EDITOR INTERVIEW
In conversation with...
Sinéad Adamski,
Global Account Executive and Sales Director EMEA, Infineum UK Ltd
Where were you born and where did you spend your early years? Although my family are Irish, my background is quite multi-cultural, as I have lived in Africa, Ireland and England. I was born and brought up in Zambia until I was eleven. I lived in a town called Chililabombwe in the Copperbelt Mining area, which taught me a lot about different cultures. We returned to Ireland, where I started my early secondary education before moving to the Northwest of the UK in the early 1990s. When I completed my degree, I moved to Reading and have lived here ever since, with my husband Rick and my two daughters. I have two sisters who, along with my parents and their own families, all still live in Ireland.
What did you want to be growing up? I never had a very clear plan of what I wanted to do, although I did like the idea of becoming a pilot, influenced by my early experiences travelling and desire not just to sit at a desk all day! Some of my early teachers thought I would become an author, because of my love of reading and writing. However, I’ve always had a passion for how things worked, which led me down a more scientific path.
Education – where did you go, what subjects did you choose and why?
I started my secondary education in Dublin but went on to do my A-Levels at Runshaw College as the family moved to Lancashire. I studied Chemistry, Maths, IT and French. Chemistry was my path to avoid working in an office, I had always loved Maths and I did I.T. anticipating the future, but the content was probably already out of date a week after finishing my exams.
I loved studying languages, so I continued to learn French, but sadly never put it into practice enough to ever become fluent.
62 LUBE MAGAZINE NO.177 OCTOBER 2023
What was your path to higher education? I went to Sheffield University to do a Masters in Chemistry with study in industry, which included a one year placement with ICI at their Chlor-Alkali facility in Runcorn Cheshire. There was a relatively even split of men and women in my year group, promoting a strong sense of a level playing field which I feel passionately about to this day. I had originally intended to take Chemistry with French for a year studying in France for a year but changed my mind at the last moment, sadly to the detriment of my French!
Where and when was your first job, and what did you like and dislike about it? My very first job was a silver service waitress in a local hotel, which was only a part time job while at school, but really lay the foundations of my work ethic and approach. Benefitting from excellent training, a strong focus on quality and performance, as well as customer interactions and relationship management, this has stayed with me throughout my career. After graduating, my first job was with John Matthey (JM) in their newly formed Fuel Cell business in Reading. For me this was an exciting time at the start of what was expected to be the near future for transport propulsion. Again, I hugely valued the training development and autonomy I was afforded in my early career and the experience of working with global OEMs.
Career mapping how has it led to where you are now?
I left JM when I felt that perhaps Fuel Cells would take a few more years to grow in the market. I took a position as Technology Manager at what was then the Department of Trade and Industry in the civil service under their Nano Technology Funding strategy team. However, I quickly found the pace of activity and nature of the work was not for me. Just over six months later, I joined Infineum as a technologist
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
