Process Development Chief Technologist
About me...
I was born and grew up in Rijeka where I graduated from the Gymnasium of Natural Sciences at the Natural Science and Graphics School Rijeka. Throughout elementary school and high school, I trained swimming and achieved excellent results in national competition. After finishing high school, I enrolled in the Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology in Zagreb where I graduated and started working at Pliva, spending 3 years there as a technologists in API production. As I wanted to move back to Rijeka, I started my career at JGL where I’ve been the Process Development Chief Technologist for almost two years now.
About my workday...
My typical workday starts at 8am. I’m not a coffee person, so I immediately start reading and answering emails and organizing my day. During office hours, I attend numerous meetings dealing with various topics I’m engaged in. When I find some time between various appointments, I’m working on a seawater dehydration project, trying to create salt from the Adriatic seawater and using that sea salt to recreate seawater. My workday usually ends around 4pm.
About the challenges at work...
Since I’m working on launching a new production department and designing a production facility, I encounter a lot of unknowns and challenges every day, all with the goal of making every new project even better than the last! I’m designing production systems for (micro)suspensions and (nano)emulsions, technologies that we still do not have here at JGL. Each day is different and creates new challenges: what equipment will we use, how should such equipment be designed, what technology and manner of production to choose, as well as product features – everything that’s required to develop products and reach the commercial stage without any hiccups!
About the team environment...
Working without people who support and help you in everything you do can be complicated and unnecessarily difficult. I think that nowadays there can be no progress without teamwork. Topics simply encompass a lot of domains that cannot be covered by a single person, making teamwork a necessity, as well as unavoidable. Disagreements and conflicting points of view, attitudes and opinions are par for the course at JGL, always resulting in progress being made in every sense of the word – we aim for the stars (Orion).
About work motivation...
What motivates me the most is working in a healthy environment that values each individual and strives for simplicity and continuous process improvement, regardless of obstacles that lie ahead.
About working at JGL...
Working at JGL is always dynamic and challenging as one never knows what awaits us every single day. I consider teamwork, employee motivation and work environment where mistakes are allowed to happen to be the greatest value of JGL, and very important in everyday work. Designing a facility from scratch and watching it progress according to your ideas is something that not everyone can boast about, as well as participating in the development of a process that could become very significant for the company in the long run.
About the desire for new knowledge...
I hold a master's degree in chemistry, and work in the pharmaceutical industry, striving every day to familiarise myself with my chosen field of work and acquire new knowledge and skills from colleagues with different areas of expertise. I would like to learn more about the equipment with all its current and future capabilities, so that I could offer ideas and solutions that will benefit the entire process.
About my hobbies...
Generally, I like to spend time on and near the sea – diving and sailing – and love taking JGL employees sailing as part of our teambuilding exercises.
About success and satisfaction...
I believe that success and satisfaction come from many business and private opportunities that mean a lot to me. From the satisfaction of performing a job that peaks my interests and I like doing, to enjoying quality time with my partner and friends. Success means to continuously balance between private and business lives and achieve satisfaction across all segments of life!