We proudly put one of our employees in the spotlight. Ines Colle, with Kemin since 2018, works as Sr. R&D Associate in Herentals. A PhD in Bioscience Engineering, she daily contributes to the development and improvement of our products. We sat down with her to talk about her work at Kemin Food Technologies.
R&D Associate, what does that mean exactly?
As part of the Research and Development team, I develop and formulate new innovative products. I also look at new applications to meet new market trends and the demands of our customers. My goal is to optimise components and existing ingredients while taking into account production, cost, safety, … This means I must spend many hours in our lab performing research on molecules and raw materials to see how they react in different ways and environments.
In other words, you are some kind of an inventor.
Maybe a little bit, but I wouldn’t call myself that. What I do is trying to find new synergies and look for new unexplored solutions. And when I do, I’m really satisfied.
What does a standard day look like?
(laughs) Not two days are the same. The only thing that is standard, maybe is that every morning starts with a cup of coffee. I have a very divergent and challenging job. Sometimes I will be in the lab testing, measuring, making samples, … I also spend a lot of time on data analysis and another important task is writing reports. And because they must be thorough, it can be time-consuming. To stay up to date, I read lots of publications and I regularly attend industry-related conferences. Also, I meet with partners from academic research groups. Literally every day brings something new.
