Contributor: Gemma Pettie, Marketing Content Executive, Quin Global UK
If I were to say the one subject at school I was mostly likely to cause mayhem in I would choose chemistry. This could be down to the highly flammable liquids or just me been a fire hazard wherever I go. Whichever one it was, when I went to spend the day with Eric in research and development (R&D) I was expecting either a trip to A&E or setting something on fire! However, you will be pleased to know none of this actually happened and I spent a very informative day in R&D.
My first hour was spent in the kitchen pouring hot water into large plastic buckets and yes I managed to avoid flooding the kitchen floor thankfully! The reason behind this was we needed to get the adhesive up to temperature so the adhesive, gas and solvent all mixed together correctly. To get it up to temperature we used the thermos laser which looks and sounds very futuristic and I felt like I should be awarded a starring role in StarWars for my efforts. We then headed to production to add the formulation of formulas used in the testing to the computer so Eric could keep track of his testing. Once it was ready we then shipped it across to the warehouse where it would be sent to one of our distributors for testing. What I never realised in R&D is just how much it is open to experimentation and giving things a try to see if they work or not, very much like baking a new cake. Throw in a couple of ingredients and hope to goodness it tastes and bakes correctly! The main learning curve for me in this process was just how difference in temperature can have an effect on the adhesives.
The afternoon was spent testing products, which was really interesting as I never understood just how cold the adhesives are when they first come out of the aerosols. We were testing four products against each other to see how effective they are and each one had to be tried three times. We did this by spraying the adhesives onto the material they use for making boats out of. I couldn’t quite believe it at first that boats were actually made from such flimsy material but then found out there they are glued together many times over and resin added to make it into the boats we see today. This is one of the reasons why our adhesives must work with the resin or you would have a very sticky mess on your hands!
I am digressing slightly, however, as you can see I did learn a lot! Back to the testing! We had to take the temperature of the air so we could then time how long each adhesive took to get back to that temperature. I was in charge of the stop watch a very important role to play once I’d actually figured out how to work it! Then each time the different adhesives reached air temperature I noted the time down and we did these three times to get the average time. Once we had completed these my time in R&D was up and I was left with the feeling of reading a story but not been allowed to finish the final chapter!
I really enjoyed the time I spent with Eric as it gave me a real insight and perspective into the work he does and how it impacts on the rest of the business. You will all be pleased to hear I came away managing not to set anything alight or a trip to A&E, which to my way of thinking was a very successful ending!
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