Anne-Laure COVASSIN

I discovered chemistry at high-school. I liked lab experiments very much, and also theory. I thought that with knowledge in this field I could work in cosmetology. I thus chose to discover all application fields of chemistry by enrolling in an engineering school specialised in chemistry. My admission test results opened the doors of ESCOM, so I could focus on the heart of the matter.

During my years of education, I especially developed affinities with the creative side of chemistry rather than with the lab research side. What I call creative, is the possibility of developing new products. To succeed, you need to be interested in customers and their expectations.

A gap year (optional year in a company while being a student at ESCOM) in the paint sector allowed me to understand the aspects of operational marketing that are linked to technical knowledge. For the last year of the engineering cycle, I thus chose the option “Industrial marketing and management”. I worked for 6 months in England on my graduation project, also in the paint sector, in the B-to-B area.

I was recruited in September 2009 by Primagaz as an applications engineer. Primagaz launched a new activity in 2009: a department in charge of collecting rain water. This new activity operates a little bit like a start-up, and I am part of a small team that has just been set up. This structure encourages me to be into everything because I am involved at all levels. I am working on the development of bids and/or products, I have to know about maintenance and assistance contracts, about the legislation concerning the new standards for rain water, etc. My customers are private individuals, builders of individual houses, developers. I have to use, at the same time, my technical knowledge, my know-how in marketing, and my sales skills.

Beyond my engineer chemist education, my ability to think and anticipate, and my capacity for working in a project mode, opened different areas of activity for me. These skills are trained in engineering schools, but there is a small extra to keep alive: A strong curiosity for everything around you…