In Case You Didn't Know
-Mr Gaurav Saini (Batch of 1991)
Senior Perfumer/ Principal Scientist, Procter & Gamble Co. Singapore
Work Profile: Fragrance Design
Firm Profile: Fast Moving Consumer Goods.
‘Professionally’ Unique
I started off in Mumbai with P&G as a Technical Brand Manager. When I was offered the chance to get into the P&G Perfumery College (in-house perfumery traineeship), I asked the question, “what is a perfumer?”. Honestly, at that time, I had no idea that there is such a profession (more a vocation). When the offer included going to Kobe, Japan, for the perfumery course, I immediately reacted, “where do I need to sign”? That was 27 years ago. And what a journey it has been! This journey has taken me to various P&G locations: Cincinnati, Ohio, 3 years; Kobe, Japan, 9 years; Brussels, Belgium, 7 years and now in Singapore for 8 years. In that journey, I got married; my first daughter was born in Japan and the second one in Belgium. So we are true-blue global nomads.
A Job of ‘Trust’
My job is a super-specialization. Think of me as the master chef in a restaurant (I am not the restaurant or kitchen manager). I am creating the recipes which will delight the customers (while the kitchen does most of the cooking) and make them rave about my creations. Build loyalty and trust in the brand of the restaurant. In an FMCG context, this means creating perfumes for P&G’s products (such as laundry, hair care, air fresheners, etc.), which will delight consumers and create trust and a love bond with the brand.
While this is a centuries-old vocation/ craftsmanship, I approach the arts of creative perfumery with an infusion of science and technology. Superior freshness and fragrance experiences can only be designed and delivered when you bring the best of arts with the latest know-how from science and technology.
Where I find my motivation is in the fact that I am building an emotional connection between the product and the consumer. I am creating moments of delight in the everyday mundane moments of life and household chores. So, I am creating new recipes, I get “in the zone” and lose myself in the creative process. No different from what musicians, painters, etc., experience. So, in the corporate world, this is the ultimate gamification of work.
Strong ‘Alone’
So yes, there are cons too. As I said, this is a super-specialization domain. This means there are not that many of your peers and not that many employers in the profession. They say that there are more astronauts than perfumers in the world. P&G is quite unique to have an in-house perfumery. To my knowledge, there are very few FMCG employers of perfumers (Kao and Henkel). And since this is a vocation (like medical practice), there is a saying, “once a perfumer, always a perfumer.”
An education background in Science helps. But not necessary. And you need to have a basic sense of smell (basic only, since most of it is taught). I think the most important thing is to have the courage and curiosity to learn something that you, your parents, and your educators have completely ignored in your formative years.
And like a movie star, you are only as good as your last perfume. After a couple of flops, your equity can suffer badly. Unlike in most corporate jobs, most success and failures are attributed to teams, not in perfumes. A (commercially) failed perfume or a successful perfume eventually belongs to only one person: the perfumer.
India: Perfumery
India is where the action is. No need to wait for 5-10 years. It is happening now, and it is exploding. India is a young nation with raging hormones. India is a teenager who loves to look good and smell good. And the fragrance industry in India can indeed take on more smart technologists with a “hatke” bent of mind and a spirit of adventure. There is so much to do. How can we make fragrances safe, sustainable, smarter, and irresistible? This industry is a late-comer into the digital world and it surely could be amp-ed up.
- Mr. Alok Goswami (Batch of 2017)
Assistant Manager Operations, HPCL Mumbai Refinery
Work Profile: Plant Operations / Production
Company Profile: Oil and Gas refining and marketing
‘Chemicals’ to Oil & Gas: The Journey
AIL to HPCL
I worked in Aarti Industries Ltd, R&D Vapi, as Assistant Manager just after graduation. I was there for six months and I happened to work in flow chemistry projects, suffice to say continuous flow reactors. There were some batch processes that needed to be converted into continuous processes and lab to pilot scale-up.
In January 2018, I joined HPCL as an engineer refinery, hoping to pursue a career in oil & gas. Now I am Assistant Manager operations in the FCC (Fluidized Catalytic Cracking) unit licensed by UOP.
My work:
I lead a team of 15 employees and work in the plant. I am a DCS and plant supervisor, and all the proactive maintenance activities of rotary, static, instrument equipment are planned under my supervision. I am responsible for maintaining the process parameters within the operating envelope and troubleshooting any equipment failures or malfunctioning.
Our team is responsible for healthy and flawless shutdowns/startups of the plant. Profit maximization by using resources optimally and keeping the right track of valuable product yields as per market demands.
Who Should Aim?
Though the profession isn’t outwardly so exciting, FCC plants are advanced, and data are readily available, informative and fruitful. The domain is for someone interested in advanced process control, process optimization, designing unit operations, reactor, reaction calorimetry, heterogeneous catalytic reactions, heat integration, rotating equipment, etc.
Sometimes we really face some technical challenges, and troubleshooting them is what motivates me the most. This isn’t a duty requirement, however, it’s a great way to keep your concepts and knowledge handy.
All the refineries and petrochemical complexes like Reliance, Essar, IOC, etc offer more and less profile for chemical engineers (i.e., Plant operations, technical/technology, R&D)
Refineries: More Advanced
Once someone enters the oil and petroleum industry and pursues a career here for more than five years, it becomes hard to switch the field, especially in plant operations. Switching to FMCGs, the Chemical industry becomes hard as they like to recruit from the same field. The oil industry doesn’t have significant technical changes frequently, and volume handling is quite large. Product specs are not so tight and not so hard to achieve.
Controllers and APC systems are well developed in refineries wherein chemical industries rarely have those up to that extent (depends on type and requirement). Handling bulk volumes make heat integration and recoveries more economical in petroleum industries. A wide range of unit operations and continuous processes are radially available in refineries. Planning and automation become a critical part and make one handy in most of the operations.
Knowledge Stagnation?
Transfers in PSUs are not easy and working in a single plant for a long makes our skills narrow by the time.
Suppose one likes changes and is ready to learn more and more. In that case, they must choose the chemical industry or pharma R&D. Learning becomes part of the job and constant technical involvement is necessary to keep ourselves handy. One can analyze the data in the petroleum industry for designing, simulation, troubleshooting and this is the most attractive way I find to engage myself here.
The Future of Oil & Gas
Many refineries will convert into petrochemical cum refineries, not necessarily eventually. Renewable energy and alternative energy resources to oil and gas in the coming future will make a difference here. Working in the petroleum industry opens all the doors to big firms across the world. I find the technical or technology department vast than operations to pursue here, like a process development or change is what every industry seeks and switching the field won’t be any problem that way.
Over 15-20 years, electric vehicles and green fuel innovations will compete for the oil industry. Hence, instead of more refining capacities, these industries have to convert into chemical/petrochemical plants. Technology advancement in APC and automation will lead to fewer new opportunities and manpower, but upcoming plants will fill the gap.
- Malavika Gopinath (Batch of 2017)
Work Profile: Corp. Sustainability & Environment Health Safety & Sustainability
Firm Profile: FMCG conglomerate with diversified presents in paperboards, packaging, tobacco & cigarettes, foods & beverages, Hotels, IT etc.
Higher Education and The Corporate
I did my Bachelor’s in Chemical engineering from BITS Goa. I chose this stream intending to do a Masters in Environmental engineering or an allied field. I was sure this was what I wanted to do since my teens. After my B.E, I continued to work on the project of which my B.E. Thesis was a part of Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment (ATREE) in Bangalore. I was working on the water quality aspects & pollutant modeling of River Vrishabhavathy in Bangalore. During this, I realized that while being on the technical side of things is great, no on-ground action takes place unless the related policy gaps are also closed. Therefore, I joined M.Tech at IIT B. This was the best way to use the technical understanding that comes from my engineering background to understand the dynamics of policy, governance, and developmental issues in the world, and work as a bridge in ensuring that there is some difference being made on the ground. While I intended to work with some NPO or Foundation after my M. Tech, I spoke to the sustainability head at ITC Ltd. I genuinely felt that the Company has the right intent and approach to sustainability and the resources to make significant changes. This was the motivation for me to join a Corporate, despite not having thought about it beforehand.
The Work
I work in the Corporate Environment, Health, Safety & Sustainability team of ITC Ltd. Being an engineer, I work on the safety aspects, including EHS Audits of Company facilities. This by itself has been a great experience, especially when you work in such a Company with such diversified businesses.
My work on sustainability is quite elaborate- I handle water security, packaging & plastic waste management as well as climate risk management at the Corporate level. I also work on the Corporate Sustainability strategy, goal & target setting, implementation & monitoring aspects of this as well.
Sustainability of the Environment: Why And Why Not?
The biggest pro of being engaged in the field of sustainability is the satisfying feeling of contributing in some way to address the environmental crisis looming humanity. However, your work will leave you gloomy on a lot of days since you may feel that not everyone cares about things that matter or the impact of the work you're doing is nearly not enough or fast enough to address the size of the problem.
Opportunities Galore!
This field is definitely meant for the one who wants to directly contribute to addressing the climate crises or any of the major developmental issues that the planet faces. The coming years need solutions- faster and more impactful, that are based on scientific temperament and considering inclusive growth. There’s an immense opportunity in this field, as pretty much every company is strategizing its sustainability goals & targets for the coming decade, partly due to the tremendous pressure on ESG issues by investors. Therefore, this sector will grow, more than ever before, both within the country and abroad.
Work Profile: Product Research and Development
Firm Profile: Pharmaceuticals
Unwavering Career Growth
I joined Dr. Reddy’s in 2013 through the campus placement process. Once confirmed, you have the title of Process Scientist (Process Engineering). I had various experiences changing my role every two years, taking on additional work or responsibility.
I worked with the Centre of Excellence (CoE) team on capability building in the first two years after graduation. We improved on the R&D process by including various Engineering studies at the lab scale, with a target that there should be Zero Failures during scale-up/commercial batches. Next, I took up delivery-oriented projects for drugs that DRL would be launching. I was responsible for the R&D of a single stage of a Drug. Later on, I was responsible for the development and scale-up of all the stages, and I had a team of chemists who took care of the chemistry aspect of the product.
I joined Jubilant Life Sciences for a year as a Project Manager of New Product Development projects. Thereafter, I joined back at Dr. Reddy’s as a Process Engineering Specialist. I am currently responsible for the engineering aspects of all Flow Technology Projects (these are products that we want to manufacture in a continuous stream instead of in batch).
Is there a ‘Plan B’?
There are quite a few in fact
You join in the manufacturing/operations role for about 2-4 years, and then you bring your commercial operations experience to R&D.
You do a Masters’s and can directly join as a Scientist. Your path would be fast-tracked by 1-2 years.
You do a PhD and join in as a Specialist if your set of skills matches with a problem statement of the company.
What Keeps Me Going?
I’ll start with my motivation- ‘to help make healthcare more accessible and affordable to people.’ This helps me drive through most of the challenges I face professionally.
My work involves a blend of experimentation and problem solving, a ratio of about 75:25. As a Process Engineer (or Chemical Engineer), any project comes as a problem to be solved. We review the process and design a way forward and run experiments to solve it. This philosophy is called Quality by Design, and for a chemical engineer, it is second nature when it comes to R&D. As an engineer, you think more in terms of rates and not data points.
We are not responsible for the design aspect of the problem statement, such as designing reactors, heat exchangers, pumps, dryers, etc. We are generally expected to fit things into an existing setup. We prepare a User Requirement Specification (URS) for any new equipment and outsource the design part to companies who specialize in the technology.
The highlight for me was when the patent for my process was granted. It is something that one aspires for as a science student.
Where Else?
Other Firms for Product Research and Development:
There are few Indian Generic Pharma companies like Cipla and Biocon for product research and development if you consider the API (bulk drug) side of the business. Pfizer and Novartis are looking for injectable and topical formulations if you have CFD/Modelling simulation experience in your projects.
Outside Pharma
- HUL/HURC Bangalore and RB Gurgaon for their FMCG products. You can approach Godrej and ITC as well if they provide such roles.
- GE Plastics (now SABIC) used to come. Dow is an option, however, I think it is a blacklisted company because it is associated with Union Carbide. You can checkout.
- Aditya Birla Group has an RnD centre outside Mumbai.
- Fuel cells have great space for growth.
- I remember Panasonic taking a PhD in 2013 for battery technology.
- With EVs coming up, you can approach them. However, most startups cannot afford fresh graduates, so an internship route could be possible, or Corporate - Institute partnerships.
- Log 9 Materials doing some good stuff as well on Graphene Technology and Aluminum Fuel Cell
- The solar panel industries can also be looked at. Again an internship route or Corporate - Institute partnerships.
Note: Many companies do take IITians, but with 1-2 years of work experience
Perks:
There is a lot of personal satisfaction for me when I can bring a generic drug into the market at 1/10th the price. Someone who wants to make a difference in the world and the problem is technological, then this is a no-brainer.
I believe the future requires more subject matter experts and fewer managers.The work you do here can be an add-on for you if you want to pursue a PhD.
The leadership team consists of PhDs, Masters, and UG Engineers, and they bring good experience in practical problem-solving. Also, these leaders are in contact with professors worldwide, so they can help you narrow down your field of study.
You can pursue a PhD like an MBA at any time in your career. Some companies have partnerships with some institutes to get access to Professors who are experts in their field of work.You have a healthier work-life balance.
*however, you should not be targeting a work-life balance in the first five years of your professional and personal life because you set many habits based on your learnings in this timeframe. So should you join a Research firm, always ask to help out your team members with tasks. Work Hard and Party Harder !!!
**Also, this is not an excuse to not take care of your health. You are the healthiest at this point in your life. You have the time and energy to maintain it.
All of it is definitely not a bed of roses:
The first thing you compare is the salary. Indian Pharma giants offer GOOD salaries, but any MNC blows it out of the park because of the dollar conversion.
People opting for an MBA, sorry to say, there is no value added to your application beyond the 1st year if you give CAT.
It would be a better pitcher if you can do some professional courses like Lvl 1 of CFA or Agile Project Management or trade in the stock market/cryptocurrency successfully in the little bit of free time you have.The pace of work might be slow because of the nature of the research or the project you might be doing.
This is not a con in my opinion, but I know many people complain about this and hence pursue other jobs. Work takes place in cycles and project priorities. You are generally tied down to a team or project, and if that’s a very long project, you as a fresh graduate do not experience the milestones that a peer might be experiencing in IT or Business roles.
Industrial and Product R&D: An Aspiration of the Youth?
In Pharma, the following are the hot topics currently world over
Continuous manufacturing (API and Formulation)
Complex molecules manufacturing (peptides, proteins, nucleotides, many more)
AI in Drug discovery
There is a lot of work going on in DRL, Cipla, and Biocon. Many EU innovators and Chinese companies have targeted Indian experts for such roles in the last two years.
I’ll keep it simple; If you want to contribute to society and are bent towards finding technological solutions to its problems, then Industrial Research or Product R&D is an excellent career option. Here, pay is good, and you have a healthy work-life balance.
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