I first got involved in the lubricants industry when I was a student at Penn State and working with Dr. Elmer Klaus, my thesis advisor. A chemical engineering professor for 35 years, he focused on the study of tribology and helped develop Penn States petroleum refining laboratory. It was Dr. Klaus who convinced me to get into the lubricants industry.

Following his advice, I entered the lube industry and moved around a little bit before ending up at Ashland [Valvolines parent company]. Each move has diversified my knowledge of industry in general and role of lubricants in different areas.

What I would advise a young person considering a career in lubes is to think about what they would like to

do and find a career that fits it. I like to think that the products we make enable other technological advances. For a long time we have focused on improving lubrication to reduce energy use and to reduce emissions.

I think that new transmission designs and new energy technologies are good areas that offer the greatest opportunities for the future. I would look for a diversified company that will allow someone to learn about more than just lubricants. For success, a good start is for a young person to have a good technical knowledge. Beyond that, it helps to get along with people and to think about the future and how to prepare for it.

Every career choice has its challenges. People need to decide which challenges they prefer. High-growth fields tend to be high risk, high reward and high intensity. Slow-growth fields are less so – until a tipping point is reached. Management of a business at the end of the growth cycle can be the most challenging of all, because the solution to long-range profitability may require radical change.

Anwer Hussain

Based in Inver Grove Heights, Minn., Hussain is with CHS Inc., a diversified grain, food and energy company. In October, he was elected president of the Independent Lubricant Manufacturers Association:

After completing my graduate degree from the University of Wisconsin, I accepted a position as a quality control chemist in Cenexs lubricants business unit. In 1998, Cenex merged with Harvest States to form Cenex Harvest States Cooperatives, and later adopted CHS Inc. as the company name. Shortly after the merger, Cenex Harvest formed Country Energy LLC with Farmland Industries, where I led the lubricants operations for both companies. In 2001, CHS eventually purchased all of the Farmland lubricants business and I was given the responsibility of senior vice president of the lubricants business unit, my current position.

Through the many opportunities that came during the course of my career, I gained a lot of experience both in the area of people management as well as a better understanding of our customers business needs, technical issues and other matters in both the fuels and lubricants disciplines.

My advice to a young person entering the lubricants field today would be to not hesitate a minute before accepting a position in the industry. Although the lubricants market is at a state of maturity in the U.S., globally the picture looks different, with growth projected over the next decade.

Within the lubricant industry, there will be opportunities in many areas including supply chain management, e-commerce, specialty niche products including bio-lubricants, fuel economy, used oil collection, long-lasting lubricants and customer service.

Young employees must have enterprise-wide thinking. They must look beyond their day-to-day jobs and always keep an eye on the future and how they can help create more value for their products and services. People skills would also be very important. Strategic thinking, innovation, execution and accountability are also all very important.

Employees and the companies must look at their businesses beyond the year-to-year basis and have a five- to 10-year outlook. Those that come up with innovative ways of serving their customer and connect with their emotional needs will succeed.

John Rosenbaum

Joined Chevron Corp. in 1981, and now is staff scientist for base oil product technology, in Richmond, Calif.:

Pretty much by accident is how I got into the lubricants industry. In fact, I dont think I know anyone who studied lubrication in college. My graduate education was in applied surface chemistry, so I had a few of the basics. My boss, Brent Lok, and I are both engineers, and we were both hired by Chevron at about the same time to work in synthetic fuels; then when that dried up, we both started working in refinery processing and catalysis, then base oil hydroprocessing and then base oil product development. One of the real advantages of working for a large company is that there are frequently many opportunities to move around.

Even though this is a mature industry, there is still a lot of action. Lubricants are key components for automotive, and there are a lot of developments happening on that front such as fill-for-life or fill-for-along- time, fuel economy, renewable sources of energy and lubricants. Base oils and additives are constantly improving to keep up with marketplace demands. Next-generation base oils is a hot area – anytime you are working on investments costing hundreds of millions of dollars, or billions of dollars in the case of gas-to-liquids, it is inherently exciting.

It seems like job security is pretty good in our industry – at least for people who have acquired a reasonable skill level and who are not averse to relocating. It would be interesting to see real data, but I would guess the majority of people in the lubricants industry have worked for more than one company within the industry.

Skills that young people need to position themselves well in our industry are quite varied. Sure, typical business skills (like marketing, negotiating, procurement and sales) are important and basic. Also very important to our business is logistics; just ask anyone who needed raw materials or needed to deliver products in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina or Rita. I tend to favor engineering for technical skills; chemical engineering provides especially good fundamentals for base oil and additive processing, blending and formulating. Also, many good formulators are chemists. Mechanical engineers are frequently well-equipped to understand the lubrication requirements of machinery, so most of the people in our industry designing and running engine tests are mechanical engineers. And many people in our industry are very successful without a college education, as many of the skills we require are obtained on the job.

Jeffrey Hoch

President of FL Viscosity Oil Co., Willowbrook, Ill., a 100-year-old lubricant manufacturer that he has headed since 1985 despite eight ownership changes. Most recently, on Nov. 30, it was bought by Petronas, Malaysias national oil company:

After finishing college in the spring of 1978, I decided to go into my familys business, Viscosity Oil. My first job was as inventory control supervisor. I then moved on to operations manager, a key post from which I learned the fundamentals of the business.

In 1985, my parents sold Viscosity Oil to industrial conglomerate Tenneco. One of Tennecos operating companies was the farm and construction equipment maker J.I. Case. Tenneco acquired our largest customer, the agriculture division of International Harvester, and merged it with their Case division forming Case IH. That acquisition and merger is what prompted Tenneco to buy Viscosity, as we had the rights to key IH formulas and strong relationships with the IH dealers. The only condition of the deal was that a Hoch had to stay on with the company. My father retired, and I stayed on with the business.

I believe that there will be ample opportunity for a young person who wants to enter the lubricant industry in the future. There will be significant change in the next five to 15 years. If you look around the industry most of the individuals are old. In fact, the average age of the employees at my company is 55. So a lot of the industry is in the throes of change. There will be room for young people to come in with fresh new ideas.

Also, in the future the lubricants industry will be more customer-driven. There will be more emphasis on valuing the customers needs. There will be this shift towards developing products and product applications that suit the needs of individual manufacturers and endusers rather than industry in general.

So a young newcomer with a background in technology and engineering has real opportunity to thrive in the lube industry. Those companies and leaders that pursue change – and dont wait for change to happen to them – will ultimately succeed.

James Mike Burnett Jr.

Mike Burnett began his career with Ergon almost 28 years ago with what he thought would be a temporary job as a welders helper. Today, he is vice president of petroleum specialties marketing and sales, in Jackson, Miss.:

Between 1976 and 1979, I was an anthropologist/archeologist at Mississippi State University. As part of my job, I performed archeological impact assessments – assessing sites endangered by construction – in north Mississippi, north Alabama and Tennessee. In 1980, I put my career in archeology on hold and accepted a position at Ergon, intending all the while to return to my life as an anthropologist. However, with the timing and excitement of new opportunities, I decided to remain with Ergon for a period. I tell people that I planned on leaving Ergon for the first eight years. But I am still here and enjoying every minute.

For a young newcomer, the lubricants field is a very dynamic field. Its the diversity that makes it exciting. My viewpoint, of course, is from the refinery side, and we are involved in several applications that stem from both the base oil industry and the process oil industries. The next five to 10 years will show high growth in international markets especially India, China and Eastern Europe, as well as the electrical and tire industries. Another exciting area will be the bio-based opportunities that will be developed in the next several years.

I believe that a young person entering the lube industry should have the ability to speak a language other than English. Language skills and diversity in background are certainly key advantages. I am also a proponent of a balanced, well-rounded undergraduate degree. Students should have a background in business, economics, chemistry and statistics. But its not enough to simply study these areas. There has to be a real understanding that could be later applied in the workplace.

Young people, new to the lubricant industry, should know that its anything but a boring industry. It holds a lot of potential and opportunity. As the challenges of the future continue to escalate, we need people who are equipped to grow with those challenges. They need to be able to apply tomorrows science and technology to meet the oncoming needs. That means we need to look beyond todays scenarios.

James Mike Burnett Jr.

Mike Burnett began his career with Ergon almost 28 years ago with what he thought would be a temporary job as a welders helper. Today, he is vice president of petroleum specialties marketing and sales, in Jackson, Miss.:

Between 1976 and 1979, I was an anthropologist/archeologist at Mississippi State University. As part of my job, I performed archeological impact assessments – assessing sites endangered by construction – in north Mississippi, north Alabama and Tennessee. In 1980, I put my career in archeology on hold and accepted a position at Ergon, intending all the while to return to my life as an anthropologist. However, with the timing and excitement of new opportunities, I decided to remain with Ergon for a period. I tell people that I planned on leaving Ergon for the first eight years. But I am still here and enjoying every minute.

For a young newcomer, the lubricants field is a very dynamic field. Its the diversity that makes it exciting. My viewpoint, of course, is from the refinery side, and we are involved in several applications that stem from both the base oil industry and the process oil industries. The next five to 10 years will show high growth in international markets especially India, China and Eastern Europe, as well as the electrical and tire industries. Another exciting area will be the bio-based opportunities that will be developed in the next several years.

I believe that a young person entering the lube industry should have the ability to speak a language other than English. Language skills and diversity in background are certainly key advantages. I am also a proponent of a balanced, well-rounded undergraduate degree. Students should have a background in business, economics, chemistry and statistics. But its not enough to simply study these areas. There has to be a real understanding that could be later applied in the workplace.

Young people, new to the lubricant industry, should know that its anything but a boring industry. It holds a lot of potential and opportunity. As the challenges of the future continue to escalate, we need people who are equipped to grow with those challenges. They need to be able to apply tomorrows science and technology to meet the oncoming needs. That means we need to look beyond todays scenarios.

Sara Lefcourt

Based in Linden, N.J., Sara Lefcourt is global crankcase business manager at Infineum. She didnt intentionally set out to get involved in lubricants – what she wanted at that time in her career was solid sales experience:

It happened that the position of regional sales manager at Exxon (premerger days) opened up. It was a great job in which to get grounded in the lubricant business. Since entering the additives industry, I have had progressively

bigger jobs in procurement, sales and marketing. As crankcase business manager, I am responsible for long-term profitability of the business, including setting and execution of strategy, understanding and interpreting future trends, technology portfolio decision making and investment planning.

My advice for a young person entering the lubricant industry is that the particular product or market is not as important as the skills you can develop, the quality of the work environment and the people with whom you work. The lubricants market is fascinating and interesting, and offers great opportunities to develop marketing, relationship building and commercial skills.

I think one of the lube industrys bright spots is the opportunity to deliver new ways of doing things. For example, the growing public awareness of the environment will drive change in our industry. Yet, a pitfall that we must guard against is limiting the potential for everyone to contribute in an organization. Cultural norms differ, and if you arent careful, you may find that you are not getting the richest diversity of thought because your systems or people are discouraging it unintentionally.

What I look for is a high level of motivation and energy as well as an ability to communicate, network and establish relationships. Those who can think strategically and see the big picture are at an advantage. For success in business, I encourage candidates to have some direct sales experience.

There are excellent opportunities for growth and advancement in lubricants and additives, such as international experience that is both great for the resume and a great potential growth experience. I think the future is likely not about staying in a single industry but rather taking the experiences and knowledge from one industry and translating that into success in another field. I believe that we will see more people moving both into and out of lubricants and additives, so we need to view our industry as part of a bigger picture.

Ken Hope

Earned his doctorate in physical chemistry and went to work at Chevron Chemical. Its now part of the Chevron Phillips Chemical joint venture in Kingwood, Texas, where he is senior program leader for polyalphaolefins in Research & Technology:

At a recent STLE meeting, I had a discussion with a group of people, and it turned out that nobody there had started off thinking they were heading to a career in the lubricants industry. Myself, I was educated as a physical chemist and had done my Ph.D. work in a group that studied the biophysics of vision. That gave me the tools and skills to study different systems at the molecular level. I began working at Chevron Chemical, which at the time was looking to understand what factors affect the molecular branching of polyethylenes. I went on to investigate the chemical structure of a PAO catalyst and its products, and was able to make improvements to the process. Since then, the goal has been to design improvements and apply them. Fortunately, PAO lends itself to lots of industrial products and transportation areas, so it has been very interesting.

In the past, the larger oil companies tended to mean more stability for a career, but a young person should focus on whatever interests them. Hopefully its lubrication, and its something they found out about early in their college careers so they can get the key training they need in tribology and lubrication. This is a huge industry, and almost nobody starts out thinking, Im going to be a tribologist or Im going to be a lubrication engineer. Yet a few colleges such as Penn State and Imperial College in the U.K. at last are offering training in tribology and lubrication.

We have a very mobile society, and to me, mobility means lubrication. I think the need to be cost-conscious and energy-saving will be around for a long while, so those are bright spots, good reasons to get into lubrication. Theres lots of opportunity also in the manufacturing area, for the person who can show how to better use lubes in industry. With PAOs in particular, the area of bio-based and biodegradable products such as hydraulic fluids and other lubricants is a growing area. Its a good opportunity and also good for the environment.

Eugene White

Holding a masters degree in environmental science and Ph.D. In environmental health, White is EHS manager at Milacron Inc. in Cincinnati:

If you talk to people about how they got into our industry, I suspect that very few will say I always wanted to be in the metalworking fluids business. After I completed my graduate studies in 1993 at the University of Cincinnatis College of Medicine, I joined NIOSH as a research scientist. One of my projects dealt with investigating the microbiology of metalworking fluids. Periodic visits to Milacron to obtain fluid samples for research purposes culminated in my going to work there in 2001, because my predecessor, Dr. Bill Lucke, retired.

As a volunteer associate professor at the University of Cincinnati, Im aware that students are more cognizant about machining technologies and metalworking fluids than students of previous generations. Although I am not a company recruiter, I have brought summer interns into Milacron over the years to get a real-world perspective of what we do. For instance, interns observe the careful planning that goes into product development and the various technical aspects of R&D activities.

In order to succeed in this business you need a good technical background and to possess good people skills – be able to work with individuals on all levels – from the executive suites to the shop floor. The ability to communicate effectively is essential, speaking and writing. This includes actively listening to people and seeking to understand their viewpoints. Another attribute is that in todays global business environment you need to be open to diversity and be sensitive to all people and cultures. In the past, our businesses may have been mostly about the U.S. and European markets, but now our operations and customers are in both developed and developing countries.

The lubricants industry is viable and career opportunities abound in all sectors, and we want to attract the brightest and the best. Today, everyone is talking about greener products, and young people coming into this industry want to develop more of these kinds of lubricants in the future. Im encouraged when I see suppliers, manufacturers and their customers working together towards this goal.

Pete Pendergast

Although he has worked for Dow Chemical Co. for 18 years, this Midland, Mich.-based executive says hes a relative newcomer to the lubricants industry:

My first exposure to lubricants came during a four-year period with Dows industrial chemical business, in which I sold amines to metalworking fluid companies. From that point on, I completed my MBA at Depaul University in Chicago and gained experience while working in the companys chlor-alkali, building solutions, epoxy resin and specialty chemicals businesses. Three years ago, I became global marketing manager of our Ucon polyalkylene glycol business, the position that brought me into the industry.

For a young person considering a career in lubricants, the high value and high performance of synthetic lubricants offer an exciting opportunity in a market where constant innovation and evolution is occurring. There are many great growth opportunities with companies who supply synthetic lubricant base stocks and do fundamental research to bring biobased lubricants to the market that will perform as good – or better – than traditional mineral oils. With the rising cost and the poor environmental profile of fossil fuels, there will be an increased demand for eco-friendly synthetic lubricants in the future.

Eco-friendly hydraulic fluids are showing great promise in marine related and mining applications. High-performance gear lubricants are assisting in wind energy as are advanced lubes in the automotive industry. As more people in developing nations start driving cars and consume goods requiring lubricants, there will be significant global growth opportunities for advanced lubricant formulations.

A young person entering the workforce should look towards the lubricants field and realize the outstanding potential for growth. To contribute to its development, they should possess an open mind and innovative approach to solving problems. The ability to think out of the box and look for alternative ways to add value for improved lubricant technology is critical. In fact, industry newcomers of the future will have to think about how their companys products add value and how to articulate that value to users in terms other than just the price-per-gallon of the product.

Dewey Szemenyei

After starting as a research chemist at Unocal, Szemenyei has worked for Pennzoil (19 years), Cognis (two years), and since 2003 at Afton Chemical in Richmond, Va., where he is marketing manager, PCMO, for North America:

When I was looking for my first job, it was the time of the first oil embargo, and there were very few jobs to be had. Just three opportunities popped up, and I took the first one that didnt require me to relocate. So even before our actual diplomas were given out, I went to work in the lubricants area as a research chemist, developing industrial oil products for what then was Union Oil Company in Brea, California. With my degree in chemistry, I wanted to work in the technical area for a large industrial company, and to do something that would be good for the environment – and this fit the bill. I took every opportunity that came along to learn and do something different within a company.

Where should a young person today look for a career in lubes? It depends on your goals. If you want to come into an industry with a great potential for fast growth, forget it; thats not lubes. This is a very large and mature industry though, and that means there are many things a person can do. Were made up of relatively large companies now, and theres a lot of opportunity to make a difference, in the technical area, in manufacturing, in product development. I would encourage people with that mind-bent to get in, but not those who are looking for quick results. If you want to totally change an industry around, this probably isnt it – were too mature.

While companies in rapidly growing industries must embrace change quickly to adapt to the latest trends and technologies, more mature industries, such as lubricants, are more resistant to change. In actuality, our industry needs change, but is somewhat more immune from the short-term penalties that result from resisting change. There is certainly a place, and a need in our industry, for people with level heads, who can see and appreciate issues from many viewpoints, including viewpoints of customers and OEMs. There are also opportunities for people who think differently, who may have a fresh take on how to assess lubricant needs and performance. You can also help improve the environment by contributing to advances in lubricant-related fuel economy and cleaner-burning engines.