Avantama AG

We are
We are a global leader in high-tech materials for electronics. Our material innovations are used in millions of electronic devices such as printed solar cells.
Our next generations of products will make displays 35% more colorul, 40% brighter and more energy-efficient than ever before.
We offer
We offer internships and full-time positions in a start-up environment with a fun group of colleagues.
We are looking for
We are looking for bright students mainly with a background in chemistry, chemical engineering or materials science. Fresh graduates are welcome.
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Interview

Florian Grieder
Process Engineer
Process Engineer
What is your current task at Avantama AG?
Since January 2021 I am employed 100% as a Process Engineer in the production
team of Avantama. Together with my coworkers, we are responsible for the upscaling
of the R&D production process of our quantum dot materials. On one hand, this
means handling up to 30kg barrels of chemicals, processing this amount in sized up
chemical reactors and assuring the quality of each process step to the final product.
On the other hand, we are further optimizing and investigating the chemical
processes to improve the reliability of the final product as well as increasing the yield
of every step both with experiments on a large and on a small scale. Being a small
company leads to additional responsibilities regarding procurement of chemicals as
well maintenance of chemical reactors. Furthermore, I am one of the company
paramedics.
How would you describe the working atmosphere at Avantama AG?
Working at Avantama is great. Being a small company, you quickly know everyone
and with the open and helpful atmosphere that we have, it is easy to chat or discuss
challenges with anyone up to the CEO. With our hands on mentality, every idea is
welcome and quickly tested. With a one/two-day event in the summer and winter,
Christmas dinner, many many Friday beers and other spontaneous group events,
Avantama provides a very familial work environment.
How does a typical day at the company look like? What excites you the most in
your current job?
My day at the company starts relatively early at 7 o'clock when I check my mails and
do the boring administrative things as well as analyzing gathered data. Between 8
and 9 mostly everyone has arrived and the whole office gathers for a coffee break
with some chatting and sometimes a birthday cake or holiday sweets. Then the more
practical part starts with preparing chemicals and running our production line
involving analyzing samples with x-ray powder diffraction, UV/Vis spectroscopy and
many analytical tools. Due to confidentiality, I can't tell you more about specific tasks.
This work further extends into the afternoon and is only interrupted by another coffee
or ice cream break in the afternoon. Between 4 and 5 it's home time.
What excites me most about my job is to see how relatively simple chemicals can be
transformed into our fascinating final quantum dot material, involving intense color
changes, exactly what I imagined chemistry would be like as a child.
How did your application process look like prior to starting at this company?
I finished my master thesis right after the corona lockdown in summer 2020 and
realized that fewer companies are hiring compared to before the corona crisis. I then
started applying for internships, including one at Avantama. Samuel Halim, CEO of
Avantama and the person responsible for recruitment replied to my application and
asked if instead of an internship I would be interested in a full-time position. The first
part of the application process was an online interview with the CEO and CTO about
my CV and some scientific questions to test my knowledge and logical thinking. The
second part was conducted on site involving lab work and typical calculations thatwould be done in the lab. I got to know the whole company and was introduced to the
team I would be working with. Soon after I got the mail that would like to employ me.
What did you study and how did it prepare you for the work you are doing
now?
I did my bachelor and master's degree in material science at ETH. On a scientific
level I felt prepared well and most knowledge regarding the chemical processes and
the physics of the quantum dots was taught as part of the curriculum. On a more
practical level there was more of a challenge with working on big and heavy chemical
reactors. All the work in the lab is more on the gram and milliliter scale and suddenly
adding three orders of magnitude changes the way of handling as well as the
necessary safety precautions. Otherwise as a more interdisciplinary study, material
science helped a lot to bridge chemical problems with engineering solutions.