technical challenge, but ultimately very fulfilling.
A subsequent move to arch-rivals, Afton Chemical, allowed me to experience a different additive company, a different culture, deepen my experience across both Driveline and subsequently Industrial Hydraulic. All of my roles at the additive companies and oil marketers were deeply technical and one thing that was missing was a commercial understanding of the lubricants market and I jumped at the chance to join IMCD in 2020 and be able to combine my broad technical knowledge with a heavy commercial twist and this is where I now reside as a Technical Product and Sales Development Manager for Lubricants, providing deep technical support to our customers and my colleagues around the world on fuels and driveline projects and Sales and Product support to my team here in the UK.
How has the industry changed since you started? The industry has changed so much in the last 30 years. When I started, emission control was still in its infancy and the drive to clean up what is pushed out of the tailpipe has had a profound effect on the development of engine oils. The advent of catalytic converters changed fundamentally how engine additives were formulated and the drive down in viscosity grade made fluids thinner which in turn makes meeting the performance requirements much more difficult. The move from Group I to Group II and Group III base oils has not only changed Engine oils but has had a knock-on effect in Driveline and Industrial.
What do you like/dislike about the industry? And what would you change if you could? I love the technical challenge and the application diversity. Although encompassed by the word lubricant, a metalworking concentrate is considerably different to an Industrial hydraulic fluid which in turn is nothing like an Automatic Transmission fluid. Every application has a different set of criteria to meet, and the resulting lubricants (and additives) can be very different from each other. You never stop learning in this field and I love that.
What challenges do you think the industry faces? In your role and as a whole? We are moving to a world where we need to considerably (if not completely) reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and the lubricants industry has been
built on their use for the last century. Really getting a grip on renewable and sustainable resources will be the biggest and a most steep challenge for the development chemists and engineers of the here, now and the foreseeable future.
Favourite quote?
“If you give a man a fish, you will feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you will feed him for a lifetime” - Education is so important and providing a path for people to have self-belief and control of their own lives.
www.imcdgroup.com/en/business-groups/ lubricants-and-energy
Expanded version of the article is available online at
lube-media.com
Expanded version of the article is available online at
lube-media.com
LUBE MAGAZINE NO.173 FEBRUARY 2023
49
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