The Sika Experience

Finding the right analysis strategy

Over 100 students, graduates, PhD-students and Postdocs came to the Natural Science Day near Zurich to get in contact with seven attractive employers of the chemical, pharmaceutical and life science industry. Sika was present with an information stand and offered a workshop in chemical analysis.

Within Sika, chemical analysis is used to support product development but also to investigate damage cases, a work that definitively requires an investigative spirit. The methods are the same that are used at forensic institutes. It’s a world full of abbreviations: SEM, FTIR, HPLC or NMR, just to name some of the methods used in our laboratories.

After an introduction to Sika, its products and to a variety of chemical analysis methods, the participants were asked to solve a typical analysis request. The product under investigation was the Sikadur Combiflex System, a joint sealing system for concrete. The system consists of a waterproofing tape and an adhesive.

The situation presented to the participants was as follows: After a long-term trial with new development samples of the system, it was no longer possible to exactly identify the samples. In one of the samples, the adhesive has detached from the concrete

The task for the students was to identify the samples and to find an explanation why the adhesive has detached from the concrete. The trick was to find an explanation with as little analysis work as possible. For this task, the participants worked in groups and could count on the help of the Sika experts. Finally the different groups presented their analysis strategy to each other and discussed the findings.

At the Sika information desk

Sadly my internship in social media at Sika has now finished. The time went very quickly and I can hardly believe that these three months are already over. Even though three months are only a very short time to work in a company I could gather a lot of knowledge and experiences for my personal and professional future.

From the first day I was assigned with interesting and versatile tasks and responsibilities. Therewith, I got to know this international and multicultural company. I leaned about the challenges of a company with subsidiaries in over 70 countries with the aim to develop an aligned global communication while still leaving the local companies the ability to adapt to local requirements and businesses. I also found out about some of its many interesting projects around the world and the diversity of the products and applications. I found it very interesting to see how many solutions Sika offers – being it the concrete admixture to make concrete fluid to be sprayable onto a tunnel wall, adhesives to mount a glass facade, membranes to waterproof a roof and to enable growing a green roof or many others.

A task I particularly liked during the internship was the work regarding the social, ethical and environmental engagement of Sika. The support of the many different projects shows the dedication of the local Sika employees to the people in their region as well as environmental challenges and it shows that sometimes it takes very little to make a huge difference.

My last day at Sika made me a bit sad. Not only did I leave a very interesting job but also very friendly people. Even though the company counts over 15’000 employees worldwide, it seemed like a small family at the small headquarters in central Switzerland. I surely will keep these months and all the people I met and worked with in very good memory! Thank you for this great time and all the experiences I could make and skills I could develop!

A picture from a boat trip with our team on Lake Lucerne on a very sunny and warm day in Switzerland.

Register now for the Natural Science Day where you get in touch with pharmaceutical and life science companies, explore internship and job opportunities and can build a network with key representatives of various employers. Get your career started! Read more: http://experience.sika.com/sika-experience/experience-trips/#exp-4461

A large part of my marketing internship here at Sika in Switzerland is managing the Social Media channels in which Sika is present, such as Sika Facebook, Sika Experience Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Google+. I check what is going on in these channels, for example if someone has any questions or requests. If this is the case, I redirect them to someone in the local Sika company from the country the person comes from. Since Sika is present worldwide with a huge variety of products and applications tailored to the requirements and conditions of specific countries, we cannot give global recommendations on products or how to apply them. The local Sika subsidiaries and their employees have the know-how of the local market and help out our customers with the available products and how to apply them to achieve the best success in this specific environment and climate.

Since we cannot give any global information about our products, the content on social media about Sika Corporate is also more general and global. It is challenging to find content that is about Sika as a global company and to find information that is interesting for our fans. A little help here are analytical tools that tell you, how many people saw your post and you can compare the success of different topics you have posted:

The blue line indicates the number of people who have been reached with your posts. The purple dots are the different posts which were posted on the Facebook wall. For instance, the recent post about Sika’s E-House was quite a success. It is a nice application by the way, which helps you to find out in an interactive way where Sika products can be used around your home.

What I really like about working in these many social media channels is that I am in contact with people who use our products and who are interested in our activities. Also it gives the opportunity to learn about a lot of fascinating projects and activities Sika takes part in. Since our social media channels are directed to a global network of fans I get in touch with people from different cultures and in various languages such as English, Spanish, Arabic, Vietnamese, Indonesian,… This is very interesting but can sometimes be challenging and reflects the focus of Sika as an international player with local focus.

I am already working for Sika for 1.5 monts, half of my internship in Social Media at Sika Headquarters in Baar, Switzerland.

I have leaned a lot in these few weeks. I got integrated into the team from the first day and received many different tasks and projects to work on. I can work independently and was assigned with various responsibilities. I really appreciate the great trust that my team and Sika as a company has in me and that I have the opportunity to not just work – but participante, give input, learn new software applications, meet new internal and external people and thus develop professionally.

One of the main projects that I am working on is the Sika Experience. This means that I am in contact with Sika employees from all over the world to organize new Experience Trips and internships. Currently we are working out the itinery for the Experience Trip in China and Japan in November 2012. Furthermore, students can currently apply for the Mining Experience in Chile starting September 30, 2012. I am gathering the applications and discuss them with the team in Chile.

And of course there was the Concrete Experience 2012 which took place last week here in Switzerland. I was in touch with the three students (João, Fernando and Nader) before they came here and finally met them on their first day at Sika in Zurich, Switzerland. It is great to meet such motivated and open-minded people and be part of the experience they had here in Switzerland. I also joined them on one of their final activities – the Body Flying, which was a really fun experience. Furthermore, I had the chance to meet the Concrete Team from Switzerland (located in Zurich) and I definitely picked up some interesting information about Concrete and their activities and work – Thanks to Jürg, Oliver & co.

I am looking forward to the second half of my internship and the things to come… I keep you up to date:-)
Melina

Last day in Switzerland and it’s hard to talk about everything, it was Domina El Arte De Pescar quite a lot. This amazing experience I’ll for sure carry my whole life. I would like to say thanks again for the entire SIKA Experience Staff that did an amazing job while I was here. I would like to say thanks also to Nader and João, you were awesome guys. I can say: we had a great time together! I am pretty sure about my personal and professional development during this last week, that is why this really tight schedule worth it.

Friday we could produce the concrete we had been designing during the whole week. Take a look on our final SCC (self Compated Concrete) result:

Closing the schedule, we had two very fun experiences, we went to bodyflying and shooting! I never imagined doing this!!

On Saturday we had a very pleasent trip in Rheinfall and another one among a region of mountains with Jürg and his wife, was a great trip and we could enjoy a little bit of the swiss culture. Jürg, I will be back for the picnic you and your wife promised, Thank you!

well, I hope we keep in touch, goodbye Switzerland!!

Fernando Bueno

Hello, from Zurich this is our fourth day in Sika Concrete Experience, a lot has been done and yet more to come.
I all can say about this experience that it is simply AWSOMEEEEEEEEE !!!, I’ve done things in these four days that I could never have done it in my whole life.
It’s really a LIFETIME EXPERIENCE, it started with an impressive and very well organized schedule, in this schedule nothing was missing, I learned a lot about concrete manufacturing with “my liebe” Oliver Schwoon and tomorrow is the big day where we will produce our own concrete, also there was many jobsites and factories visits and they were all really great, the technology here is very advanced in every thing, so that leads me to talk about the city of Zürich, well it is an awesome city very organized, sophisticated, and very beautiful. Talking about the nightlife, I can say that in each night we had something new to do, every night is an unforgettable night really we had so much fun in every restaurant we’d gone to, and/or in very place we’d visit, this is considered as a brief explanation of what we have done during the past four days, as I say if I would have to write in details what we’ve had in each days it could take so long days to express my feeling in each moment during each day of these great for days. so I think the pictures tells it all

First Day:

Welcoming and introduction to BU Concrete

Great Dinner in Lucern

Second Day:

Sika's waterproof membrane factory in Sarnen

The City of Sarnen

 

Third Day:

Choindez Tunnel Construction Site

Edis Bar, and the description shall be a secret ;)

 

Fourth Day:

Real Gun Shooting at Hagerbach Tunnel

Getting ready for the shotcrete pumping in VSH Sargans

In the end all I have to say is Thank you SIKA for this extraordinary experience you gave it to me, I was really welcomed during these days into Sika’s Family, I can say that even I became part of this great family, with many unforgettable sweet memories

Now I have to go to bed because tomorrow is the big day where we will have a lot of things to learn and of course a lot of fun as usual,

Good Night from the wonderfu city of Zurich

Well, I`ve been in Switzerland since last saturday and I can say: It has been really awesome! On monday we met Betina, Melina and Oliver and we had a great reception! I am impressed with all the organization, the schedule, and the visits.
We are here for 6 days, and I can say: ich habe schon viele spaB gehabt!! Until now, we did a lot of stuff with full day activities. I will try to do a resume and after I talk more specific about the experiences.
On monday we were introduced to the company numbers and structure, and my first impression was very good. After lunch we visited Aliva in Widen, a very tiny and calm city. There, We were guided by Andre, a very nice guy. In the Afternoon we went to Lucern, a gorgeous tourist place. There, We enjoyed a really nice walk in the old town. After that, We had a unforgetable dinner and we enjoyed a great show, take a look at my performace on the stage:

On Tuesday we visited the Structural Waterproofing production with Mr. Andy and Mr. Hansrudolf. They were very sympathic and gave us a great class of engineering! And then, We had lunch with Mr. Hansrudolf, it was very pleasent, especially with this great view:

Then, We have started the concrete mix design with Oliver, who is a very good professor. Explore the concrete technology possibilities with a swiss overview has been really interesting.

On wednesday i could see in practice all the techniques that we have been talking in the workshops. We visited a jobsite in Delemont, Choindez Tunnel, it was incredible to be next to such huge equipments and see, for real, the applications of the different techniques. Mr. Mario and Mr. Erik were also very receptive. There, we visited the 2 fronts of attack in the tunnel and the construction of the Ventilation’s Cave, It was just unbelievable! After that, we could see where and how are the admixtures fabricated in Kirchberg, the whole logistics impressed me quite a lot. By night we went to Eddy`s, it was just awesome!
Well, and today, was a special day. In VSH, we did ourselves the shotcrete (see the picture below, believe me, it’s me), was an amazing experience. There we were guided by Marcus and he was very nice. The VSH lab is huge complex where the companies are able to test their products before it goes to the jobsites. And finally: Shooting! Even though I have never held a gun before in my life, I found it just amazing! A nice surprise!

That was quite a lot! Once again, I am really thankfull for this great time, see you guys!

June just started and I had to realize that already 1/3 of my time here is gone. Even thought my project had some nice results, there’s still so much to do and so many ideas to examine. Therefore I’m very excited about the next few weeks and the results I might get. Maybe a new theory in my subject will result in the end!? Would be great…

Apart from my work I’m also lookin forward to Open-Air season that’s coming and of course (as Alison mentioned) swimming in the Limmat on lunch brakes.

Nice Weekend Everyone

Kevin

Hi everyone,

It’s now coming into my last few months at Sika here in Zürich and I will be sad to leave, but happy that I got to spend such an unforgettable year here. Not only did I get to learn a great deal about Sika and the chemistry here, but got to know some of the most amazing people and cultures as I travelled around Europe. I was also lucky enough to have some success with my project here and even though I am leaving it will be continued further after my departure (hopefully with another new Sika student!). Now we are coming into the summer we have a lot of new master students here…from France, Switzerland, Slovenia…. and we are beginning to really build the student network! The last few weekends we were lucky enough to have summer weather already and spent our time bbq-ing and visiting the Rhine Falls…if the weather keeps up it won’t be long until we go swimming in the lake on our lunchbreak- really! If I didn’t have to go back to Scotland to finish my masters, I might never leave!

Thanks again Sika!

Alison