I studied process engineering in Osnabrück, where I was born, and did my PhD in the subject at TU Dortmund and TU Berlin. Afterwards, I applied at several pharmaceutical companies, but ultimately decided to join BASF in Lemförde. It’s a small site, a familiar environment with fantastic colleagues and a young, ambitious team. I was project manager for optimization topics there for four years. My heart beats for technology; it motivates me to try again and again to get the best out of a product or process. The move from Lemförde to Waterloo, where I work today, was a big change for me. Instead of one location, I am now responsible for 27. I had to familiarize myself with new topics, such as key performance indicators or strategic decision criteria required for investments. Previously, I worked locally and was able to solve problems by asking the person in charge next door. Now I work internationally, which is more complex in several ways. Time zones, language and culture play an important role. But even in my current role, I have remained true to the topic of improvements and am still closely connected with the local teams.