Employee Spotlight: Lukas Hauser
What is your role at Weidmann, and what do you enjoy the most about it?
I am currently transitioning from my role as R&D Project Manager to Sustainability Product Manager. This means that I am still involved in laboratory activities (at the heart of innovation), but my focus on product innovation is now more geared to the sustainable principles of the circular economy and eco-design. I am very grateful for the opportunity to actively combine innovation and sustainability into one task.
No day is the same for me, but I prioritize the most urgent and important projects. The start of every R&D project requires planning, defining what samples to produce, setting test parameters, and working with production at the final testing stage.
As an R&D Project Manager, I designed the foundation for our testing capabilities, such as how material testing works and what the testing limitations are. I define which material parameter is measured best, using which device, all based on the material’s physical properties and my background knowledge of chemical, electrical, and mechanical material parameters.
My time at Weidmann began on October 1, 2020, when I was offered the role of R&D Project Manager in the Central Laboratory at Weidmann Rapperswil. In this role, I got the chance to develop new approaches to laminated board production with more sustainable glue alternatives and conduct failure analyses on failed parts. I learned more and more about the interplay of cellulose, moisture, contamination, and the life of a transformer.
What did you do previously?
Before Weidmann, I studied Materials Science at ETH Zürich. I learned a lot about the basic properties of materials, principles of material interactions, the physical and chemical nature of processes, and the strengths and weaknesses of the different materials for specific applications. During my studies, I focused on sustainable materials and circular economy principles, which led me directly to cellulose, as it is the most abundant, renewable, natural polymer on earth with a nearly unlimited number of applications!
The transition from R&D to sustainability was a natural progression for me. I am eager to spearhead our improvements in sustainability without compromising on quality, efficiency, or customer service.
What sustainability improvements are you working on right now?
Transformerboard and paper production are energy-intensive (refining, heat pressing) and water-intensive processes, with the potential to impact the environment. As a Sustainability Product Manager, I assess how we might increase efficiencies and reduce energy losses while at the same time advancing circularity by recycling, reducing, and reusing our input and output materials. Weidmann has already implemented some processes and is constantly focused on improving and developing.
What drives improvements is data. Hence, we concentrate our efforts on the optimization of our data quality. As a Sustainability Product Manager, I am responsible for analyzing the data and assessing potential areas for improvement. Areas for improvement have already been clearly identified, and the first tests have shown successful results. The solutions we can offer our customers combine high value with eco-design principles, with amazing sustainability characteristics.
How does sustainability shape your long-term vision?
We all stand on the shoulders of giants who generated the historical knowledge we have and use today for our comfort and leisure. I would love for the next generation to have the same opportunity.
Naturally, everyone is concerned about their personal well-being; however, one has to accept that this is only possible if we care about the way we use resources, so that they do not go to waste, but remain in the circle of use.
We all need to be champions of sustainability and the circular economy.
Favorite tools or equipment?
Give me a computer with internet access, a universal testing machine, and a well-equipped chemistry laboratory, and I will not stop innovating materials and testing them to their limits.
The computer allows me to do literature research, data analysis, reports, and presentations on important discoveries!
The universal testing machine allows me to test established and new materials for the major properties that define the material (E-Modulus, tensile strength and elongation, bending strength, compressibility, and many more).
What is a fun fact about you?
I listen to an average of 12 hours of music per day, and I would love it to be more. So, when you see me, music is likely blasting from the speakers, or my headphones are on! You may hear me before you see me because I will often sing along loudly or whistle with joy in my heart. I have a long passion for music and have made music myself for many years. Today, my two main instruments are the piano and my voice. One of the places I like to sing most is in my garden, my other big passion. It began in childhood with a small papyrus plant gifted from a teacher of mine, grew to a large succulent collection, and now I am trying to grow my own mango trees for picking and eating. Some are at home, and some are at work, so if we ever have a Teams meeting and you wonder what the plant behind my desk is, it is a mango tree.
