LANXESS co-hosts career camp for high school students
Eighteen high school students from Shanghai, Hangzhou and Wuxi visited the LANXESS Shanghai office.
Specialty chemicals company LANXESS says it is devoted to local innovation and talent empowerment initiatives to enhance exchanges between academics, researchers, schools and career professionals.
The “LANXESS — PASCH Future Rallye,” which was successfully held last week in partnership with the Beijing Goethe-Institut, offers Chinese high school students aged 16-18 a career camp to preview potential careers.
“Offering students real-world workplace experience and meeting people in those jobs today can support them in setting their sights on potential academic and career paths early, and help them develop goals for their future, personal careers,” said President of LANXESS China Michael Rockel.
LANXESS volunteers provided students with a detailed look into the workings of a multinational company.
Sino-German educational cooperation and attention on the growth and development of young people has been a long-standing effort of LANXESS.
In 2011, LANXESS and the Goethe-Institut China launched the “LANXESS — Study Bridge” scholarship program to support students from Goethe-Institut partner schools who wish to attend universities in Germany.
The initiative expanded and deepened in the following decade and the latest venture is the “LANXESS — PASCH Future Rallye” program.
This is the third consecutive year that LANXESS opened its doors to high school students for workplace experience, and 18 students from Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Wuxi took part in the program and visited the LANXESS Shanghai office on the event day.
This latest venture guides the younger generation in exploring diverse careers, helping them to define their future aspirations through professional training and company visits.
The career camp project included sessions such as professional workplace training, an online corporate planning game titled “Create Your Own Company,” and a “Product Idea Showcase” session, which helped students to develop their professional thinking, creativity, and communication skills.
“This is my first time entering a multinational company’s office and my interactions with LANXESS volunteers have been invaluable,” said one of the students. “I sincerely hope for the chance to join LANXESS again, perhaps as an intern or even an employee, in the future.”
Michael Rockel, president of LANXESS China, welcomes the students.
Rockel, who took up his new position as president of LANXESS China in July after working in China and the Asia Pacific region for more than a decade, said he’s committed to supporting and enhancing local operations and assets to be in line with global initiatives and business plans.
“Establishing and fortifying relationships with our key stakeholders will be paramount and I’d love to serve as a bridge that links the global operations and our local network of customers as well as insights, feedback, and collaboration,” he told Shanghai Daily in an interview.
As the world’s largest chemical market, China accounts for 40 percent of global chemical sales, and that figure is expected to approach 50 percent by 2030.
Rockel acknowledged that market trends moved very fast in China where customers were increasingly open to new ideas, and said he was excited about new emerging industries such as mobility and batteries, which could give rise to higher demand for specialty chemicals.
“New concepts like sustainability and solutions suitable for the green economy have been picking up lately,” he added.
In addition to the vast market size, the local market’s quality standards are also rising steadily.
“From my observation, the requirement for performance-based specialty chemical materials and solutions, the level of environmental responsibility for suppliers and customers, in addition to safety, have been greatly enhanced in recent years,” he said.
LANXESS is also driving a shift to a climate-neutral product portfolio by switching to sustainable raw materials, “green” logistics, and a climate-neutral product portfolio.
To meet the growing market demand, LANXESS has increased its presence in China and enhanced its market position in the entire Asia-Pacific region through continuous investment.
The LANXESS APAC Application Development Center is its latest effort to drive local innovation, which is also the first project to be put into operation in the InnoGreen Shanghai International Chemical New Materials Innovation Center.
