Working at Kiwa: Nadiya Trushnikova

Nadiya Trushnikova is part of the Kiwa Primara team in Kaufbeuren, Germany. She is Laboratory Manager of the Battery and Environmental Testing team. At the age of 24, she is one of the youngest managers within Kiwa Germany. Here Nadiya tells about her career and work at Kiwa.

Start at Kiwa

‘During my study Environmental Engineering at the South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences (XAMK), I found a Bachelor Work position at the Testing and Certification laboratory of Primara Test- und Zertifizier-GmbH in the field of environmental engineering. After obtaining my Bachelor degree in 2018, I started working here as project engineer. During this year, Primara was acquired by the Kiwa group, which enabled our department to develop rapidly and offer new testing services to our customers.'

Full speed from engineer to laboratory manager

As the organization developed rapidly, Nadiya was able to develop her role as well. She soon made the move into a managerial role, which suits her very well. She tells: ‘We have been receiving a couple of battery projects over the past few years and my department manager brought up the idea to receive accreditation for testing and certification in that area. Which was a great proposal, as the battery market is strongly growing. And our team grew too. Since June 2020, I am not only project engineer, but also laboratory manager with a team of 7 people, including me, specialized in battery testing.’

Satisfying job

‘The reason I find our area of expertise so interesting, is because today batteries are included in various products. Each person is being in contact with at least 3-6 batteries during each day: smart watch, phone, laptop, earphones, e-bike, car etc. Also, batteries are related to dangerous goods. It feels good that we help to make sure only safe products are entering the market.’

Nadiya is very satisfied with her job. This is also because her area of expertise is constantly evolving, she tells: ‘My daily work is really satisfying. The products we test are constantly evolving, which means you must continuously develop yourself; you need to be aware of changes and innovations to be able to do your job well. We really work together as a team and seek solutions together to problems we encounter. It's great to receive positive feedback from customers who, because of our contribution, can confidently bring their product to the market. In this way, we also contribute to a safer world!’.

Working at Kiwa

“Working at Kiwa” gives Nadiya the feeling of dynamics, constant development and growth. She says: ‘Both our laboratory in Kaufbeuren and the whole Kiwa group are quite international, which gives you the possibility to contact people with different views on the world and different opinions. We have a good cooperation with our colleagues from among others Kiwa UK, Kiwa Netherlands, Kiwa Turkey and Kiwa Italy. In addition, I find the mixture of controlled and independent work in the company well-balanced, as it enhances free thinking, productive work and problem-solving. Moreover, Kiwa gives the possibility of further education, such as attending courses, trainings and work-related conferences. At Kiwa you can develop continuously!’