MARTIN PULTAR Role: Head of the research and development department Area: chemical technology Employer: Draslovka; former: Spolana, Institute of Physics of the Academy of Sciences, UCT Prague What can I help my mentee with? provide insight into different work environments - academic vs. private provide insight into the workings of the chemical industry outline what a technologist's job looks like finding creative solutions time-management    LinkedIn profil

Shortly after graduating from high school, Martin found a summer job in a laboratory that focused on the analysis of water of various origins, giving him a taste of the laboratory trade before he started at the University of Technology. He completed his Master's degree in Inorganic Technology and since he enjoyed the field, he decided to do his PhD there as well. He first combined his studies with work at the Institute of Physics of the Academy of Sciences, where he worked on magnetron sputtering, and thus gained insight into a completely different field from the position of a development engineer. Although it was an interesting and enriching experience for him, Martin wanted to focus more on the field of chemical technology and got a job as a sulphuric acid technologist at Spolana. Here, in addition to his full-time job, he completed his doctoral thesis and then successfully defended his PhD. In the final phase of the "dissertation marathon" he still greatly appreciates the support and understanding also from his then supervisors and colleagues.

After three years at Spolana, Martin received an offer from Draslovka, where he now works as a technologist in the production of alkali metal cyanides. In the future, he would like to be involved in internal research and development activities in the field of chemical technology. "The position of a technologist can differ in certain details in each company. But in general, the main element is the same. In addition to routine monitoring of process parameters, product quality and raw material and energy consumption, situations occur almost daily on production sites that require a detective-like approach to unravel and find the causes."

As part of the mentoring, Martin would like to learn what interests and motivates students today to study chemistry. At the same time, he would like to help someone by sharing his experiences from different stages of his studies and from quite different working environments.