Introduction
Hi, my name is Ozawa, from Tokyo Japan. I am a chemist.
When I was in high school, I realized the joy of chemistry and decided to pursue it. After studying catalytic chemistry at Waseda university and metal complex chemistry at graduate school of University of Tokyo, I joined the Japan branch of one major US chemical company.
I spent 15 years with this company, and there I got involved in the development of materials that had an impact on the world. Knowing how a single material is used by customers and how it becomes a final product for the end user, and how chemical materials are used in everyday life has made my work more enjoyable.
During the 15 years, I worked in the same business unit, working on same type of material, which is conductive ink for electronic inudstry. However, I have gained a wide range of work experience there, by taking the role as an engineer, development leader, project leader, project leader management, technical sales, lab management, and people leader etc.
Also, I traveled all over the world to develop better materials. The experience of doing face to face meetings and interviewing customers from China, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Germany, the Netherlands, the United States, etc., was very stimulating and invaluable.
As I traveled around the country, I realized that I didn't really understand my home country, Japan. Thus from there I began to learn about the unique culture of Japan, Tea ceremony. I've been learning for 10 years now. In an environment where time flows slowly, and put yourself in extraordinary atmosphere to just focus on enjoying 1 bowl of tea, I think it is very interesting and unique culture that proposes a paradoxical value in today's busy world. It is my lifetime goal to become a master of this culture.
From 2024, I resigned from the company and took the position of Global Technical Director of a another startup materials company located in the US. Using the knowledge and experience I gained at my previous job at a major chemical manufacturer, I am enjoying the challenge of how to structuralize the corporate technology group and also how the startup's cutting-edge technology can be accepted to the world.
Chemical Engineering Fellow
career options
Chemical Engineering Fellow
skills
What are the main hard skills you use on a daily basis in your current job?
Conductive inks will be made by mixing, dispersing, printing, curing/firing. I experienced using all these tools. Also, after you process, you will conduct various performance measurements ; electrical, optical, mechanical, thermal etc, I have used a lot of those too.
I used Minitab, Power BI software for design experiments and data analysis. Specifically, I used response surface design, Design of Experiment etc, and statistical analysis such as fitting, ANOVA etc.
In order to store the data correctly, I personally learnt relational and NOSQL graphical database and tried to make databases for our technical team. Afterwards, the company decided to outsource database creation, and I was assigned to be contact window of new database installation of our business unit.
I used Power Automate and Power Apps to make a more effective technical team. Routine work will be automatically done by Power Automate, and I made graphical interfaces so that members don’t need to know about complicated database behind and easy to input information.
What are the main soft skills you use on a daily basis in your current job?
Product development is always complicated since customers, sponsors and members in each function have their expectation and priorities. As project leader, I have to hear and understand their voice. A material company is trying to create something that does not exist in the world today. I need to clarify where the highest technical hurdles are and discuss with technology members on what tests and ideas need to conducted to find the right solution in time.
Communication is the most important part of product development. We need to communicate well to hear what the customer says. This will be translated to our technical target through internal communication. Then the plan is made, and I will raise this to corporate sponsors to have their buy
We cannot serve new materials to the world alone. Someone will design the material and prove that it work, other member optimize the processes so that we can make the material robustly so that we don’t create quality issues. We also need to write patent to protect the technology. We need to work as a team to succeed in business. As a project lead, my main work was to make sure each team members collaborate and function well as a team.
Kazutaka
’s personal path
Tell us about your personal journey in
Chemical Engineering Fellow
:
In my master's program, I had several options. Accept an offer from a professor to go to a doctoral program, work for a chemical manufacturer in Japan or overseas, or work in the chemical industry analysis at a well-paid financial securities company. All of the paths were interesting and it was hard work to narrow down. Therefore, I researched myself. I tried to write down all the events that have become memories for me from my upbringing to the present, what I felt at that time, and why I think they remain as memories. As a result, I understood that I am a person who enjoys creating impactful products.
Then, I looked for a job mainly at major chemical manufacturers in Japan and overseas. After interviewing with several companies, I chose DuPont. While most interviews at other companies ask me about my research and how I approach the topic, DuPont was the only one that asked me about my way of thinking, motivation, and what path I would choose when I faced a problem. I remember about a minute before the end of the interview, the interviewer told me that he had forgotten to ask me about the research, but that it didn't matter, because he wanted to know about me. I got a call right after the interview and was told they wanted to hire me.
What would you tell your younger you regarding building your current career?
Know which suffering you can enjoy. Work isn't always fun, and it's often tedious. I think it's good to know what kind of suffering is really painful and what kind of difficulties you can enjoy, so that you can select an enjoyable difficulty path rather than pure pain. For example, I seem to like the frustration of unraveling a messy situation one by one and finally getting rid of the fraying. This requires a lot of time and concentration, but I really like the pleasure when you were able to untie the knots, and let everyone know how to solve it. This kind of challenge I can take it. As a result, I got thrown into several messy projects, and I used a lot of time to carefully sort out the situation to make suggestion on how we should move forward.
This is how I differentiate myself in the market. Not many people want to work like this, but I can handle it. Although it should look totally different in your case, you should find something that not many people can do, but you somehow enjoy it. That is where you can compete. That is not just hard skill, but sometime soft skill or combination.
Final thoughts & tips
After I started my career in a material company, for the first seven years or so, I enjoyed the work I was given. I enjoy development, I feel like leading projects suits me, and I try to improve myself by taking on new challenges every year. Although things were going well, I started going through a period where I was wondering again what I really wanted to do. So I read a variety of books, including technical books, business books, future predictions, and philosophy books, and came up with a theme that I wanted to challenge for the rest of my life. I don't know if that vision has any value. I want to validate that throughout my life. But as long as I’m challenging in this direction, I am happy. I hope you can do something like that too.
Resources to dig in more
IChemE
the chosen professional home for over 31,000 chemical, biochemical and process engineers across the globe
AIChE, The Global Home of Chemical Engineers
With more than 60,000 members from more than 110 countries, AIChE has the breadth of resources and expertise you need whether you are in core process industries or emerging areas, such as translational medicine.
The Chemical Engineer
News, views and jobs from the chemical, biochemical and process engineering sectors.
