the human factor” be taken as an asset rather than a risk?

CR: Human influence on potentially dangerous situations can be multifaceted. Sometimes, people underestimate a hazardous situation. Sometimes, there are misunderstandings. There are a few human factors that, in sequence, can lead to accidents. If we are aware of human imperfection and, therefore, the need for mutual protection, we can act proactively and foster true cultural change.

What is ����AV’s way of dealing with this challenge?

CR: We employ a mosaic of programs, awareness trainings, and coaching. One of them is a behavioral training called Team Resource Management (TRM). It is based on systematic accident research and was successfully implemented in aviation in the late seventies to address this interrelated set of human factors that can cause or prevent accidents. Remember the famous emergency landing on the Hudson River? Both pilots indicated that TRM was integral to the success of the accident flight.

TRM has been adapted to other high-risk industries, and ����AV decided to adapt this concept as a pioneer in the chemical industry, too. Our external partner is a company of active aircraft captains and instructors experienced in TRM trainings. Over a two-day training, the plant and maintenance teams experience the impact of human errors and practice how to get around them in a simulation. They analyze real ����AV case studies and reflect their communication behavior and error culture. In the end, they go back to their workplace with a set of tools and strategies for their daily routine, applying what they learned in a structured approach.

How do you think learning from aviation encourages progress in safety culture, Sucheta?

SG: I was really impressed when I did the training myself recently! I realized how easily we make mistakes due to lack of awareness or misunderstandings – but also that we can train to avoid them. Aviation and the chemical industry have many parallels: Both employ highly technically trained personnel and try to solve risks and problems primarily through technology. But we will not achieve the goal of an accident-free company with technology alone. To achieve this goal, we all need social, communicative, and psychological skills. With trainings like TRM we can learn to evaluate our own behavior and that of others, to assess situations correctly, to make decisions and avoid mistakes. Teamwork has been proven to increase safety in production operations – as a team we can create a healthy and safe work environment.

A couple of ����AV colleagues and I are visiting the team of students from RWTH and FH Aachen, and the picture that presents itself to us is surprising - at least for someone like me who has never had anything to do with solar mobility. The group of young people in their 20s works extremely professionally and is structured like a real company with different teams, team leaders and a board of directors. There are detailed project plans and process descriptions for each step of the work.

����AV is the main sponsor of the project. The company has been supporting the students for years in developing an ever better solar car. The long-standing partnership is paying off: Over the years, ����AV materials have been used again and again in the solar car - and the solar car has gotten better each time. The team is currently designing a new Sonnenwagen for the world's toughest solar car race across the desert. The time has come at the end of October for the World Solar Challenge in Australia.

Before that, the car has to be finished. The students are working their way from the rough shape to the smallest details concerning aerodynamics, mechanics and electronics. Since the beginning of the year, the first components have been produced in the specially rented workshop. Time is short; after all, the team wants to present the new Sonnenwagen at a festive ceremony on June 5. To keep to the schedule, the students even work in shifts. Everyone is on fire and giving their all: they take the project very seriously.

����AV accompanies the team on its journey. To this end, there is a virtual meeting every two weeks with me as ����AV project manager, my co-project manager Inga Bargende and the students from Aachen. ����AV specialists from different organizations also regularly take part and support with know-how and material expertise. I always really like the meetings because the atmosphere is trusting and open. They are honest technical discussions about the pros and cons of certain solutions.

The Aachen students make sure that the specific plans remain secret. The shape of the body can only be guessed at during our visit to the workshop and remains a secret even for us for the time being. For this year's race, the team is milling the body shape from polyurethane blocks in a multi-stage process. Afterwards, the students continue to smooth out the final imperfections by hand with sandpaper.

Lina, from the Sonnenwagen team's board of directors, explains why: "Every unevenness on the surface increases air resistance and costs valuable seconds later in the race." The pre-sanded blocks are then lined with carbon mats, which serve as the actual mold for the final body parts.

The Aachen students are also precise when it comes to the drive and the batteries - the heart of the car. When it comes to the drive, the students don't want to compromise and are constantly optimizing it. They have designed, completed, tested, discarded and further improved countless versions of the stator (an important component of the electric motor). In order to get everything out of the car in the race, the electrical engineers check each battery cell individually for its function and whether it delivers the promised performance. Later in the race, this detailed knowledge can mean the decisive advantage and bring victory.

At the beginning of June, the team will present the new car to the public for the first time. After that, the team will have about 3 months for extensive test runs before the new solar car is sent on its long journey to Australia. There, the team will have a few more weeks for the final tuning before the World Solar Challenge starts in Darwin on October 22.

I probably won't be able to be there live. But I will follow the race online and cheer along on my PC. The goal is, of course, first place. And I am sure that with their commitment and dedication, they will achieve it!

Yet the urgency and necessity of promoting equity are still alive in 2023. It fills me with deep sadness that when we look around the world, we see women not being treated as full citizens, being excluded from education and the job market. They are mistreated and silenced. Afghanistan and Iran are only two examples.

In light of this, IWD is even more important to question ourselves how we are actively promoting a world of equal rights for every person – regardless of their sex, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or sexual identity. This year´s campaign theme of International Women´s Day #EmbraceEquity to me resonates a holistic determination: as long as we do not positively embrace equity and embed it with all its implications into our lives, there will be no true progress towards equal rights for all.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are part of almost every company’s statute these days. We have covered ground from equity being seen as nice-to-have to a status we should constantly think about, believe in and strive for. That is why March 8 is so important to me: let us celebrate the progress already made towards achieving gender equity. But let us also raise awareness for the still existing lack of women´s equality and rights. Because we still see in many areas, on a large and small scale, cases of gender equity being more written than actually lived.

As a leader of an organization that is aware of its social responsibility, I have also thought about what is most important to me to embrace in the context of equity. I go with Women’s Empowerment. As Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai from Pakistan is quoted with regard to our future: “We cannot all succeed if half of us are held back” and I couldn’t agree more. Women’s Empowerment is about promoting girls and women in the social as well as economic sphere and strengthening their self-confidence. Because I believe in the exponential strength of women – but to fly high and stay at the top women need allies, too. In business it is especially the top C-level management that needs to show strong support for the company’s measures to increase Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Their support has an important signal effect – internally for the company and externally for society at large.

I am proud that @����AV has joined the joint Women's Empowerment Principles initiative of @UNWomen and the UN Global Compact to promote gender equality. By joining the WEP’s community of more than 4,250 companies worldwide, ����AV is one of the first signatories in the European chemical industry.

To push for DE&I to become sustainably embedded in society and business we can all play a part. Speak up, offer allyship. Get involved personally. Collective activism is what drives change.

After starting the internship in September, I got my own project pretty quickly, investigating raw materials for coating formulations. My tasks in the project included, among other things, planning experiments, calculating formulations, preparing and applying coating materials, creating test specimens, measuring certain properties and, of course, interpreting the generated data, presenting it to other departments and writing a report. The multifaceted project always provided enough variety and challenges, which is why I never got bored.

What I found very pleasant during my internship was the collaboration with my colleagues, even across departments and locations. Everyone was very nice right from the start, integrated me into the team really well and was always ready to help. ����AV also hosts a community for all interns. In this community, interns from all areas meet voluntarily for a joint, informal exchange – either digitally or for a lunch on site. This is an absolutely amazing way to meet lots of new people.

One of my biggest highlights was definitely visiting K 2022, the world's largest plastics trade fair in Düsseldorf, which only takes place every three years. We received tickets from ����AV and were able to take a look at the huge booth including the stage program and learned a lot about ����AV`s product innovations.

In addition to the highlights, there was also a somewhat challenging phase when I started my project as the creation of polyurethane coating films initially proved to be rather difficult. I definitely had to exercise patience during this time as I must have spent 2-3 weeks repeatedly trying different experiments to solve the problem. With the ideas and experiences of my supervisors and other colleagues, however, it finally worked out and the project could be worked on well.

Last but not least, I would like to emphasize that occupational safety is very important at ����AV and many measures are introduced and implemented for this purpose. This is probably indispensable for such a large company, nevertheless I also noticed this very positively.

When I was a junior in high school, I was struggling to figure out what career I wanted to pursue. I had an artistic side that craved creativity and an analytical side that needed organization and order. I remember my lightbulb moment like it was yesterday. I was sitting in my AP (advanced placement) Chemistry class and asked a “what if…” question about our lab assignment. My teacher, instead of giving me the answer, responded with, “Go find out.” This encouragement to explore and creatively think on my own helped me to realize that I wanted to keep exploring the “what ifs” in my daily job – and that’s what started me on my way to a career in chemistry.

I think of this AP Chemistry teacher as the first in a steady stream of mentors that have helped me to develop into the person I am today. As I have grown into myself, I have been lucky to have many role models to look towards for support, who I truly felt cared about my success. In college, it was my advisor who helped me secure research and other opportunities, while also showing me an example of what a powerful woman in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) can look like. During my undergraduate research, it was a grad student who encouraged me to apply for an internship at ����AV after they listened to my interests and concerns about life after college. At ����AV, it’s the amazing female leaders that have led by example, influencing me to pursue my graduate degree and take on more responsibility.

Without these influential mentors and coaches in my life, my path could have looked a lot different. I am lucky to have had so much support – and that is why I try my very best to provide the same support to the next generation of female leaders!

Representation matters. When young people are able to see someone that looks like them in a career, they are more likely to think of that career as accessible.  It’s important to connect young girls to leaders that look like them much earlier in life: to expose them to a variety of careers and show them that they have the power to be leaders themselves. With more exposure to mentors and leaders in various industries, these girls are much more likely to have their own lightbulb moment and build amazing connections that will help them succeed.  

How do I Mentor?

Currently, most of my mentoring is through an organization called Strong Women Strong Girls (SWSG). SWSG aims to connect elementary aged girls to college mentors, and these to professional mentors, to foster a network of support for all ages and experience levels. Within SWSG, I volunteer as a one-on-one mentor, where I am matched to a college-aged woman each semester and am available for support, whatever that might entail! Sometimes, support means helping with resume building or professional development, but other times it simply means being available to meet for a coffee and to act as a sounding board for challenges the mentee might be experiencing. I truly love meeting these amazing women and seeing how bright their futures are, and it is rewarding to think that I might be able to contribute in some way to their success.

I have also been participating in a second program through SWSG called Role Models in Residence. This program involves creating a lesson plan and then teaching a group of elementary aged girls about my career. In my case, I typically prepare some science experiments for the girls, to show them how fun STEM can be. We have made polymer worms, slime, homemade ice cream and so much more! I like to start my lesson by asking the girls if any of them have considered being a scientist when they grow up, which normally does not result in many raised hands. I ask the same question after our session and always get a few enthusiastic “YES’s,” which is all I could ever ask for.

This past year I also started volunteering as a mentor through the Pittsburgh Technology Council’s LAUNCH program. LAUNCH aims to transform the natural curiosity of high school girls into a voice of leadership in STEM. I participated as a panelist during their kickoff, along with some amazing female leaders in STEM in the Pittsburgh area. The high school girls were encouraged to ask questions about our career journeys, and we got the chance to speak honestly and openly about being a woman in STEM, as well as our best practices for success. Beyond the panel session, I also participated in one-on-one mentoring later during the LAUNCH program and was available for virtual mentoring sessions through the Latitude portal.

What has mentoring meant to me?

I have grown so much personally while participating in these mentorship opportunities. There are so many incredible young women out there that are destined to make a huge impact on their communities. I have gained insight into perspectives and backgrounds much different than my own, listened as girls share their own personal struggles and goals, and have come out of it as a much more empathetic and open person. I’ve also discovered that a lot of the tools I have learned in my life are not specific to my education or career. Some of the most impactful learnings I can share with future leaders are related to stress management, navigating imposter syndrome, and just coping with being a young person in a big, scary world!

I remember feeling nervous to ask mentors for guidance when I needed support, feeling like I was adding to their plate. I also remember how that fear melted away when a mentor would eagerly ask me how they could help, because I knew they genuinely cared. Now, I get to be that person! Every time I think I have hit my limit on how I can contribute and mentor in my community, another opportunity presents itself, and I just can’t help myself. If my bandwidth allows, I will always be open and excited to help our next generation of leaders in whatever way needed. It never feels like an obligation – it’s an opportunity to raise girls up, show them how amazing they already are, and help them to succeed.

Successful implementation of the circular economy requires suitable regulatory framework conditions. Recycling quotas, for example, that apply to several stages of the value chain, such as plastics manufacturers and OEMs, would in my view significantly strengthen innovation for Circular Economy along the value chain. Design for recycling is the order of the day for bringing Circular Economy concepts to market even more successfully. For us at ����AV, building on our strength in application technology, this is also a clear opportunity to differentiate ourselves. 

It is obvious that the implementation of the circular economy must not only be thought along the value chain, but also strongly across disciplines. We look forward to a further intensification of the cooperation between engineering technology and chemistry as well! 

But it’s not all doom and gloom. We shouldn’t overlook the many positive moments 2022 gave us. In science for example, last year brought a lot of pioneering breakthroughs. The list of R&D successes ranges from plants grown in lunar soil, the complete human genome sequence to the first nuclear fusion that produced more energy than was put in.

And we also saw some major innovations in the world of materials. What “my” sphere, the plastics industry, has achieved, was impressively demonstrated at K 2022, our sector’s largest trade fair that took place in October in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Work towards positive change

����AV’s motto here was "Crafting Connections With You". I think this expressed something decisive in a very chaotic 2022. Because crafting means: we can create something, move something, we are not just objects in a world shaped by climate excesses and bloodshed. It is up to us to work towards positive change.

And there are so many things that urgently need to be tackled. 
Certainly, the acute multiple crises deserve our utmost attention. There is still no end in sight to the Russian war of aggression. Just as the world as a whole seems to be becoming more tense and unpredictable. The economic forecasts are going down, the inflation rates up, while we are mired in an unprecedented energy crisis.

However, we mustn’t disregard the many underlying, long-term, creeping challenges. Mankind urgently needs solutions for climate change and climate adaptation, for the conversion of the energy systems. Our stressed planet has to remain habitable for what is now eight billion people. They must be able to lead a life worth living, even if we will see two billion more in just a few decades. We need to fight hunger – every tenth person is starving –, promote clean mobility and find ways out of cities that are increasingly becoming inhospitable zones.

The list of these challenges can be extended almost indefinitely. But practically all of them have one thing in common: in order to cope with them and create a truly sustainable world, you need technology – and future-oriented materials such as plastics.

Our industry is working hard to produce them in a way that saves resources and curbs emissions – such as the climate neutral and circular plastics ����AV launched in 2022.

Create a circular world

But there is something bigger beyond all these efforts: the conviction that we need a new comprehensive strategic approach. This is, in my eyes, the circular economy. A most promising way to unite climate protection, resource conservation and the protection of our fragile environment with sustainable ways of living and value creation.

To make circularity the guiding principle in the economy as well as in our private lives is high on my New Year wish list. I admit that it takes a lot of effort: willpower, endurance, readiness for change, inventiveness, flexibility. And a framework that provides ample room for manoeuvre. But it’s absolutely worthwhile – for us and for future generations. In that sense I'm very much looking forward to crafting 2023 with you.

For us at ����AV, the idea was not to join in just as we started planning Pride Month. As in the past, it was important for us to become active where gaps needed to be closed: to communicate information both internally and externally, to clarify ambiguities, and to communicate the relevance of the topic to employees. After all, showing solidarity is important, but it is not enough. 

So it seemed fitting that our logistics partner MAERSK offered to stop by with its rainbow container. This was not only a strong statement to demonstrate our position, but also a good opportunity to create a place of exchange. The aim was to make room for all  topics and open questions, and to allow those who can provide  answers to have a chance to speak: the members of our employee networks UNITE (LGBTQ+) and Compass Diversity, Equal and Inclusion enabled growth and learning through open conversations, questions and support.

The result was three colorful days during which employees from all departments and work areas visited the container in front of our headquarters in Leverkusen and inscribed their messages on the topics of Diversity, Equal and Inclusion on the inside wall of the container. Opinions were exchanged, and there were numerous in-depth conversations and constructive discussions.

The most important takeaways I was able to gather during the three days were: 

1. Homosexuality is still prosecuted today in 69 countries. In 11 countries, the penalty is even death. Transphobia and discrimination are still often commonplace. To increase awareness and provide encouragement, there must be days of awareness such as this one. In times when homophobia, biophobia, 
interphobia, and transphobia are still widespread, it is essential that companies openly state and represent their positions – and do so consistently and continuously.

2. Fears such as mobbing, discrimination, or professional retrenchment lead the majority of homosexuals, transsexuals, and bisexuals to keep their sexual orientation a secret in the workplace. Numerous studies show that these concerns are unfortunately not unjustified today. A strict separation of professional and private life has long been outdated. Certainly everyone has already asked or been asked a question or two about vacation or weekend plans with one’s partner. Consequently, sexual orientation cannot always be left out of such water-cooler conversations. 

3. Gender outing also plays a role in one’s professional life. Why? Biological sex does not necessarily correspond to gender identity. So, in order to be perceived and addressed as the person you feel you are, coming out is inevitable. 

4. A show of solidarity in the form of raising a rainbow flag is no substitute for taking action to create a discrimination-free environment. What’s more, it’s important to formulate clear policies against discrimination, provide points of contact, build LGBTQnetworks, and provide internal training. 

We at ����AV are on the right track. Taking such actions not only at the headquarters in Germany but at ����AV sites around the world is a positive and important step. For example, during Pride Month, parades were attended in the U.S., Mexico, and China, and numerous other actions were taken to increase the visibility of LGBTQ+ discrimination and raise awareness of non-discrimination as a human right. 

But the road to a discrimination-free world is not over yet. That’s why we are also dedicating ourselves to the topic today on Coming Out Day at our sites around the world. We must continue to show our colors, because as a company we are part of society. A society in which every person should be able to love and develop as they wish. 

Our rainbow container was then filled with ����AV materials and continued its journey, first to South America. Our thoughts and messages were thus carried into the world.

After a joint start to training was not possible in previous years due to corona, things were different this year: a total of 147 new trainees were collected in Leverkusen, Dormagen and Krefeld-Uerdingen and brought together to Ratingen for the joint Welcome Day.

There, Stephan Busbach, Head of Training Germany at ����AV, welcomed the group: "I am very happy that we were finally able to organize a joint Welcome Day again this year. This way, the trainees learn right from the start what our ����AV "We are 1" idea means!" said Busbach.

Thinking skills and creativity are required

After a joint breakfast, the trainees - among them future chemical technicians, chemical laboratory assistants and electronics technicians - quickly learned that thinking skills and creativity are very important at ����AV.

The first challenge was to build soapboxes out of recyclable Makrolon. This gave ����AV's new trainees a feel for circular economy and how it is anchored in everyday work at ����AV on their very first day. At the end, the soapboxes were dismantled, granulated and can be reused.

But the focus was not only on the learning aspect: in small groups, the trainees tested who could design the fastest soapbox and who could implement the vehicle most creatively. "Everyone had really good ideas and supported each other so that our soapbox became a real joint effort," the trainees were pleased about the joint work in the group. A good insight into how training and working at ����AV works: Contributing ideas, exchanging ideas with each other and thus achieving the goal together!

Onboarding continues in the coming weeks

New trainees also started their time at ����AV outside of North Rhine-Westphalia. In Brunsbüttel, 22 trainees and 14 start-up help participants were welcomed to the Welcome Day: In addition to basic information on the topic of safety and proper behavior in the workplace, the trainees were also directly challenged intellectually and creatively in a joint "Escape Game" to get to know the different training areas.

However, the Welcome Day did not mark the end of the introductory phase for the new trainees at ����AV, but rather the beginning of it. Starting in mid-September, the trainees from Brunsbüttel will travel together to Grömitz for four days, where the focus will be on team spirit and getting to know each other, in addition to initial learning units. In the coming weeks, all the new trainees at ����AV will then be given more in-depth training in their respective occupational groups.

Used plastics are not waste, but a valuable resource. However, there is still a long way to go to make full use of them. But there are people who are developing innovative technologies to get to grips with complex recycling processes so that waste can be turned back into new products. Alexander Maak of recycling services provider Interzero is looking at managing the entire supply chain of raw materials, while Mesbah Sabur, founder of startup Circularise, is using blockchain technology to trace plastics back to their raw material base and still protect manufacturer information despite the transparency.

Partnerships aren't just important in our personal lives; they can transform entire industries. Partnerships will play a whole new role when material cycles are established on a larger scale in the future. Then not only customers and suppliers will work together, but also players as diverse as recycling specialists, plastics manufacturers and waste management companies. One example: bag manufacturer FREITAG has been making products from used truck tarpaulins for a long time. Now the company wants to close the loop and is working on various solutions, including together with a tarpaulin manufacturer, a logistics company and ����AV.

The expansion of renewable energies from wind, solar and hydropower has already made good progress. However, if we are to meet climate targets and implement an energy transition entirely from renewable sources, we need much more innovation. The challenge is not only to generate clean energy from renewable sources, but also to align energy grids and storage systems with future requirements.

For example, Professor André Bardow of ETH Zurich is looking at how surplus renewable energy can be stored or used in other ways, i.e., "Power2X". He sees a lot of potential, especially in the chemical industry, for storing energy in the form of hydrogen or ammonia for later use or as an energy buffer.

Felicity Underhill is working at the Australian company Fortescue Future Industries to produce carbon-free green hydrogen from 100 percent renewable sources. The ultimate goal is to reduce emissions in hard-to-decarbonize industries. The vision of Christina Sobfeldt Jahn and her employer, the energy supplier Ørsted, on the other hand, is a world powered entirely by green energy – including wind and solar power. ����AV has concluded supply agreements for green electricity with Ørsted and other energy suppliers.

Nevertheless, I hope that we act early enough so that my children can experience our earth one day as I do today. Fortunately, I am not the only one with this hope. In my generation in particular, awareness of the environment continues to grow. Our thinking has changed, sustainability is becoming more and more central. The vision of a circular economy is becoming more popular after decades of a linear economy.

Right now, the circular economy is just a vision, but I still like it. And I know: we still have many steps to go before closed loops become reality. Nevertheless, it is important to me that we are aware, every small step creates a change. At ����AV in particular, I have learned in the past four weeks that there are already opportunities for reuse. There is steady progress in these research projects. That's a cool certainty!

As a young person, I think the business world needs to do a better job of introducing me and all customers to the idea of the circular economy. In the end, we can all have an impact with our actions. Then sustainable products can also establish themselves in the long term, even if it costs a little more. I think that's the least we can do to secure our future on this planet.

I would like to see more attention paid to renewable energies, resource conservation, recycling and waste management, preferably as a whole and not as individual solutions. The circular economy is capable of uniting all these areas in an ongoing system, even if it is only a vision so far. I am confident that it is the best path to complete carbon neutrality. To make it happen, we need to bring everyone along and be a good role model! I am happy to be on this path.

Tung-Liang Chen, who was the lead actor of the first science play with complete hearing loss at MagicMaterial School, was admitted into the science and engineering department at the National United University after his graduation from the hearing-impaired school. This also wrote a new chapter in the school’s history. Chen indicates, “As long as we can equally receive scientific education resources, children with hearing loss or no hearing can also shine in the field of science and engineering. I want to thank ����AV, which not only made me more confident in science and myself, but also helped me to feel comfortable when studying and living with hearing peers at university. Every hearing-impaired child has infinite potential!”

A total of 4,848 children have been assisted by 280 volunteers over the past seven years. By planting the seeds of hope, we have witnessed children’s passion as well as a change in their perspectives. ����AV sincerely believes that diversity, inclusion, harmony and sustainable development are what constitute a promising future for both society and our children. This year, 2022, MagicMaterial School project initated by ����AV Taiwan was recognized by Gartner, a company that delivers actionable, objective insight to executives and their teams, in its 2022 Gartner Communications Awards. The Gartner Communications Awards had eight categories this year. MagicMaterial School from Taiwan was named a finalist in the category “Excellence in ESG, Sustainability and DEI Communications”. In addition, the project from ����AV Taiwan also received the global 2022 PR News Social Impact Awards in the categories of “Diversity and Inclusion Series” and “In-House Diversity and Inclusion Campaign”.

and the .

The same applies to digitality, which is increasingly influencing design. Public abstinence during the pandemic became an opportunity to break down boundaries with other art forms, for example in the use of displays controlled by gestures and light, or in new forms of interactive dance. Many productions focused on people and aimed to inspire them – a consistent continuation of the concept of “customer centricity”. 
 

It was a very special experience for the ����AV team, which was represented at this hotspot for designers for the first time and exchanged ideas with visitors at eye level. Creating emotions with colors, materials, and versatile surface design options (CMF, color material, finish) is part of the added value ����AV offers customers with its plastics. Designers play a special role here, because they act as translators by delighting and inspiring and making products tangible and experienceable. ����AV offers a series of aesthetics toolkits for this purpose, explaining the visual and tactile properties of its polycarbonates. 

These plastics in particular enable a frenzy of colors and senses, because there are virtually no limits to their color, haptic, and surface design. Designers are an important target group here – not only because they are part of the client’s purchasing team, but also because they are enthusiastic, inspiring influencers for our portfolio and perceive design thinking as the basis of the design process. This approach is completely focused on people and users. 

In Milan, another important driver for future design developments caught the interest of the participants: the orientation of industry and society towards the circular economy. The focus is not on the goal of “somehow” designing, but on consciously bringing about change. ����AV offers various material solutions to support designers in such developments and projects. They are virtually tools for circular design – besides meeting functional and aesthetic requirements. These include alternative plant-based raw materials, in some cases also mass-balanced components, as well as innovative recycling technologies that are being developed together with partners along the value chains.

If you ask me like that, I have to start by saying that at the top of my agenda are still the stressful times we are all going through right now. The Ukraine war continues to keep Europe in its grip, and the potential impact of the gas situation on private households, on energy-intensive sectors such as the chemical industry, and thus also on ����AV and our employees, is on our minds every day. This is a challenging time for our employees, and the HR team provides support in a variety of areas.

And yet we continue to push ahead with topics such as new work, new leadership, and transformation at ����AV. In this respect, I was very pleased to be able to talk about this facet of HR, about our understanding of leadership and also about my personal experiences.

Before you started your career in HR, you were a national basketball player and professional athlete. This is also addressed in the podcast. Are you often asked about analogies to professional sports in your role as Global Head of HR?

There are issues in HR where there are strong parallels between sports and business and both areas can learn from each other. Team spirit and leadership, setbacks, performance, and motivation are among these topics on which I am sometimes asked about my personal past. At ����AV, for example, we have set up a personnel development concept for managers that we plan to roll out starting in September of this year. Under “Moments that matter”, we want to further sensitize our managers to which moments in an employee’s life are of crucial importance. In working life, such moments are, for example, cases of illness in the family or a promotion interview. Here, as a manager, I have to be there for my team 150% of the time. These moments and how we deal with them are very formative when we look at employee loyalty.

At the moment, a lot revolves around performance, excessive demands, and simultaneity. How do you help teams at ����AV deal with the idea of performance?

By clearly addressing the concept of performance. Performance is not a stable construct. We should keep that in mind on a regular basis. Each and every one of us is not always equally capable of performing. There should first be a consensus on this, and I expect that much honesty from our managers. But what must also be clear – there are decisive moments when performance must be accessible. This is a strong focus of our HR development concept, which we plan to roll out from September.

In a sports comparison, that’s clearly what I mean. Training requires a different kind of performance than a game, and a game in turn requires a different kind of performance than a championship, and this can be continued. In the company, we often have too stable a conception of performance in people. This simply does not correspond to reality for me. Every athlete deals with his or her own performance, but not just with a view to a season, but to weeks, days or even individual training minutes. Even within a day, one’s performance can fluctuate. We have to keep reminding ourselves of that.

Another topic where I like to draw a comparison: Regeneration. Recovery makes me perform even better in sports. The interaction between loading and unloading must be harmonious and balanced. That often gets neglected in the corporate world. Sure, the availability through remote working, the constant simultaneity are tempting. But we also need to stop ourselves, take time to reflect and time to refuel. And actively plan for that for our colleagues. Both to perform and to stay healthy. Especially in our troubled times, we must have a strong focus on ensuring that our employees are doing well.

, but it is in German only.

We have only scratched the surface

We need to be honest and review what we have achieved so far. Right now, we have only scratched the surface. This will not do. We need to treat waste as a resource and not make it part of the problem when it is incinerated or dumped into landfills. We need to move forward and substitute fossil fuels with alternative raw materials in industrial processes. 

I often say this, as a mother of two children, and also Member of the Board of ����AV, I believe that we owe it to ourselves, to society and to future generations to stop our dependance on fossil fuels and not settle for insufficient recycling. At ����AV, we have already switched to alternative raw materials in many areas, and we will continue to do so, as the demand for alternative raw materials continues to rise on our customers’ end.

Investment in focused R&D pays off

Good journalism forces us to keep challenging ourselves as an industry. Are we doing enough to reach out to partners? To accelerate climate action? I am certain that there is so much more that we can continue to improve on. Change does not come by itself. It starts with a serious and focused investment in R&D – that pays off in the long run. Our R&D teams are working on new technologies, such as chemical recycling and pyrolysis.

At ����AV, we are in constant dialogue with governments and economies in China, Germany, and the US. We currently see climate movements and climate action policies being implemented but need to be quicker and deliver new solutions faster. We must always have the next challenge in our mind and have our eyes on the next step we are about to take. 

Winning this race was the goal of the Sonnenwagen team from RWTH Aachen University and Aachen University of Applied Sciences. We journalism students listened intently as some of the team's students shared their experiences along the route with us.

Every two years, the team of 50 students competes in the world wide competition, the World Solar Challenge. In addition to the adventure, the aim is to further research and develop sustainable mobility. ����AV, the team's main sponsor, also sees these future technologies as answers to global challenges. Economical cars made of lightweight materials - a common basis.

After the presentation, we student journalists were in demand. Team Sonnenwagen Aachen wanted hints from us for their social media channels. Their questions: How can we fill the off-season with exciting content? How do we get more media coverage? "Get your passion for your project across online," was our consensus advice. Team Sonnenwagen Aachen conveyed team spirit and a lot of excitement at the races, which needs to be more focused. "Take your viewers with you into your everyday life, let them become a part of your team," that is what we told the students from Aachen, and they invited us to visit their workshop.

Mutual understanding - right from the start

In the interview with Sucheta Govil, we were allowed to ask the questions. The implementation of the circular economy was the topic of the day, but also the war in Ukraine and its impact on productions in different sectors. Sucheta Govil took a lot of time for the individual questions: "It's extremely important to engage with these young people now, when they are on their way to their future."

Both sides benefit from this exchange, as Felix Heck, a student at the School of Journalism, summarizes: "As journalists, we have the task of explaining the world to our readers. To do that, we have to understand the world from different angles, and companies like ����AV are of course an important part of that."

The man behind the numbers

Dr. Björn Bahl is someone who has the answer to these questions — the man behind the numbers, so to speak. Dr. Bahl, a mechanical engineer, has been dealing with numbers ever since joining ����AV in the beginning of 2019. Back then, he worked in the area of Energy Excellence and started answering questions about future carbon emissions via Excel. “Entirely home-grown,” he admits with a smile. However, he knew early on that questions like these would arise more and more often in the future and that ����AV would need a professional solution to address them.

Bahl started the journey proactively: In addition to his day-to-day business, he worked on a software solution for collecting key production figures and influencing factors to predict energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. His superiors supported his project from the very beginning. Bahl, who describes himself as an “energy data enthusiast”, had to begin by learning the programming language Python. He received support in this from two colleagues.

CEEPTER helped set climate goals

His work paid off for the first time when carbon emissions became an increasingly important KPI at ����AV in more and more issues: “We helped develop the climate goal as a non-financial target for long-term management incentive. When the question was raised as to what realistic numbers were and the direction in which the carbon footprint of ����AV would evolve, we became aware of just how useful our tool was,” says Bahl. The climate goals published on March 1 were also calculated via CEEPTER. The ambitious goal is to achieve climate neutrality for Scope 1 and 2 by 2035. “With the approval of these goals, it was clear that Energy Management would need to focus on energy and emissions management,” says Dr. Alexander Plum, head of Energy Excellence.

CEEPTER enabled Bahl to calculate different scenarios involving various measures and effects for each ����AV site in no time. For instance, greenhouse gas emissions such as CO₂ (carbon dioxide) and N₂O (nitrous oxide) are converted into greenhouse gas equivalents, and CO₂ savings potential from various energy efficiency projects as well as procurement contracts for green power are rated and included in the prognoses. Thus, Bahl and his Business Intelligence colleagues have managed to create a data-based decision-making tool that brings together all key factors influencing greenhouse gas emissions at ����AV – a tool that is available 24/7.

Many different ����AV departments are now drawing on the data acquired via CEEPTER. This data is used to calculate the quarterly non-financial CO₂ indicator prognosis. It also flows into energy efficiency improvements as well as into the planning and implementation of climate goals for each site.

“CEEPTER has just entered the next phase and is now integrated into SAP’s Business Warehouse,” says Alexander Plum. That way, anyone at ����AV in need of data has direct access to different modes of evaluation. “Everyone should have the opportunity to work on projects close to their heart. ����AV has given me the chance to do so,” says Björn Bahl.

CEEPTER

CEEPTER is short for Covestro Energy & Emission Prediction Tool for Environmental Reporting. The software processes data such as planned production volumes, plant-specific energy consumption, energy efficiency projects, and green power contracts as well as other measures and external factors for predicting the greenhouse gas emissions of ����AV. Since the program has been developed in-house, it is specifically adapted to the data systems at ����AV. Another advantage: The program has a very short response time and can calculate and evaluate different scenarios swiftly.

Ambitious Climate Goals

����AV has set itself the goal of becoming climate neutral by 2035 and achieving net zero emissions for scope 1 and scope 2, i.e., for its own emissions and sourced energy. On the way towards this goal, ����AV plans to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions for scope 1 and 2 by 60 percent by 2030. From 2023, the focus will also be on greenhouse gas emissions from upstream and downstream processes in the value chain (scope 3).

Murat: My father was one of the first guest workers to enter the Federal Republic of Germany. He was always a great role model for me and always gave education a high priority. That ensured that integration was not an issue for us.

Is there also something you would criticize about him?

Murat: Back then, work had a very high social status. Accordingly, many other nice things were foregone. More time with the family would have been nicer for everyone. But today, thank goodness, the social consensus is different.

Fabienne, from your perspective as Diversity and Inclusion Manager at ����AV: How has the view of men on the subject of family and career changed? 

Fabienne: For the younger generation, fathers are becoming increasingly important as role models for balancing family and career. 48 percent of fathers-to-be want parental leave to be shared equally between the two partners after the birth of their children. This shows that fathers today want to take on a much more active role than in the past.  

Were these also the reasons for you to found the fathers' network?

Murat: Yes, definitely. Personally, the time with my two daughters is much more important to me than it was to fathers in general 20-30 years ago. And that's a good thing. It's now part of a balanced relationship between family and career. Those were our motives for starting it. 

What is the significance of the fathers' network for ����AV?

Fabienne: Like any of our networks, the Fathers' Network helps us understand the diverse perspectives of our workforce even better. They are also an important driver of our corporate culture, as we can share ideas on topics together.

In many areas of society, men are more privileged than women. Why is the fathers' network nevertheless an important institution?

Fabienne: While it is evident in numerous studies that men have a desire for more compatibility between family and career, in practice this desire is often not realized. Fears and prejudices play an important role here. This is where we need to start, and this is exactly what the network is for. If men take on a greater share of the work at home, this also pays dividends in terms of equal opportunities for women. 

Who benefits from the fathers' network? Men or women? 

Jürgen: Both women and men benefit from the Fathers' Network. For example, in the network we share helpful content for families, such as webinar announcements or info materials for all interested ����AV employees. In addition, we establish contact with the other ����AV networks to inspire each other.

Murat: Everyone involved benefits from the fathers' network. It advances gender equality because fathers can play a greater role in raising children. With these impulses, the network promotes family life. It also makes ����AV more attractive as an employer, because employees know that the question "family or career?" doesn't arise here. Both are possible. That motivates employees.

Isn't that a utopia?

Jürgen: The role of the father has changed over the generations, because men now also want equality that offers advantages for them, especially more time with the family and the children. Today I know this wish is no longer a utopia, but already a reality, it just needs to be exemplified again and again by role models.

For you personally: What do you understand by equality?

Jürgen: When I talk to my two daughters about equality, I tell them it's about equal rights for everyone. To me, equality means that all people and all genders should have the same rights and opportunities for a good life. I want my daughters to grow up in such a world and be allowed to go their way. 

Murat: Regardless of any characteristics of a fellow human being, equal treatment at all levels of a society such as law, work and morality.

Fabienne: To me, equality means that every person has the same opportunities to develop according to their own wishes, regardless of personal characteristics such as gender.  

Madison Miller: “For me, that person was my mom. I distinctly remember something she would tell me every day before school: ‘Be good and do your best.’ I’ve carried that advice with me throughout my life and career.”

Emily Connor: “I had a chemical engineering professor who was really open about the realities of being a female in the profession. She spoke about balancing family life with work life and how she chose to take time off to raise her kids. No matter the obstacles, she prioritized the needs of herself and her family while achieving success in her career which was really inspiring.”

What makes you passionate about the field of manufacturing?

Madison Miller: “Everything that has been mass produced for the public has come from its upscaling in manufacturing. I hold the belief that for us to continue to evolve and advance as a society, we have to keep innovating new products and services for the public.”

Emily Connor: “Manufacturing makes it possible for us to produce materials that people interact with daily. Seeing those visible applications in the world is what drew me to ����AV in the first place.”

Mentorship seems like a common theme your work. Why is that important to you and what does good mentorship look like to you?

Emily Connor: “I’ve had many female mentors in my life and that has inspired me to pay it forward in the work I do. One way I’ve gotten involved is through a mentoring non-profit called “Strong Women, Strong Girls.”

“Through the program, we teach girls how science can be fun and exciting through experiments like making ice cream. I want to help these girls question aspects of our ordinary lives by asking questions like “how does this work?” My goal is to help them lean into their curiosity.”

Culture seems like a really important focus for you. What motivates you to help ����AV shape its culture?

Madison Miller: My passion for creating a strong culture comes from personal experience. When I first started out, I was the only female engineer in my group. That experience has taught me how important it is to create a supportive and welcoming environment for everyone. 

The moment I’m most proud of is related to this goal. Back in 2020, I helped to create a Black Employee Network group. It all started with an email to the president and—after that—we were able to create really meaningful programming and connections through this group.

Well, the fact is that we still have a long way to go. In order to successfully move equality forward and ideally even to shorten it, it is essential to raise awareness of the hurdles that still need to be overcome and the deficits that still need to be closed. This is a key function of the day. It is is also important to celebrate the important work and accomplishments that have taken place.  These achievements are worthy of recognition. What women have achieved since the first International Women's Day, over a century ago, what battles they have fought, should and must be celebrated.

There was another context that made us question talking about celebrations on International Women's Day: The dramatic and distressing images and news arriving daily from the war in Ukraine. Could activities on IWD be taken as inappropriate in these times? It quickly became clear: Despite or even especially in these times, such a day must not be lost. After all, it is women who are often among those who suffer most in wars and other crises. Women's Day 2022 should be symbolically dedicated to them, to women in Ukraine and in other crisis situations.

Equal opportunities, gender equity and diversity are important elements of our corporate culture and we celebrated International Women’s Day with this in mind. Even if the circumstances differ locally and the challenges may seem greater in some places than elsewhere, there was a sense of solidarity around the ����AV globe on this day.

Internal actions a complete success

Even in the run-up to IWD, numerous ����AV employees worldwide participated in the and submitted photos in which they symbolically expressed their willingness to break down prejudices and stereotypes by crossing their arms. This year's participation was so high that a mosaic could be formed from all the photos as an overall construct that visualized the message "#Breakthebias."

An internal campaign, "Let's think colorful!" made its impact in the weeks and months leading up to IWD. Organized by the employee resource group COMPASS (a women focused ERG) GER, a total of five sessions were held on equity topics. These included, for instance, presentations and discussions on topics such as "Harassment in the Workplace" and "Unconscious Bias in the Workplace." Ideas that contribute to improving gender equity at ����AV were invited to be submitted over the course of the events. Participation was high and from across the globe.  Many viable ideas were generated andthe best were honored at an awards ceremony on International Women's Day itself.

External event - ����AV board member Sucheta Govil in a role model function

For Board Member Sucheta Govil, the day is a matter close to her heart. It is very important to her that ����AV supports activities for a more equal world and that all employees are committed to diversity, equity and inclusion. Together with female board members from other industrial companies, she took part in a to share her views in public.

In the process, she shared her opinion on current and controversial topics and also revealed very personal stories and experiences.

On a local level, many different actions took place and colleagues used the day to address equity issues. It was impressive to see how the day was interpreted and implemented in different cultures.

Mexico - A digital event based on the motto #Breakthebias

Following this year's IWD motto, the COMPASS employee network in Mexico hosted a virtual event. "#Breakthebias" ran through the three sections of the event.

In the first part, an external speaker from Argentina, Maria Lujan Bianchi, Compliance, Diversity and Equality Specialist, was invited. She clarified which manifestations of bias are common in companies and what negative effects this can have on gender equity. The importance of recognizing prejudices in order to reduce them quickly became apparent.

Afterwards, a was shown which illustrates in an emotional way how colleagues overcome prejudices on a daily basis.

The event concluded with an open discussion: three colleagues (Liz Aguirre and Mary Carmen Ávalos and Iván Escalante) shared their formative experiences and moments in their personal and professional careers that pushed them to cross existing boundaries and break down prejudice and bias.

Spain - Equality in science and industry

Same language, different country: Spain also took the day to address gender equality issues. Six local female colleagues took part in the "Women with Chemistry" campaign. This is fostered by the national trade association FEIQUE and aims to value the role of women in the industry. The participants: Laura Mata (HSQ), Noemí Ferrer (Manager of Basic Chemicals), Elena Ilzarbe (Production Expert), Mònica Escrigas (Manufacturing Engineer).

In addition, the head of HSQ, Mercè Roigé, participated in a podcast (#ODS5) of the Barcelona Free Zone Consortium. In the episode, she analyzed the role of women in science and industry, including chemistry, and the existing barriers to achieve full equality. The full episode, for re-listening for Spanish speakers, can be found .

China - A whole show on IWD and more

We now take a look at Asia, China to be precise. As a kick-off event, the first meeting of the local edition of the COMPASS employee network was hosted here on March 7. Focus: The professional growth and development of women at various stages of their careers on the topic of "Expanding your presence as a leader."

����AV China President Holly Lei took the opportunity to share personal experiences. In doing so, she also provided valuable tips in terms of improved training, growth, energy management and influence. Participants also contributed their current viewpoints from different angles.

Various activities were also held on International Women's Day itself. Under the motto #Breakthebias, the ����AV Shanghai Qiantan Forum talk show was held. For this purpose, guests from the industry (Dr. Zhang Yi, Regional President of DuPont Asia-Pacific, Christine Liu, Founder and Chairwoman of sHero, together with Holly Lei, ����AV China President, and Lily Wang, Global Head of BE Engineering Plastics) were invited to share their stories. This was followed by a workshop on " Psychological issue of women under different physical period”. A panel discussion on " Female Power under Crisis" in the evening concluded the day.

United States - #Breakthebias and celebrate the contributions of women

In the U.S. March is Women’s History Month.  In addition to celebrating International Women’s Day on March 8, Women’s History Month was also recognized and celebrated.  March 1 three Employee Resource Groups; COMPASS, UNITE (LGBTQ+ focused ERG_ and Toastmasters (Public Speaking focused ERG) recognized Women’s History Month and Zero Discrimination Day by hosting Mark Murphy, author and DEI speaker with Franklin Covey, in a session focused on recognizing and challenging bias.  The event was well attended and participants walked away with an understanding of the importance of diversity, equity & inclusion as well as importance of breaking bias.  On March 8 in recognition of International Women’s Day COMPASS in Baytown, TX facilitated a panel discussion which shared contributions and challenges of women in the industry.  The Newark, OH site recognized the contributions of female employees through empowering appreciation gifts and other sites and business areas recognized both the day and the month in a variety of ways. Closing out the month, during the U.S. townhall facts about Women’s History Month, International Women’s Day, and how to promote gender equality were shared.

Germany - Under the sign of Women's Empowerment and MINT

Returning to Germany: The day before the IWD, there was an Eigenland workshop on the topic of "Gender" in the field of Process Technology. Markus Dugal, Head of Process Technology, discussed this topic with 40 people from different countries in his area. The group discussed how gender equality is perceived in the team and what concrete steps each individual can take to make a difference today.

On March 12, there was also participation in the "Womens Power Day" in Grevenbroich. This was organized by the Women's Union at the St. Joseph youth center. In addition to ����AV, the women's counseling center and the family office also took part, among others. Besides our Employer Branding colleague Daniel Avanzato, Karolin, a chemical laboratory assistant, was also present. At the ����AV booth, participants had the opportunity to build a mini helicopter. In this way, MINT topics could be made tangible.

That was just a small sample of everything that happened on and around March 8. A wide range of different and exciting actions also took place at many other ����AV sites.

In the end, there is only one last thing to say: Every day is International Women's Day. Even if March 8 is important in its function of raising awareness and celebrating achievements, it is at least as important to give girls and women a voice on the other 364 days of the year and act accordingly. This is where each and every one is called upon. At least for the next 135.6 years - until discrimination, prejudice and inequality of opportunity have no more place in this world.

Times are turbulent. So, let me begin with a personal question to Sophie von Saldern, Global Head of Human Resources: How are you?

Sophie von Saldern: On the one hand, I’m naturally as shocked about the war in Ukraine as everyone else is, and it’s affecting me emotionally. On the other hand, I’m drawing great hope from seeing the sheer amount of people who are willing to offer their help – from all across the world. This also applies without reservation to ����AV: Around the world, many of our employees are personally involved and active – even outside Europe. This strong cohesion and being there for each other – that’s what makes us and our culture at ����AV so special. I am proud to be part of this company. ����AV has made targeted donations of 290,000 EUR to aid organizations such as the UN Refugee Agency and local Red Cross organizations in Slovakia and Poland to help improve the humanitarian emergency in Ukraine and neighboring countries as quickly and unbureaucratically as possible. Furthermore, we are supporting those employees who want to volunteer by enabling paid leave for humanitarian support. Our colleagues in the USA, for example, started a collaboration with Central Kitchen and are supporting Ukraine. I think it is an important message that we are sending out.

This past year has been intense – even without the war. Covid has presented employees with many more challenges than ever before. Despite people working to their limits, the business has performed well.

Sophie von Saldern: That’s correct. This is why we have focused on staying close to our employees – even in difficult times. Many have shown an exceptional level of commitment at the workplace, carrying out their job under difficult conditions to ensure that everything continued to run smoothly. In particular, the colleagues who had to be on site, for example in the laboratory, in production or along the supply chain, faced numerous challenges. Their dedication deserves the greatest respect, and the Board of Management has recognized this special commitment. More than two thirds of the production sites have either already honored their employees with a bonus or will do so in due course.

Despite the challenging Corona year, we have still achieved a great corporate result. That is extraordinary.

Sophie von Saldern: What our employees have achieved is also extraordinary. And that's exactly why they are also sharing in this great company result. We act as a team and are rewarded as a team, across all countries and levels. Employees and board members alike, based on the published business results.

But financial matters are only one aspect. It’s also very important to us that our employees are well – both mentally and physically. And so, we have also invested in measures to promote wellbeing among the workforce.

To support its employees, the ENGAGE survey is held at regular intervals. This provides us with important clues regarding the health and wellbeing of our colleagues. For the next survey, we have expanded our catalog of questions to give us even greater insights. Especially in times of the COVID-19 pandemic, this expanded survey will help us identify ways of strengthening our employees’ resilience. At the same time, we have invested a lot into raising health awareness among the workforce.

Various initiatives have been launched internationally. These include, for example, a fitness platform in Germany, additional education and support programs such as "mental health workshops", as well as nutritional training and sports programs in the USA, or a digital platform in India on the topic of wellbeing. In China, we are providing our employees with psychological support via a hotline. In addition, there are various online support options in China, for example, to help employees cope with the challenges of the home office and also to help them stay physically active. And these are just a few examples. This is what the “We are 1” culture means to us. In times like these, it is particularly important that we take care of each other. Even when the going gets tough, we stick firmly together.

What can employees expect from HR in the future?

Sophie von Saldern: Due to the pandemic, we naturally had to offer a great number of activities in digital form, including in the area of training. The recently introduced Corporate Language Academy is a good example of what we have done globally to offer our employees digital training and professional development, even in times of working from home offices. Within only two weeks, more than 2,000 employees had already taken advantage of the offer. We have developed new processes, learning and management formats. Upskilling is also high on our agenda. HR is currently addressing two key questions: What skills will ����AV need in the future? And: How do we consistently prepare our workforce for this? That's why we will invest even more in people. As HR, we will focus strongly on people development and talent management and continue to make a major contribution to ����AV's transformation. Our world is changing fast, and we need to be prepared for it. We are currently developing a whole new package of HR activities. The goal is for each and every employee to enhance their skills and to head into a successful future. I’m certain that this will further strengthen cohesion and unity at the company.

This year's International Women's Day motto is #BreakTheBias. In early 2020, you officially co-founded the internal gender equity network at ����AV, called COMPASS. What motivated you to do this?

At HR, a position for diversity and inclusion was founded, especially in Germany. This was the step of acknowledging that the employee networks have a value for the company. Before, we had been in "guerrilla mode" for years. At that time we met irregularly, we were five to ten fellow combatants. At first, it was only women, but relatively early on, we took in male comrades. We knew early on that the challenges could only be met together.

What were the first challenges your network has addressed?

The first and also ongoing task is to raise awareness of the issue and the challenges of equal opportunities. At the beginning, some of my colleagues made a lot of effort to show the business case based on the material available at the time, e.g. how the innovative power, the productive power and the creative power of a company can be promoted if this is properly addressed.

Have you ever been not taken seriously at work?

Not in the role I'm in now. I've certainly experienced before what many women experience. I said something in a larger round that I felt was ignored. Then a male colleague said the same thing and it was well received. But that hasn't happened to me many times.

What can you do as Executive Board Assistant of the CEO Dr. Markus Steilemann? Do you have a lever for women who follow you?

Of course, I have a lever by making Markus Steilemann suggestions about what he could talk about. Whether he accepts the proposals is his decision. I think that I had some good conversation with him on the subject and he fully supports that all genders should have equal opportunities.

Have you ever recognized the imposter phenomenon by yourself?  Has there ever been an job you thought, you couldn’t deal with?

(Laughs.) No. Anyway, not one that surprised me that I could deal with it. I think it's more of a case of mutual empowerment, which is happening on the network anyway. Just on Friday, two colleagues had said that they had not dared to say this or that before. But in the group, they feel safe to say so. Then we agreed that once we exchanged ideas in the protected space, we have a good basis for representing the topics safely outside. Because we realize that with our experiences and concerns, we know the majority of the group behind us.

Why is it hard to unite the whole group behind you?

We are now more than 150 members and have very controversial discussions about some topics, e.g. quota regulations or gender-sensitive language. We also network with similar networks within ����AV and from other companies. Fighting for equal opportunities for all genders with the members who are taking part in this debate is a motivational boost. That is why a working group in our network has taken care of International Women's Day this year, because there are still many prejudices that we have to confront. That is why we say: "Break the Bias."

Sarah, thank you for sharing your impressions.

On LinkedIn, three executives discussed about “#BreakTheBias - Why business and science need female power". Sucheta Govil, Chief Commercial Officer and Member of the Board of Management at ����AV will be present. You can watch the entire stream ReLive . Or on .

Participation in the competition will be through ����AV’s free bilingual story app. The competition is divided into three age groups (younger or older individual competitors, or teams), four categories (story telling or story reading, each in Chinese or English). This gives a total of 12 competitions and nearly 1,250 prizes. The awards ceremony will be held at the German Institute Taipei in mid-September.

The MOE said: “Taiwan's unique geographical environment has produced abundant marine resources, which requires our love and care. In 2007, the Marine Education Policy whitepaper was announced for the continuous promotion of the five-year Marine Education Implementation Plan. Through marine education and marine activities, learning in different categories about ocean can help to inspire children on a broader scale. In addition, the MOE also encourages teachers and students to walk out from the classroom by doing beach cleanups, field trips and marine ecology activities and to be involved in nature more.” The MOE also thanked ����AV for organizing this ´bright minds for a brighter world – the adventure of young guardians´ storytelling and speaking contest, so that more children can be exposed to environmental education, guiding children to learn to protect marine resources, and contribute to the Earth.

“Brighter Minds for a Brighter World” is an environmental story app, the copyright of which is owned by ����AV Taiwan, Ltd. The guiding and dubbing record function of the fun interactive stories should inspire children’s curiosity about the marine pollution issues faced by society today, and further help them understand the severity of the problem. It will encourage children to become little guardians of the Earth through waste management and knowledge of the "3Rs". Let us make our oceans cleaner and live happier lives!

At ����AV I collaborate with colleagues from a huge range of departments and with a huge range of backgrounds in my daily work: from the scientists and technicians in the labs to sales colleagues, from the process engineers to IT specialists, from HR and communication specialists to marketing and procurement experts. I work externally with partners in consortia and internally with colleagues from all over the world.

If you are creative, open and able to work in a structured fashion then science is a great direction to go in. The opportunities are very diverse and within the course of a career there is the chance to continuously develop and learn, both at the scientific and personal level. There is also the chance to positively influence trends impacting all of us in our daily lives, such as industrial greenhouse gas emissions and the problems arising from the incorrect disposal of plastic waste, which it is why it is great to be working on chemical recycling and other sustainability topics at ����AV.

Adrian, what was the masterclass program about?

The training program consisted of several interactive workshops that took place in various major European cities - everything was still possible before Corona. The participants came from different industrial companies and during the workshops we worked together on topics such as strategy, business planning and business cooperation. In this way, we were prepared for future management tasks in the industrial environment.

What are your current responsibilities at ����AV?

As part of the still young Digital Solutions Lab department, I am responsible for looking after digital products in the company for the company in my role as Digital Product Manager. As the name suggests, the department has a strong lab character. We take an agile approach to innovative ideas that we receive from the departments in various ways and first evaluate their feasibility and added value for the company. If both are given, a prototype of the digital solution is developed. In my role, I am in close contact with the customer. The finished product is then passed on to other hands and our team moves on to the next innovative idea.

What has been particularly challenging so far?

My biggest challenge at ����AV was managing an IT project in a turnaround environment at a time when I didn't even know what a turnaround in the chemical industry was. That was a jump into the deep end, but also an excellent opportunity to take on responsibility. And my colleagues support me very well. These experiences strengthen me personally and have also shown me where I want to go professionally.

How do you experience communication in your department and between departments?

As part of the IT organization, especially through my interface role, I am always in close contact with other departments, such as the responsible department or purchasing. At ����AV, we communicate on an equal footing and work hand in hand. For me, this also characterizes the company: a real sense of community. The ideas of all team members are taken into account and everyone is listened to.

What benefits do you particularly appreciate at ����AV?

The company offers a lot of flexibility and the possibility of dividing up the work yourself - especially due to the pandemic-related home office time. Furthermore the ����AV share program is an interesting financial bonus.

Innovation Celebration 2021

Innovation Celebration – sounds pompous. But what exactly is behind this project? I also asked myself this question and was very grateful that I had the chance to support the innovation team in planning this event. Because what is the best way to get to know an event? By being right in the middle.

The event primarily serves all ����AV employees to expand their internal network and learn more about new colleagues and their projects. The event has been held regularly in various regions of the world for several years and is characterized by exchange and inspiration. The highlight at the end of the event is always the award ceremony for the best innovation projects of the past year.

Due to the current circumstances, the project took place virtually this year, which is why procedures and processes were rethought. One of the projects that I particularly remember: Delivering high quality with respect for nature. The aim is to replace conventional polymers with biodegradable polymers, especially in applications where recycling and reuse are not an option. Applications in agriculture and cosmetics are in the foreground. The technologies used also have the potential to be used in other areas, for example when it comes to packaging or furniture. A promising innovation that also contributes to ����AV's strategic goal of becoming fully circular.

It’s all about the team

What are exciting projects like the Innovation Celebration worth if there is no team spirit? During my time at Innovation, I was very lucky to work with a great team. I was allowed to organize the procedure of the event together with the team, plan various sessions and prepare it digitally. This is exactly how a Traineeship should be.

Impressive cohesion

On the very first weekend after the flood, Krischer went to Ahrweiler herself and helped with the cleanup on site. "I was physically at my wits' end after the first few days and wanted to take a vacation right away, because there was still so much to do," she recalls. "Then colleagues from the ����AV flood relief project team got in touch with me and asked how ����AV could best help in this situation." Krischer knew what was urgently needed: Materials, protective equipment and, above all, helping hands. She was very taken with the spontaneous relief efforts of her colleagues. "I found it impressive how quickly the colleagues on site organized and tackled help. The cohesion in this situation really impressed me."

Support in other places as well

The solidarity was great and help was needed everywhere. For example, on the Friday after the flood, around ten ����AV employees from a wide range of departments had learned that the recently completed house of a pregnant colleague who was on maternity leave had been flooded. Everything was quickly organized, and on Sunday morning the ten colleagues got straight to work and cleared the house in Marienthal on the Ahr of mud, dirt and garbage.

One of them was Patrick Herrmann from Leverkusen, who supported for a total of eight days in the district of Ahrweiler. He received food from aid organizations and private individuals, and spent the night in the parents' house of his pregnant colleague. "During the time, I kept seeing familiar ����AV faces who were involved on site. All those who helped on site were supported by their superiors and the teams, and that was the only way we could do it without any red tape," Herrmann reports.

And the ����AV team also helped out with neighbors, providing support, for example, to an 80-year-old woman whose house was still full of mud days after the floods, or at the local supermarket, where three tanker trucks full of goods were taken out with a suction excavator together with the store manager.

Various relief and donation campaigns

Birgit Honné, Patent Assistant at ����AV, also launched a remarkable campaign. The art therapist from Leichlingen exhibits her own works of art in various styles in her gallery "Grohbi ". The floods damaged her house and the adjacent gallery so badly that she was only able to save a few paintings. She restored 20 of them and auctioned them online in August to benefit flood victims.

"It's really great to see so many colleagues showing solidarity and getting involved in so many different ways," ����AV CEO Markus Steilemann was also pleased to say. "This is living togetherness. My great respect and heartfelt thanks to everyone!" ����AV itself had also launched a three-part aid concept and, among other things, opened a donation account on betterplace.org. The employee donations of around €87,500 deposited there by October 31 were doubled by ����AV to a total of €175,000 and will benefit a total of ten aid projects and initiatives in the affected areas.

Nora Krischer, who remains a regular visitor to Ahrweiler, knows that many of those affected still need support: "Many people have lost not only their homes, but also their jobs and their cars, and the infrastructure is broken. And some of the houses are in shell condition, equipment to dry the rooms and craftsmen are urgently needed." Since government aid has been slow to reach her acquaintances, she is very happy about donation campaigns like the one by ����AV employees.

• The former RFM business of DSM is now part of the ����AV family.
• This refreshing blog was born.
• We can really recycle a mattress and recover it into the feedstock.
• Polycarbonates based on bio-based raw materials are an integral part of the product range.
• The ����AV exhibit was unveiled at EXPO 2020 Dubai.

None of this would have been possible without our dedicated colleagues around the world. The exceptional #WeAre1 mentality is the key to success, especially in difficult times.

The team of the blog says goodbye to the vacations at the end of the year and wishes all colleagues and readers and their families and friends good rest, a Merry Christmas and a brilliant start into a hopefully bright year 2022. See you next year.

In my job, I focus on supporting my colleagues from the IT department through upcoming change processes and in their own further development. I work on three different levels: IT&D organization, group or team level and individual employees. It's about developing the company as a whole, our department as well as each individual team member. Overall, the teams need to be prepared for various new processes and procedures. These include the introduction of agile working or, more generally, taking on new areas of responsibility. To do this, I constantly analyze which skills are currently available and which will be needed in the future.

IT is still dominated by men - what is it like to work in this field as a woman?

For a long time, IT was not an area that appealed to me. As a little girl, I always wanted to be a teacher. I played school with my dolls, built classrooms and taught my teddy bears. I didn't become a teacher, but I was able to realize myself in human resources. Then in 2015, I integrated myself into a predominantly "male" world by joining ����AV's IT department. I realized that it doesn't matter whether I work with women or men. What counts for me is a pleasant working atmosphere and good cooperation with my female and male colleagues.

Were there key moments in your career that set you on the path you're on now?

I was born in France and went to school there. After graduating from high school, my exceptionally good grades gave me the opportunity to attend the Classe préparatoire for two years - a school to prepare me for my upcoming studies. I can still benefit from this experience today, because my time at school taught me a lot of courage and the will to work.

I then studied at a business school for three years, and in between I gained one year of practical experience in the form of various internships. These practical experiences were also very helpful and were a step that I can only recommend to anyone.

For me, the year abroad in Sweden was also very formative. I completed my MBA in International Marketing there. I made the decision to go abroad quite consciously, because I wanted to step out of my comfort zone. This step was not easy for me. But it taught me how to live independently in a new country and a new culture. At the same time, I was able to further improve my English skills. Looking back, this time was very important for my private and professional development.

You have already gotten to know various positions and employers - what similarities and differences have you experienced?

In all companies you find quite similar basic structures, whose differences lie in the details. For example, completely different corporate values are pursued, the implementation of the strategy and the associated goals differ from one another, or the way the workforce is treated, the corporate culture and communication with one another are handled differently. As with all things in life, there are always advantages and disadvantages that you have to weigh up for yourself.

Which acquired skills have helped you the most?

I am very good at explaining complex structures to different teams in a target group-oriented way, motivating the teams and working out solutions with the individual team members in each case.

Basically, my good feeling for languages also comes in handy - I have already lived, worked and studied in different countries. Communication skills in general are an important competence. I find it much easier than before to ask questions and ask for help. Dialog with each other is very important and often gets both sides where they want to go.

How has ����AV supported you in your career so far?

When I moved to IT, I learned that you often have to give a new job a chance first and get to know it. A job description never contains all the facets of the actual job. In addition, you can also design your own job to a certain extent. Flexibility on both sides is therefore very important. I always seek a discussion with my supervisors when I see a need for discussion. We then consider together what makes sense for ����AV and what reorganization makes sense for me. The company has been very open here, allowing dialog and respecting my wishes.

Apart from that, everything is different from two years ago: Back then, I was a reporter covering Team Sonnenwagen's adventures in the Australian outback as part of the best internship in the world. Today, I'm a Social Media Manager following the solar car race in Morocco, organized by the participating teams themselves, in front of a 24-inch screen in my home office in Cologne.

The pandemic has changed everything. Usually, more than 30 international teams participate in the World Solar Challenge, supported by professional organizers and event sponsors. This time, there are only 7 teams from 5 countries eagerly awaiting the race to show the world what solar energy, innovative technologies and motivated teams can do. The Solar Challenge Morocco is the replacement for the cancelled World Solar Challenge in Australia, which usually takes place every two years. Team Sonnenwagen is taking part and even helped organize the race.

I am in contact with the team in Morocco via instant messaging. After all, the Internet connection on site is significantly better than that in the Australian outback. Where is the ����AV Photon – the new solar car of the Team Sonnenwagen – right now? Is the driver okay? Often I wait several hours for an update, remembering the two years ago. Team Sonnenwagen's Instagram profile has a new top fan: me.

You can find out how Team Sonnenwagen performed in the Solar Challenge Morocco on their social media channels. These are linked on their . Since I was only able to follow the race virtually this year, I'm super excited to talk to the team soon and get their first-hand impressions.

1. What made you (and your team) decide to take part in the Innovation Celebration?
   Dalia: We have joined ����AV through recent acquisition of the Resins & Functional Materials (RFM) business from DSM, and we felt that after three years working on this topic it was a great opportunity to share our results with our new colleagues. We are very proud of our achievements and of the fact that the results also contribute to ����AV’s circularity ambitions.


2. Can you give a brief description of your project and what makes it special to you?
   Dalia: We are working on projects that replace conventional polymers with biodegradable ones in applications where recycling and re-use is not an option. We primarily target applications in agriculture and cosmetics. The technologies we are using have the potential to be used in other areas, like packaging and furniture. Our project supports ����AV's vision to be fully circular.


3. How did the Innovation Celebration support you (and your team) to realize the project?
   Dalia: First of all, compliments to the whole ����AV organizing team! They did a great job and organized a great event, given the circumstances due to the Corona pandemic! During the entire process we felt great support in terms of networking and colleagues at ����AV who have been working on similar topics or had ideas how to solve some of our challenges. Teamwork was extremely important. We knew we could fully rely on all team members, all working hard to get things done.


4. What do you think colleagues can learn from your project?
   Dalia: We achieved all of this with a very small team and very limited budget. That led to doing things in a very creative and start-up like way. We have also reached out across different than usual teams to get ideas and advice. We have also started engaging with customers early on to get insights into applications and partnered early on to speed up market introduction. Overall, this project is an example of Innovating through partnerships – early engagement with technology partners and customers was key to our success.


5. Has being a part of Innovation Celebration made a difference in your job?
   Dalia: Having participated and won in the “Products & Applications” category gave us an extra boost of energy and confirmation that we are working on the right things! Having a small and agile team is not always easy, and this gives us extra motivation to keep going.

The jury member perspective:

1. What was your impression of this year’s entries/teams?
   Dalia: Participating also as a jury member was a great opportunity to get insights into what ����AV is working on. The submissions we reviewed were great examples that innovation can, and should, happen in any place in the company. All participants had realized great projects and made our decisions very difficult along the way.
   
   Christine: In each category we had the most diverse and excellent inputs. All inputs were appreciated by the respective panels and should continue with pride and energy. The company theme of sustainability and heading towards a fully circular economy felt like a common theme – so it is great to see, how our teams are enthused by our vision and how we take pride in contributing to this with our projects.


2. How does the Innovation Celebration fit into ����AV’s ambition as a company supportive of innovation and heading towards a fully circular economy?
   Dalia: It is important for ����AV to be recognized as an innovative and sustainable company. This starts with our own personnel, and we need to nurture a mindset that appreciates these two important pillars of our ����AV’s strategy. The Innovation celebration is a serious but fun way to strengthen this further.


3. The word Innovation may sound like a task really high-level and technical. Does a person have to be technically savvy in order to innovate?
   Dalia: Identifying how something could add value in a new way is key to innovation. This goes far beyond technology, but understanding the potential of a technology, product or concept can really make a difference. So while having a basic understanding of a technology helps, understanding how it can add value is key. This also means that collaboration between different profiles, e.g. consumer insights, technical, financial et cetera is needed to innovate.
   
   Christine: Everyone in any area can innovate or contribute to innovation. Observing daily needs of human beings – here we can all stay curious and voice the insights with courage. Other colleagues will cooperate turning ideas into solutions and scaling them and further colleagues will think about how to monetize the result. Innovation is a team result, which lives from diverse expertise and ways of thinking, inside and outside the company.


4. For you, what are the main criteria of a good project that mirrors ����AV’s innovation culture?
   Dalia: The common line I saw through all the submissions was courage. Every team tapped into ����AV’s expertise and capabilities to solve issues in an outside the box way. I really saw an open mindset to challenge the current status quo, which is a great basis for future innovations. With our ambition to become fully circular we will need all the courage and creativity.
   
   Christine: A good project should solve a need. It should be feasible at scale in a decent time and as well have a financial return, be it a fresh revenue stream or a contribution to lower the costs. As we are committed to contributing to a sustainable future, a match to our sustainability targets is an important selection criterion for our innovation spent.


5. Do you have any advice for future Innovation Celebration teams?
   Dalia: When you think you have something interesting to share – go for it! It is a rewarding and fun process, and you can get input on projects you are working on that may help you in your future journey.

Colleagues at ����AV's Mexico site have taken up the issue and launched a new format during the coronavirus pandemic: In the "Mujeres ConCiencia" series, a play on words from awareness and science, female scientists and journalists are invited to engage in dialogue together. In a cosy atmosphere, such as a virtual breakfast, the participants openly exchange their experiences. The aim: to raise awareness with regard to gender equity and strengthen women's networks. The network meetings are hung on international theme days and thus always have a discussion focus. In addition, the team takes advantage of the media, political and scientific attention that is generated on these days.

First Meeting: International Day of Women and Girls in Science and International Women's Day.

On the occasion of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science (February 11) and International Women's Day (March 8), the team met for the first time on February 25, 2021. Angélica Sandoval, who is responsible for ����AV's external communications in Mexico, reported on ����AV's commitment to gender equality and the company's local commitment to inspiring girls to pursue STEM professions (MINT = mathematics, computer science, natural sciences, technology). Together, they discussed how important it is for gender equality to create conducive conditions in areas such as the natural sciences and engineering.

Second meeting. International Earth Day

The second meeting was held in the framework of the International Earth Day (April 22), which focused on the importance of creating a sustainable world, as well as the competitiveness and innovation perspective. Here, Dr. Irene Latorre Martínez, researcher in ����AV's global Research and Development (R&D) Isocyanates team, participated and her presence was welcomed by the press. The journalists were interested to know what obstacles she had to overcome before obtaining her current position in ����AV's Senior Project Management. Irene shared her personal experiences as a scientist in an industry like the chemical industry, where she was often the only female participant in seminars, conferences or projects.

Third Meeting. International LGBT+ Pride Day

The third meeting took place in the framework of the International LGBT+ Pride Day (28 June). The focus was on the importance of diversity and inclusion. The guest of the day was Dr. Dania Gutiérrez , researcher at CINVESTAV in Monterrey and activist of the LGBT+ community. She shared her experience of being transgender in academia and that of being a woman in a male dominated professional environment. At times, participants were left speechless by the challenges and obstacles Gutiérrez faces on a daily basis. It became increasingly clear: We still have a long way to go before we achieve equality for all genders.

Fourth Session. International Literacy Day

The fourth event took place in the framework of the International Literacy Day (8 September). Two scientists, Dr. Thalía García, pharmacobiologist and chemist, and Patricia Rodil, Master of Science in Molecular Biology, from "Mexican Female Scientists" - an association of more than 17,000 female scientists - spoke about the relevance of promoting and involving girls and women in STEM subjects, as well as the importance of networks that promote women in all professional fields. They stressed the importance of talking about science already in basic education without stigmatizing that this field is "not for women".

The participants rate the series of events as a complete success. This can be measured not only by the fact that almost everyone who was present at the first session also took part in the subsequent ones. The format is already bearing fruit and has served as an impetus for follow-up projects. For example, one of the participating journalists, inspired by the ����AV initiative, launched a radio column on women's empowerment.

For the colleagues from Mexico, one thing is certain: "Mujeres ConCiencia" will continue.

1. In the pandemic the family moves together

Granddaughter Anna says: "Because of the severe pandemic some time ago, I spent a lot of time at home. Previously, I had participated with my grandfather in the science camp for grandparents and children organized by ����AV. During the camp, I faced many challenges and conducted experiments with my grandfather, which I found very interesting. ����AV also has a MagicMaterial eSchool, which you can still do great experiments along with the science education website. When I have time, I ask my grandpa to look at the website and do the experiments with me. We are always learning as we go, and it has also helped me spend more time with my grandpa. We have become closer than ever before!"

2. Achieving the goal of lifelong learning

Grandfather Owen says, "Sometimes I read and study with Anna, but we don't often have the opportunity to engage in science. I'm glad ����AV offers the MagicMaterial eSchool so we can do simple experiments at home. I am always happy when Anna invites me to join in and do experiments on this science education website. It's always new and fun. We just mix a few everyday things together, but surprises can happen along the way."
"The steps described in this school are very simple to understand. As long as an adult works with the child, basically any experiment can succeed. Occasionally, however, due to dosage problems, the same perfect results are not obtained as shown on the website. Nevertheless, the process of the experiment is extremely entertaining. Through the activities, I have also gained the spirit of ´live and learn´. I believe that you can enrich and beautify your life by learning more, thinking more and being more active."

3. Sense of achievement through DIY experiments

Granddaughter Anna says, "Every now and then I do experiments in science class at school, but they sometimes go wrong. But I always have a sense of achievement when I experiment at home with my grandfather using the ����AV MagicMaterial eSchool. The experiment I remember best is the ´dancing colored milk´. Although I had to ask my father to buy dyes for us to finish it, the finished product was very beautiful and my father and grandfather thought it was very special. The hands-on experiments allow us to experience fun science while also gaining a lot of scientific knowledge."

4. Cultivating a child's interest in science

Owen, the grandfather, says, "I believe that the experiments Anna does on the science education website will get her excited about science in many ways. I also believe that this is not limited to science. The more a child is exposed to things, the more they learn, and the more they are encouraged to think differently about different things and look at one thing in different ways, even developing an interest and passion for science. I will continue to explore the big world of science with Anna in the future."

Granddaughter Anna says, "Thanks to the ����AV educational website, I share many wonderful memories related to science with my grandfather. During this process, I have become more and more interested in science experiments. Starting from a more passive way in which my mother asked me and my grandfather to participate in the science camp for grandparents and children, to an active way in which I often actively visit the science education website to see if there are any new experiments. I hope to work with my grandfather to create something that will be interesting for everyone, and I also want to fulfill my desire to come up with experiments of my own."

5. Sharing personal experiences with others

Granddaughter Anna says, "I had a lot of fun experimenting with ����AV's science education website and also learned more about science. I always tell my friends at school about the experiments with my grandpa at home and recommend them to use this site as well. Grandpa also often recommends it to his friends because he hopes people can learn about the spirit of ´living and learning´ as much as he did, and also to bring families closer together. We both hope that more people will learn that there is such a great science education website. Let's do experiments together and discover the wonders of the scientific world!"

Got an appetite for experimentation? Go to the ����AV MagicMaterial eSchool website here:

Safety is a basic non-negotiable human requirement. It's no different for me, personally or professionally. Its meaning and interpretation can often vary from person to person. But ultimately, from my point of view, it's about leading and enabling others around you to lead, a untroubled, free and healthy life. And safety is the fundamental basis for this.

So it's a precious good...

Yes, absolutely. I think this is a fact that has become clear to many people, especially in the last few weeks and months. Just think about the global coronavirus pandemic, the devastating floods and fires this summer and, last but not least, the severe explosion at our partner Currenta in the Leverkusen ChemPark. All these incidents have painfully demonstrated that safety is not only a very precious ‘good’, but also it can evaporate in an instance despite our best efforts.

What does that do to you personally?

It has made me even more aware of the issue and more grateful. Most of all, I am grateful that my family and I are well protected and surrounded by people we can rely on. This is especially true here for our colleagues, for whom safety is an essential foundation of their daily work. At the same time, I have become even more aware of what it takes to ensure safety. My visits to the plants and discussions with our colleagues have also helped in this respect.

How did you experience this?

When I first joined ����AV, it quickly became very clear to me that this company takes the issue of safety for its employees, customers and partners extremely seriously and does not compromise in this respect. Safety is the unshakeable foundation of our business. By visiting our operations and exchanging views with the teams, I now directly experience how our employees live up to this commitment on a daily basis. This has made a lasting impression on me.

So fixed rules become a matter of the heart?

That's how I experienced it. In the company, we often think in terms of structures and processes and try to steer developments in a certain direction this way but even the very best systems and processes are of no use if they are not lived out and followed in everyday life. And when it comes to safety, I find time and again that it really is a matter close to the hearts of our colleagues.

How is that expressed?

One particular example that has stuck in my mind is my visit to the TDI train in Dormagen together with Klaus Schäfer. There, I spoke with Matthias Buchmann and his team and asked how their families felt about their work – and whether they were worried. He said that everyone in his team not only knows how important safety is, but also feels it. Colleagues have a very close, almost family-like bond. They look out for each other and are there for each other at all times. And that's something the colleagues also pass on to their families at home. That made a very deep impression on me.

Where do you still see potential for improvement at ����AV?

We are pursuing the vision of an accident-free company. We have already achieved a lot along this path and have a great safety record. When accidents do occur, they very often have to do with minor carelessness or deviations from our applicable rules. What I would like to see here is that we continue to promote team spirit and encourage each other on a daily basis to work together to ensure a safe working environment. After all, no one is perfect and each of us has a bad day sometimes. But that's when the team really counts!

What role does health play in this?

I am very pleased that we are drawing more and more attention to this aspect at ����AV, also with today's Safety Day. After all, mental and physical health is an important prerequisite for us to be able to work safely at all times. During the pandemic, some exciting concepts were developed that were among the finalists for the CEO Safety & Health Award. In my view, we should continue along this path.

And how did you make use of this year´s Safety Day?

For me, the Safety Day is the perfect opportunity to pause and reflect on the topics of safety and health. What's going well, where can we do even better? Are there perhaps things I can personally work on? Besides the digital platform, we have a variety of exciting opportunities around the globe to address these questions. I would also encourage everyone to talk with their colleagues about these topics. We have a clear compass: "Live health and safety. Always!" And it is up to us to follow it consistently.