Carsten - Chemical Engineer/Lead Engineer
Name:
Carsten
Education:
Chemical Engineer
Job title:
Chemical Engineer/Lead Engineer
Department:
PIA Projects
"As a chemical engineer/lead engineer, my work in ‘PIA Projects’ deals with very diverse and rather complex issues and is not directly tied to the day-to-day operations in running plants".
"PIA Projects takes care of the design, construction and qualification of plants for the future production of various products.
Your knowledge and skills have to be within the broad field of engineering, since you'll have to deal with almost every aspect of designing, engineering, qualifying/validating, analysing, building and starting up new plants.
You'll need good knowledge of most of the running unit operations, and production in general within a very broad field, relevant to the current and future plants.
Very important is your academic ability to ensure the overall functionality and design, ensuring that the overall structure and the interactions between the various sections are sufficient and effective.
As part of this, an important aspect is your ability to work in teams with other skilled and often highly specialised personnel taking care of the different disciplines of the project work.
“I have worked for Novo Nordisk in Kalundborg for 15 years and have wide experience from the extraction plant, recovery and purification of animal-based insulin, human insulin and insulin analogues. Besides that I have some project-related experience within the area of fermentation.
“The first six years my work was primarily directly related to production (supervision, troubleshooting, etc.), but for the last nine years my work has been to lead and participate in small and large projects within the broad field of pharmaceutical API (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients) production.”
Professional and economic resources
"Working for a big and professionally very broad company is really important to me. It really gives you the opportunity to develop skills within a very diverse field. The professional and economic resources are greater, making the professional environment stimulating and giving you the opportunity to realise your ideas.
"I like solving professional challenges. You know, when something looks chaotic, unknown or just needs to be (re)designed and you – together with skilled colleagues – start analysing and discussing the new challenge.
You identify the way to go and finally get to the bottom of it... that’s one of the things I find interesting and inspiring. Every time you succeed it’s a victory.
You could say that my attitude to challenges is somewhat ambivalent. While some challenges are a real headache, I can’t really live without a versatile job with challenges.
Solving problems and finding new solutions for the future never become routine and I like the feeling that we are making progress."
Career path
“My career has never been about becoming a traditional manager. My ambition is primarily tied to my field as a chemical engineer with managerial assignments/issues as part of leading or participating in projects.
This is exactly what I get as a chemical engineer/lead engineer. In many companies you need to choose the classic management route if you want a career. Here at Novo Nordisk, however, you can have a career just in between, giving you the opportunity of a mix that is right for you.
“A very import issue is about honing my skills – let’s call it professional development. Every little challenge we solve makes me – and the company – better."