Working at Kiwa: Gözde Tuzcu

Gözde Tuzcu works as Materials Consultant at Kiwa Netherlands. She’s an expert in all kind of polymer related testing. She is also specialized in product quality assurance and market acceptance of sustainable and innovative materials and products, industrial (digital) processes including additive manufacturing and bio-based technologies.

Switching from science to business

After obtaining her PhD degree in polymer chemistry at the Eindhoven Technical University (TU/e) in the Netherlands, Gözde worked as a researcher at the Polymer Technology Group at the university. 'During my work as researcher, I became more and more interested in the industry-related aspects of my area of expertise.', tells Gözde. 'When you perform scientific research, your work is very much dived into experiments and scientific tools, and that was a bit too technical for me. Actually I was a little stuck in clarifying what I wanted. During this period, I tried to find out what suited me well; I have taken online classes such as inspirational leadership, scientific humility and micro-economics. This really helped me to understand what kind of work I wanted to do. And then in 2016, Kiwa came my way.'

'I was very curious when I heard about a position in the rubber consultancy group at Kiwa. Both the company and the job description really appealed to me. It would give me the opportunity to apply my experience and technical knowledge and combine this with consultancy and advice. In this way, I would have more interaction with people, the Kiwa customers. I was very happy when I could start with this challenging job at Kiwa.'

Participating in ISO standard committees

'I am still working in the position in which I started at Kiwa and enjoying it very much. I broaden my tasks by joining the ISO and EN standard committees of additive manufacturing, bio-based polymers and recycling. Also, I gain deeper knowledge on product quality of polymeric materials in a wide range of applications and also create some space for Kiwa in new markets.'

Technical detective

'I often have to deal with very interesting product cases, generally about unusual inspections regarding all kind of rubber and polymeric products, for example a seismic bearing, a gas tank membrane, a door seal or an expansion joint. Those projects are mostly about a failure or a potential failure, and we act as technical detectives, to understand why or how a product might fail or actually has failed.'

'Next to my testing and inspection work, I also take part in various platforms about trending topics like 3D printing and sustainability. And together with colleagues we make plans how we can create business in these areas.'

Learning from the “Kiwa school”

'The flexibility and freedom I have in terms of developing business and creating new Kiwa brands and BRL’s is something that I like the most. Kiwa is open to new business ideas. Besides this, maybe more important and valuable for me, is that Kiwa is a big school where you can learn a lot from the 70 year long experience and knowledge of the company in many different areas of businesses and markets. This makes Kiwa a very dynamic company, offering the opportunity to work together with all kind of colleagues and create new businesses.'