Board

Board 2021 - 2023

Chair

dr Rolf Albach, Covestro Germany, Leverkusen

Vice Chair

Elisabeth Meints, HOBUM Oleochemicals, Hamburg

assessor

Oliver Erdenberger MA, Merck, Darmstadt
dr Wolfgang Hübinger, BASF, Ludwigshafen
Willis Muganda MSc, BASF
Prof. Dr. Hannes Utikal, Provadis School of International, Frankfurt
Melanie Walther, University of Bremen

Eliminated
dr Wolfram Keller, Wolfram Keller Professional Services, Pfungstadt (until May 17, 2022)
dr Daniel Witthaut, European Chemical Industry Council - Cefic aisbl, Brussels / Evonik Industries, Hanau (until November 14, 2022)
dr Christopher Zimbardi, Texon Möckmühl (until December 31, 2022)

Representation JuWiChem

Anna Lisa Poser, Hattingen

Melanie Plenter, Rheine, until December 31, 2022
Philipp Werner, Ludwigsburg, until December 31, 2021

The Board is elected directly by the members and takes on ongoing tasks in the areas of organization and administration. The Board is supplemented by a representative of the young business chemists (JuWiChem). The representative of JuWiChem is appointed as a permanent member for one year by its national board.

v. l. n. r.: obere Reihe - Willis Muganda, Daniel Witthaut, Wolfram Keller, Oliver Erdenberger; mittlere Reihe - Philipp Werner, Rolf Albach, Melanie Walther, Elisabeth Moshake; untere Reihe - Christopher Zimbardi, Wolfgang Hübinger, Hannes Utikal, Nicole Bürger (GDCh)

Dr. Rolf Albach

Dr. Rolf Albach studied chemistry in Bonn and at the Technical University of Munich, where he received his doctorate in 1992 with WA Herrmann in U. Küsthardt's team. After a NATO scholarship in Orsay with J.-J. He joined Bayer AG in 1994. After leading positions in R&D, sales and post-merger integration, he is now developing projects in the areas of circular economy, automotive interiors and flame protection. This also includes supervision of dissertations and a teaching position at the FH Aachen. Rolf Albach holds an MBA double degree from the WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management (Vallendar) and Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University (Chicago).

Rolf Albach has been involved in environmental policy on a voluntary basis for 40 years, both with NGOs such as the Local Agenda and the SolarImpulse Foundation as well as in local and regional politics, e.g. B. in the Commission for Regional and Structural Issues of the Cologne District Government, in the Administrative Board of the Cologne City Drainage System, the Operations Committee of the Cologne Waste Management Companies and the Environmental Committee of the Cologne City Council.

For him, the VCW is about forming a community of people with a connection to the chemical industry, beyond chemists, the growth of business chemistry and the interlinking of chemistry, economics and economics with regard to the transformation processes that lie ahead of us. The cooperation between Divisions, such as a current project between VCW and phosphorus chemistry, is important to him.

Rolf Albach is currently the spokesman for all department chairmen on the GDCh Board and has taken over the revision of the mentoring concept.

Oliver Erdenberger MA

Oliver Erdenberger (MA ) studied business administration and industrial Management at the Provadis University based at Industriepark Höchst in Frankfurt. He started his professional career in 2002 at Clariant. After various positions in IT and Marketing , he joined Celanese in 2007. He worked there in global supply chain Management until 2012. From 2012, his main focus was on management consulting. First at Camelot Management Consultants and from 2015 at Accenture. As a consultant, he accompanied numerous projects in the chemical industry, primarily in the area of ​​supply chain & operations. At Accenture he was also responsible for the chemicals community in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In 2019 he continued his career at Clariant. There he accompanied global transformation projects, most recently as Head of Supply Chain of the BU Pigments. Since 2022 he has been working in the Transformation Office for Merck Life Science, still with a focus on Supply Chain & Operations. With his commitment to the "Association for Chemistry and Economics" he would like to contribute to a close integration of theory and practice in the discussion of management issues. From his point of view, it is particularly important to be able to make statements on how sustainable business can be successfully managed - despite the energy crisis, Inflation, high taxes, bureaucracy and the growing shortage of skilled workers in the process industry. In addition to looking at the well-known large companies, it is important to him to keep the numerous medium-sized companies in the focus of the discourse in order to be able to develop perspectives for the industry as a whole.

dr Wolfgang Hübinger

dr Wolfgang Hübinger studied technical chemistry at the Technical University of Berlin to become a Dipl.-Ing., where he worked in 1989 with K.-H. Reichert in polymerization technology for Dr. re. of course received his doctorate. He was able to put his interdisciplinary theoretical knowledge of chemistry and technology into practice when he joined BASF AG in Ludwigshafen: Several processes were improved or completely newly developed as laboratory manager for process development in the plastics laboratory. Two new processes could be transferred over all development stages from the idea to the production scale. As a project manager and in the management of a large production company, economic issues in the form of cost calculations and project calculations also came to the fore.

After the complete reorganization of a production structure (replacement of three large old companies with a new company), Wolfgang Hübinger looked for new challenges and found them in the global strategic planning of BASF SE: First in the strategic support of a corporate division and the control of the development of the worldwide production structure, then in a strategy project and in the Management of the Verbund site in Ludwigshafen. Since 2007 he has held managerial positions in the Petrochemicals division at BASF, in particular for research management, strategic Marketing and concept development for strategies, roadmaps and strategic projects.

The development of long-term strategies (Industry 4.0, circular economy, bioeconomy) and the interdisciplinary training of (business) chemists, engineers and business informatics are the current focal points of interest and work.

In the VCW , Wolfgang Hübinger would like to promote the networking of the "balancing" professions (chemistry, process engineering, business administration, IT). He would like to further develop the lecture events, especially the VCW annual conference, and the interdisciplinary training of the above-mentioned professions (e.g. in the mentoring program of the GDCh) with the continued commitment on the Board of the "Association for Chemistry and Economics".

Elisabeth Meints MSc

Elisabeth Meints studied business chemistry at the Christian-Albrechts-University in Kiel and the Université de Nantes, France. At the same time, she gained practical experience at LORD Corp., ALTANA AG and at the Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia.

In her master's thesis, she developed a key figure system for global R&D in cooperation with R&D Controlling at Beiersdorf AG. She then got into technology scouting there and was responsible for idea management and open innovation. Since 2019 she has been working as Technical Marketing Manager at HOBUM Oleochemicals GmbH with a focus on bio-based polyols and epoxy hardeners. More information on LinkedIn.

In June 2015, E. Meints founded WiChem Kiel eV with other students and built it up as one of the chairmen. As a member of the JuWiChem national board, she initiated and established the JuWiChem Day, among other things. With her commitment to the VCW Board , she would like to continue to bring together students, young professionals and experienced professionals in the chemical industry and discuss current topics. She would also like to organize communication with the members and the public together with the editorial team.

Willis Muganda M.Sc.

Willis Muganda studied chemistry and did his doctorate in the field of physical chemistry (chemistry and physics of biointerfaces) at the University of Siegen. During his studies he joined the JungChemikerForum (JCF) in 2014 and was elected chairman of the regional forum in Siegen (JCF-Siegen) in 2015. In 2017 he decided to take on new challenges and was elected to the national board of the JungChemikerForum. During his two-year tenure on the federal executive board, he was responsible for international relations and advertising material. Together with his board colleagues, he has reached many milestones, including working closely with industry partners such as BASF, Bayer, Evonik, Merck, Altana, Sanofi and ISC3 to advance topics such as innovation, sustainability, digitization and career development and providing financial support for the activities of the increase JCF. He also initiated the establishment of an Equal Opportunities Commission within the JCF, which today plays an important role in promoting equal opportunities within and outside the JCF.

From October 2018 to August 2022 he was Head of Finance for the International Younger Chemists Network (IYCN). The IYCN is now an interesting global network for chemists who are interested in the Sustainable Development Goals and other current topics in chemistry. He is also one of the initiators of the VCW round table in Siegen, which he has been running together with two other members since 2019, and due to his new job at BASF he is planning to set up a new round table in Ludwigshafen.

Since last year he has been working at BASF as an expert in the search for renewable raw materials, technology scouting and the acceleration of sustainability transformation in various chemical value chains. His first tenure on the VCW Board was a joint success with the entire VCW Board in planning various events and projects that generated a great deal of interest in politics, science and the chemical industry. His goal for further work on the VCW Board is to intensify the dialogue between the chemical industry and the political class. In addition, the VCW room of expertise is to be opened up to all international representatives of chemistry and business by dealing with topics that are of great importance for the transformation of the chemical industry not only in Germany but throughout Europe.

Prof. Dr. Hannes Utikal

Prof. Dr. Hannes Utikal studied business administration at the University of Cologne, the HEC in Paris and the Pennsylvania State University in the USA. rer. pole. At the University of Cologne he worked for several years in strategic management consulting. The Provadis University, based at the Höchst industrial park in Frankfurt, has been its focus since 2005.

Since then he has been fascinated by management issues in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. He dealt with these topics with the establishment of the rhein-main-clusters chemistry and pharmaceuticals, the publication of the book "Future Chemistry. Perspectives on the World of Tomorrow" (FAZ-Verlag 2014) as well as with the study "From Megatrends to Business Success . Implications of the megatrends for Management in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry "(together with the University of Münster and the VCI).

After various functions at the Provadis University (dean, vice president, Board), he has been Head of the Center for Industry and Sustainability (ZIN) there since 2016, which is involved in innovative education and research projects, in particular with the design of transformation processes.
Since 2016 he has been editor of the "Journal of Business Chemistry - the academic journal for management issues in the chemical industry". At the German Chemical Society , he was already a member of the board of the Association for Chemistry and Economics in the 2018-2020 election period. With his continued engagement on the Board of the "Association for Chemistry and Economics), he would like to make a contribution to shaping transformation processes in the chemical industry.

Melanie Walther M.Sc.

Melanie Walther studied business chemistry with a focus on technology management and organic chemistry at the Christian-Albrechts-University in Kiel. After research stays in Wales and Sweden and various internships in the chemical industry, she is doing her doctorate at the University of Bremen at the Chair for Organic Functional Materials on the functionalization of molecular switches. Here she is on her last legs and is planning to found a start-up in the chemical industry with two colleagues at the same time.

During her studies, she was involved in various student initiatives - from the regional association WiChem Kiel - Wirtschaftschemiker Kiel eV to the JungChemikerForum JCF and the young commercial chemists JuWiChem in various positions. After her time as Chair of the JuWiChem national board, she remained in the core team of VCW. She was involved in the concerns of JuWiChems in the VCW and, for example, in the VCW editorial team, advocates broader communication with the members and the resulting better networking. During her 2020-2023 term of office as a VCW board member, she pursued these goals and organized various events in the team, such as the 2021 annual conference on the future of the pharmaceutical industry or events on the topic of circular economy. In the coming board term, she would like to continue to advance the topics of sustainability/circular economy and place a stronger focus on the role of start-ups in the chemical industry.

Representation of JuWiChem on the VCW Board

Anna Lisa Poser

Anna-Lisa Poser is currently doing her doctorate at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Chemistry (IAP) in Potsdam in the field of polymer foams. Before that, she completed her Master of Science in business chemistry at the University of Münster, where she wrote her master's thesis in organic chemistry on the subject of fluorine chemistry . Her entry into academic life was her Bachelor of Science in Chemistry & biotechnology at the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences, which she completed as a practice-integrated degree in cooperation with Henkel AG & Co KGaA.

During her master's degree, she volunteered for two terms on the Board of the Association of Industrial Chemists at the University of Münster (WUM eV) and was in charge of the association's public relations work. In addition, she was involved in the planning and implementation of various company workshops and events and thus actively supported the development of a broader network for Münster students. She has been on the advisory board at JuWiChem since the beginning of 2023, where she heads the Digital & Marketing.

core team

The core team of VCW are currently:

     

  • dr Hervé Baratte, Linking People and Experience
  • dr Holger Bengs, BCNP Consultants GmbH, Frankfurt
  • dr Adam W. Franz, BASF, Ludwigshafen
  • Prof. Dr. Klaus Griesar, Merck, Darmstadt
  • dr Achim Ilzhöfer, Covestro Deutschland AG, Leverkusen
  • Andreas Konert, Infraserv Höchst, Frankfurt
  • Thorsten Kritzer, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim
  • dr Christian Küchenthal, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt
  • dr Ulrich Küsthardt, Evonik Industries, Hanau
  • Prof. Dr. Jens Leker, Westphalian Wilhelms University in Münster
  • Michael Linden, Gießen University
  • dr Thorsten Löhl, Borealis Polyolefins, Linz/A
  • dr Andreas Otterbach, formerly BASF SE, Ludwigshafen
  • dr Carsten Schaffer, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt
  • Prof. Dr. Stefan Seeger, University of Zurich, Switzerland
  • dr Kevin Stella, Robert Bosch GmbH, Schwieberdingen
  • Katharina Uebele MSc., DuPont Sustainable Solutions, Düsseldorf
  • Chem. Ing. Jan-Domenic Urbas, Hobum Oleochemicals GmbH
  • dr Joachim von Heimburg, jvhinnovation, Riehen/CH
  • Substitute editorial team (changing)

Dr. Hervé Baratte

Dr. Hervé Baratte is a self-employed, independent consultant "Groth Strategy Innovation".

Innovation Networks: Adidas, Airbus, Air Liquide, BASF, BMW, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Bosch, Cr.Hansen, Evonik Industries, DHL, DSM, GE, Henkel, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, 3M, Merck, Novozymes, Philips, Sanofi , Shell, Siemens, Solvay, Sulzer ...

Innovation partnering: between ?Elephants? & ?Mouse? SMEs, start-ups

Professional Career
1983: Thomson CSF Research, France
1985: IBM Research, USA
1990: IBM Manufacturing, Germany.
1993: Cap Gemini Vice President
2000: Accenture Associate Partner
2003: Independent Consultant

1995: Professor Innovation Strategy MBA www.cdi.fr
Author: 30 publications, scientific and business

    Dr. Holger Bengs

    Holger Bengs studied chemistry in Hanover and Mainz and Business Administration in Hagen. He is the founder and managing partner of BCNP Consultants GmbH based in Frankfurt, formerly Dr. Holger Bengs Biotech Consulting. The company, which was founded in 2002, has ten employees, mostly natural scientists, and specializes in the four industrial fields of biotech, chemistry, nanotech and pharmaceuticals (BCNP). The company has had an office in Dresden since 2011 ( www.bcnp-consultants.com ).

    H. Bengs has been a member of the Vereinigung Chemie und Wirtschaft (VCW) for ten years and has been part of the core team for six years. He represents industrial biotechnology thematically. This resulted in interdisciplinary lectures in December 2005 in Frankfurt at Infraserv Höchst and in April 2008 in Leipzig at c-LEcta GmbH, which were very well received. Since May 2009, on his initiative, regular VCW round tables in Frankfurt and other cities for informal exchange.

    Dr. Adam W. Franz

    As an expert in production processes and organizational development in the chemical industry, Dr. Adam Franz works globally as Senior Project Manager in Inhouse Consulting at BASF SE from Ludwigshafen. His previous positions in the chemical industry were research and production at Merck in Darmstadt and production, global technology and corporate operational excellence at BASF in Ludwigshafen. Since his studies and doctoral studies in organic chemistry at the Universities of Frankfurt, Heidelberg and Düsseldorf, Adam Franz has been associated and committed to the GDCh in various fields. He particularly appreciates the exchange and the shared values and interests at VCW and JCF events.

    Prof. Dr. Klaus Griesar

    Prof. Dr. Klaus Griesar ist Senior Manager mit 25 Jahren Berufserfahrung in verantwortlich leitenden Positionen in der Chemisch-Pharmazeutischen Industrie (Schwerpunkte: Innovationsmanagement, Technologietransfer, Technologie-Scouting, Management der Kooperationen mit Universitäten und Forschungsinstituten, Geschäfts- und Strategieentwicklung, strategische Forschung, Open Innovation, Öffentliche Forschungsförderung, Wissenschaftskommunikation). 

    Ausgewiesene methodische und praktische Erfahrungen in der Umsetzung von modernen Managementkonzepten. Langjährige Erfahrung in der Unterstützung des Top-Managements. 

    Netzwerker par excellence und einflussreicher Impulsgeber – mit umfangreichen Erfahrungen, Kompetenzen und den Zugang zu Netzwerken – erworben im Rahmen vielfältiger beruflicher oder ehrenamtlicher „Gremienarbeit“ im wissenschaftlichen und förderpolitischen sowie forschungspolitischen Kontext (BDI, acatech, Max-Plank-Gesellschaft). 

    Ehemaliger Vorsitzender der „Vereinigung für Chemie und Wirtschaft“ (VCW) und Koordinator der AG „Chemie und Gesellschaft“. Als Initiator zahlreicher Konferenzen der VCW einflussreicher Impulsgeber mit aktivem sektorenübergreifendem Netzwerk. 

    • Ausgewiesener Promotor des Branchenübergreifenden Dialogs. 
    • Senior Industry Consultant der EU Kommission im Bereich Innovationsmanagement. 
    • Honorarprofessor an der TU Darmstadt. Umfangreiche Erfahrungen im Bereich der akademischen Lehre sowie der Managementausbildung. 
       

    Dr. Achim Ilzhöfer

    Achim Ilzhöfer has been accompanying the position as global circular economy manager at Covestro Deutschland AG in Leverkusen since October 2017. In the course of his 17-year Career in the Bayer Group, before moving to Covestro, he held various positions and management responsibilities in the areas of plant engineering, innovation management, and university marketing and headed Bayer AG's global climate and resource efficiency program. Dr. Ilzhöfer studied mechanical engineering and materials science at the University of Karlsruhe (TH) and the INSA Lyon (F), completed his dissertation at the Karlsruhe Nuclear Research Center, received his doctorate at the University of Karlsruhe (TH) and completed a post-doc at the Joint Research Center of the European Commission in Ispra , Italy.

    Achim Ilzhöfer holds the position as global circular economy manager within the Covestro Deutschland AG since October 2017. During his 17-years previous employment relationship within the Bayer AG he held various leadership positions in Engineering, Sustainability and Innovation. As program manager of Bayer's global climate program he developed and implemented emission mitigation and resource efficiency strategies. He started his career after his PhD studies within the Joint Research Center of the European Commission in Ispra, Italy. Ilzhöfer holds a Diploma in mechanical engineering and material science from Karlsruhe University and he studied abroad at INSA Lyon, France.

    Andreas Konert

    Andreas Konert ist Diplom-Kaufmann und CEMS Master International Management. Er studierte Betriebswirtschaftslehre an der Universität zu Köln und der Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam. Nach seinem Abschluss 2006 arbeitete er zunächst als Strategie- und Marketingberater, bevor er 2009 als Leitender Angestellter zum Chemiedienstleister und Standortbetreiber Infraserv GmbH & Co. Höchst KG wechselte. Er übernahm dort das zentrale Marketing- und Produktmanagement Team und verantwortete mehr als 10 Jahre lang Themen wie Markenentwicklung, strategisches und operatives Marketing, Business Development und CRM und wirkte an den Strategieentwicklungsprozessen mit. 

    2019 gründete er ETWAS NEUES Konert Consulting + Ventures mit dem Ziel, mit seiner Erfahrung B2B-Unternehmen neue Wachstumschancen zu erschließen. Als Interim Manager begleitet er darüber hinaus den Veranstalter der Weltleitmesse ACHEMA sowie den industriellen Data Analytics Spezialisten coac GmbH in ihren jeweiligen Wachstumsphasen. Daneben verfolgt er eigene Gründungsprojekte und engagiert sich ehrenamtlich. 

     

    Thorsten Kritzer

    Thorsten Kritzer, a trained publishing clerk and Marketing specialist since 2002, has been a chemistry fan since September 2003 at the latest. At that time, he began his Career as a product manager at the leading industry newspaper CHEManager. As a segment manager for chemicals / pharmaceuticals / food, he is now responsible for the areas of advertising, Marketing and networks.

    He has been a VCW member since 2011. In 2013 he became a member of the core team and was involved in the organization of the events "Social Media in the Chemical Industry" (2013) and "Circular Economy - Idealistic vision, regulatory nightmare or your next big opportunity?" (2018) significantly involved. As part of the VCW Marketing team, he helped design the VCW's new appearance.

    Dr. Christian-Hubertus Küchenthal

    Christian Küchenthal began his professional Career in 2012 at the oldest chemical-pharmaceutical company in the world - Merck - in Darmstadt. There he held various positions in the areas of innovation management and business excellence until he took over the research management of the Performance Materials site in Jerusalem for Merck in 2016. Since 2018 he has headed the start-up Smart Consumables in the Merck Life Science division, which develops and markets digital products for the highly regulated laboratory sector.

    He studied chemistry at the University of Giessen, where he received his doctorate in organic medicinal chemistry, and then completed a Master of Business Administration degree at the Collège des Ingénieurs in Paris, Turin and Munich.

    In addition to his work at Merck, Christian Küchenthal teaches innovation management at the Universities of Gießen and Hamburg and is also active as a coach and business angel investor in the German start-up environment.

    His involvement in the German Chemical Society is varied. He founded and led the JungChemikerForum Gießen, was JCF national spokesman, board member of the Association for Chemistry and Economics, GDCh local association chairman in Darmstadt and a member of the GDCh board. He is currently a member of the VCW core team and on the advisory board of the GDCh mentoring program CheMento and the August Wilhelm von Hofmann Foundation.

    Dr. Ulrich Küsthardt

    Dr. Ulrich Küsthardt studierte Chemie an der Universität Frankfurt/Main und promovierte in Metallorganischer Chemie an der TU München. Nach post-doc Aufenthalten an der University of Arizona und Stanford University begann er seine berufliche Laufbahn 1993 bei der Unternehmensberatung A.T. Kearney.

    Seit 1997 arbeitet er bei SKW Trostberg, später Degussa und heute Evonik Industries AG im Divisionscontrolling, Marketing und unterschiedlichen Geschäftsführungen. Seit 2015 ist er Chief Innovation Officer der Evonik und somit für den Bereich Corporate Innovation verantwortlich.

    Dr. Küsthardt ist seit 1981 GDCh-Mitglied, war von 2006 bis 2008 Vorsitzender des Vorstands der Mineralfarbenindustrie e.V. und ist seit 2015 Mitglied des Vorstands der Evonik Stiftung und SusChem sowie Mitglied des VCI-Fachausschusses „Forschungs- und Bildungspolitik“.

    Prof. Dr. Jens Leker

    Prof. Dr. Jens Leker studied business administration at the Christian Albrecht University in Kiel. After receiving his doctorate in 1999, he accepted an endowed professorship in "Business Administration in the Natural Sciences, in particular Chemistry" at the Westphalian Wilhelms University in Münster. Since 2000 he has been the managing director of the "Institute for Business Management in the Department of Chemistry and pharmacy". He is in charge of the business chemistry university courses at the University of Münster and is the event manager of the modular advanced training program for young chemists "Certified Project Manager Business Chemistry GDCh" and the new modular advanced training program "Certified Business Chemist (GDCh) ®". Prof. Leker is co-editor of the textbook "Betriebswirtschaftslehre für Chemiker" and chief editor of the "Journals of Business Chemistry".

    Michael Linden M.Sc.

    No further information is available yet.

    Dr. Thorsten Löhl

    Dr. Thorsten Löhl is Director Science & Engineering at Borealis, responsible for more than 400 scientists and engineers in research and development at four locations. He is also Executive Director of Borealis Polyolefine Linz GmbH, and Head of the joint Plastic2Plastic program of OMV and Borealis.

    Dr. Löhl has international experience in R&D and Marketing Management in specialty and basic chemicals including polyolefins as well as in the consumer goods industry. The focus was on developing new business areas, creating innovation Marketing and the resulting implementation in and with the corresponding R&D or marketing units, measured by the achievement of successful growth.

    In previous positions, Dr. Löhl Vice President Innovation and member of the board of Borouge Pte Ltd., Abu Dhabi (UAE), responsible for research and development. Previously, he was Executive Vice President Research & Innovation at Swarovski, where he was responsible for research, development, engineering and new business at Swarovski Professional, as well as ensuring the support of the Swarovski Group as the sole R&D center. Earlier professional positions included Marketing and R&D management positions at Borealis, Cognis and Henkel.

    Dr. Löhl has in Münster / W. PhD in organic chemistry, an MBA from the University of Bradford, and a married father of two.

    Dr. Andreas Otterbach

    After studying chemistry and doing his doctorate in Karlsruhe, Andreas Otterbach started his career in 1987 as a research laboratory manager at BASF SE. Working in industrial organic chemistry and process engineering laid the foundation for his subsequent activities as a project manager for the construction of chemical plants and as operations manager at the BASF site in Schwarzheide.

    At the beginning of 1997 he took on strategic tasks in Marketing and technology for BASF in Brussels with global responsibility in the polyurethane area. At the beginning of 2007 he returned to Ludwigshafen, where he headed the Investment Valuations unit, which deals with the economic valuation of investment, strategy and research projects at BASF, and at the end of 2009 switched to the Care Chemicals division. After being responsible for production in Europe, Andreas Otterbach was Senior Vice President responsible for global technology in the Care Chemicals division until the end of 2015. Today he lives in retirement and deals with questions about value chains, energy as the basis of our prosperity and sustainability, climate protection and alternative courses of action in a social context.

    Dr. Carsten Schaffer

    Carsten Schaffer studied chemistry in Chemnitz and Münster and received his doctorate in 2004 from the Westphalian Wilhelms University on innovation management in the chemical industry. He then started at Merck KGaA. There he had functions in corporate auditing, in-house consulting and business development chemicals. He is currently working for Merck in Shanghai, where he is in charge of Strategic Business Development for the Performance Materials division. He has been active in the "Chemistry and Economy" association since 2003 and was on the Board of the section from 2006-2011 and chairman from 2010-2011. Dr. Schaffer was spokesman for the Jungchemikerforum Münster and is involved in the Alumni Initiative of the Jungchemikerforum for the further networking of the young chemists. In addition, he is a speaker in the GDCh advanced training program "Certified Project Manager" and is the technical director of the "Certified Business Chemist GDCh (®)" program.

    Prof. Dr. Stefan Seeger

    Further information is not available.

    Dr. Kevin Stella

    Dr. Kevin Stella studied chemistry at the University of Duisburg-Essen with a guest stay at the University of Liverpool (England). In his doctorate at the University of Duisburg-Essen, he deepened his knowledge of surface properties and surface processes. He received his doctorate in 2011 on "Electronic dissipation processes during chemical reactions on surfaces".
    In order to expand his knowledge of chemistry with business knowledge, he completed an international Master of Business Administration at the renowned Collège des Ingénieurs in 2012. In accordance with the motto ?Learning Through Action?, he also completed a junior consultant project at Infineon Technologies AG in Regensburg.

    After a stopover at Competence E (KIT), where he used agile working methods for the first time to develop lithium-ion technologies and use them in electric cars, he has been with Robert Bosch GmbH since 2016. As a product integrator in assembly and connection technology, he now supports various innovative products in the automotive environment. In addition, he establishes the agile way of working in various facets in his environment and works as an agile team coach. With the help of new, even unconventional methods, Bosch is positioning itself to respond even better than before to new customer requirements and increasingly volatile markets.

    As part of the GDCh, he was in the Young Chemists Forum for several years, including as chairman (08-10) and deputy. Chairman (07-08) of the Jungchemikerform Essen-Duisburg active. During this time he was also one of the leading organizers of the 11th JCF Spring Symposium in Essen with more than 400 participants from 30 countries.

    He has been a member of the VCW since 2013 and is involved in the core team at various events. Among other things, he was a lecturer at the GDCh-VCW autumn course "Challenges in the chemical industry" and gave lectures on e-mobility, storage systems, market volumes and possible innovation approaches for the chemical industry and developed scenarios with the course participants. He was also involved in the VCW's new look as part of the VCW's Marketing team. In 2019 he initiated the VCW conference "Tanker or Speedboat? Agile Management in the Chemical Industry" and transferred it to doing with a good team. With a view to the future, he is particularly interested in interface topics, innovation topics and learning different industrial sectors.

    Katharina S. Uebele

    Katharina S. Uebele ist Unternehmensberaterin in der chemischen Industrie und langjähriges aktives Mitglied der Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker. 

    Sie ist Gründerin der Jungen WirtschaftschemikerInnen (JuWiChem) - das Jugendnetzwerk der VCW - und leitete diese für zwei Jahre als Vorsitzende. Das Team etablierte neue Veranstaltungskonzepte, warb VCW-Mitglieder und erschuf eine deutschlandweite Community für Studierende & Promovierende an der Schnittstelle zwischen Chemie und Industrie. Nach mehrjährigem Gast-Sitz im VCW Vorstand als JuWiChem Vertreterin, wurde sie gewähltes Vorstandsmitglied der VCW für die Amtsperiode 2018-2021. Des weiteren sitzt sie seit 2019 im Kuratorium der Nachrichten aus der Chemie. 

    Seit 2020 ist sie gewähltes Vorstandsmitglied der Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker und hier in Kommissionen zur Bachelor-Studienempfehlung, den GDCh-Preisen, des GDCh-Veranstaltungsbereichs und der lebenslangen Bindung von Industrie-Mitgliedern aktiv. 

    Beruflich ist Katharina als Unternehmensberaterin tätig und sammelte Erfahrungen bei PwC und DuPont Sustainable Solutions. Sie fokusiert sich auf Beratung in der chemischen Industrie auf dem Gebiet Operations, digitale Lösungen und Sustainability. Dabei ist sie für Projekte in Middle East, Asien und Europa im Einsatz gewesen. Weitere Informationen über LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katharina-uebele

    Sie studierte Wirtschaftschemie an der Christian Albrechts-Universität Kiel (B.Sc.) und der Westfälischen Wilhelms-Universität Münster (M.Sc.) mit einer Spezialisierung in Green Chemistry & Sustainable Industrial Technology von der University of York (UK). 

    Jan Domenic Urbas

    Jan-Domenic Urbas is a chemical engineer with a great passion for developing and promoting sustainable solutions and innovations.

    From January 2021 to September 2022 he was a moderator in the Stammlack team. During these same years he supported the project "Make conformity queries easier across the industry" within FG coating chemistry and supported idea management and JuWiChem within VCW. He was also part of the "VCW-Chemathon" project team, which organized an ideas competition with partners from science and industry in 2022. He has been the co-organizer of the VCW regulars’ table in Hamburg since early 2022.

    Since April 2022 as Technical Product Manager at HOBUM Oleochemicals, Jan combines technical expertise with entrepreneurial thinking to reduce the environmental impact of operations and products while improving company performance.

    After a guest stay at the École des hautes études d'ingénieur (France), he successfully completed his studies with a focus on paint technology at the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences with a master's thesis in R&D innovation at Mankiewicz Gebr. & Co. Before that, he studied dual at Henkel AG & Co. KGaA and gained experience in the areas of functional coatings, pressure-sensitive adhesives and packaging development.

    Contact and updates at h ttps://www.linkedin.com/in/jan-urbas/

    Dr. Joachim von Heimburg

    Dr. Joachim von Heimburg is an independent Innovation Architect, Executive Advisor and Board Member helping companies to improve their innovation processes and create sustainable business value by innovation. As founder and Managing Director of jvhinnovation gmbh, a boutique consulting firm on innovation and industrial R&D, he designs and implements business development, R&D and innovation strategies, processes and structures and makes them operational driving the business. This he supports by creating an environment fostering an innovative spirit and entrepreneurial activities.

    Joachim’s expertise is based on his deep understanding of innovation and his profound expertise in industrial R&D, Product Development, and Consumer Research acquired during his long and successful career at Procter&Gamble. As International Director for Innovation & Knowledge at P&G he created and led the organizational and culture change from traditional R&D to Open Innovation systems (Connect & Develop) in Europe/Middle East/Africa. From 2010 to 2012 he was General Manager Innovation and Corporate Program at SABIC, one of the leading global chemical companies. In this new position working for SABIC’s top management he laid the foundations for a more innovate SABIC.

    He has extensive multi-cultural working experience in 7 countries. He holds a Ph.D. in theoretical physics of the University of Marburg, Germany and studied economics at the University of Frankfurt, Germany. He is an individual member of EIRMA (European Industrial Research Management Association) and a certified Innovation Standards Professional (PDMA). More on his LinkedIn profile www.linkedin.com/in/jvhinnovation

    Within VCW Dr. von Heimburg wants to promote Open Innovation and the development of young professionals for management and leading positions in industry, science and research.

    Advisory Board

    The Association for Chemistry and Economics (VCW) can be supported by an advisory board made up of well-known personalities from the chemical industry and related branches. Important impulses from companies and industry are received via these advisory boards, since the interests of industry and those employed in industry are of great importance in the VCW activities.

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    last modified: 17.11.2023 07:17 H from N.Bürger