Andrea Valencia Cadena, industrial PhD student in the project between the company GPA Innova and the University of Barcelona, is developing a circular economy solution to reuse polymers in 3D printing. The research focuses on developing a circular economy model for solid electrolytes used in metal polishing technology, which are currently incinerated. The objective is twofold: first, to create a process to clean and reuse these electrolytes multiple times and, second, when they are no longer renewable, to revalue them as raw material for new products, such as flooring or acoustic insulation, thus significantly reducing CO2 emissions.
In this interview, he shares his experience during an international stay in Germany, an experience that has provided him with decisive professional and personal growth, especially in the area of autonomy and decision-making in research.
– Andrea, tell us about your industrial doctoral project.
– I am doing an industrial doctorate at the company GPA Innova with the University of Barcelona. The project is about circular economy. The company uses polymeric particles for polishing different metals and, when the useful life of this material ends, we want to give it a second life. We are currently working to reuse it in 3D printing.
– You recently did an international stay in Germany. What were your motivations?
– I spent the whole of February at the University of Saarland, in Germany. The opportunity arose thanks to my thesis director at the University of Barcelona and my company tutor. They knew that you could do a three-month stay to obtain the International Doctorate mention. It is a very good experience to learn about different ways of working and practice the language; in my case, despite not knowing German, I was able to practice a lot of English.
– How did the company facilitate this stay for you?
– GPA Innova made things a lot easier for me. We reorganized the projects I was working on with other colleagues and Human Resources helped me with everything I needed. We also held follow-up meetings to find out how the project was going and if we needed to redirect the experiments. Sometimes you go to a place with some fixed ideas, but the experiments don't work out and you have to change course. This follow-up, both with the company and with the university, helped me reorient my stay.
– How was your adaptation to the academic and cultural environment?
– The research group at Saarland University was so multicultural that I didn't notice any major changes in the workplace. It did surprise me that there many procedures are done in a more traditional way, with letters instead of electronically. What I noticed most were the schedules, especially the meal times, as they have lunch around twelve. I think that, since it gets dark earlier, they tend to move all schedules forward.
"On a personal level it has been an incredible opportunity and on a professional level too, because being alone, I had to make many decisions."
– How has this experience contributed to your personal and professional growth?
-This experience has given me many positive things. For example, I had never gone anywhere alone. Having to manage everything on my own was very good for me. I live at home with my parents and, while I'm doing my thesis, my family helps me a lot so that I can focus on it; perhaps before I didn't value it as much as I do now. On a professional level it has also been key, because being alone I couldn't call my tutors for any questions. I had to make many decisions myself, and I went to meetings alone, without being able to delegate to anyone.
– Do you have any anecdotes where you had to make an important decision without your tutors?
– Yes. I had some experiments planned, but when I arrived I realized that the equipment we needed was not suitable for that type of sample. At that time I could not contact my thesis supervisors, and if I did nothing, I would lose the day. Since I already knew the equipment they had and knew what my thesis needed, I spoke to the professors there, I proposed an alternative with other samples that I had brought and they thought it was good. We went ahead and I remember that we stayed until nine at night under the microscope and we obtained very good results. On another occasion, I would probably have insisted and even talked to my supervisors, but there I had to decide.
– So, the experience has given you more autonomy.
– Yes, it gave me an autonomy that I didn't know I wanted, and I think that's what I've taken away the most from this month. I'll be back soon for two more months and I'm not as afraid as I used to be when it comes to making a decision.
"Talking to people who don't know what you're doing and showing them your project again gives you a totally different perspective."
– What other challenges have you faced during your research?
– A common challenge during a thesis is that you set out on a line of work and, in the first experiment, everything goes wrong. You have to manage the frustration when you do fifty experiments and don't find any correlation. The experience of the stay helped me learn that you simply have to keep going. If I encounter an obstacle, I will look for another path.
– How has your perception of research and the academic environment changed after this experience?
– It helped me realize that we all face the same problems. Sometimes I thought it only happened to me: that a piece of equipment breaks down and it takes months to repair it or that a material doesn't arrive. But you go somewhere else and you discover that everyone has the same challenges with financing and equipment. You get frustrated, and that's normal, but you realize that we're all the same.
– Have you discovered new opportunities or perspectives that you hadn't considered?
– Yes. When you have been doing research for a long time, you approach everything from your point of view. But when you leave, you have to present your problem to a team that does not know it. They do not take the same things for granted as you do and, therefore, can help you see new problems or new solutions, or even suggest other lines of research. Talking to people who do not know what you are doing gives you a completely different perspective.
– Finally, why would you recommend other industrial doctoral students to do an international stay?
– It's a highly recommended experience. At first, I thought that with the grant money I might not be able to do it, but it hasn't been as expensive as some conferences. When you explain your project to other researchers, new opportunities arise to characterize your samples or to validate your results. Working with more people helps you to rethink everything you're doing. And on a personal level, as I said, it gives you a lot of autonomy and helps you grow.
