Lucy Oldfield, Wacker Chemical Corp. | Women Breaking the Mold 2023

Lucy Oldfield has been a part of developing many new and innovative products for Wacker Chemical Corp. in various market segments, but feels her greatest contributions have been teaching new direct reports about silicone and its uses and applications, while teaching how to do her job.

"My goal is to create an heir and a spare," Oldfield said. "Knowledge is power, share it."

Sharing that knowledge and demonstrating leadership through mentorship strengthens the Wacker team and sets the company up for success as well.

"The supportive team network we have forged in the Industrial Solutions group is energizing," Oldfield said. "We are often tasked with developing silicones for applications where silicone has never been before. When these challenges are presented at our weekly meetings, there are a lot of very smart individuals with many years of silicone experience who contribute ideas and potential concerns, which we do our best to overcome and find an innovative solution for our customers."

Oldfield started as a Manpower employee for a six-month position in the shipping and receiving department. She became a technician in 1994 and then a chemist and then tech service manager. She works with silicones in various markets revolving around RTV-1 and RTV-2 materials for applications in automotive, industrial, wound care and mold making.

In addition, for more than 25 years Oldfield has served as the co-captain of Wacker Chemical Corp.'s Emergency Response Team—a perfect fit for her.

"Even as a teen, I took water safety, CPR, boater safety, babysitting first aid, etc," Oldfield said. "I also wanted to be a veterinarian and grew up on a small farm with seven siblings, so things like blood, cuts or broken bones did not really bother me.

"I was asked to be on the Emergency Response Team, which is a highly trained fire brigade also trained in hazardous clean-up, confined space rescue and medical first (response). I have really enjoyed it. I found I keep a cool head when events occur. I prefer to be helpful, and I also enjoy the leadership position, which was offered to me after about six years on the team."

When it comes to making a difference in the world around her, Oldfield does that, too. She has worked on Operation Namaste, overseen by Jeff Erenstone. The initiative works in countries such as Columbia and Nepal, where health care is minimal, often with people who have lost a leg, possibly from birth, an accident or other causes.

Operation Namaste provides a 3D-printed mold that allows a high-quality silicone prosthetic liner to be made economically for those amputees, which will then allow them to be able to wear a prosthetic and get a job or keep a job and become a contributing member of the community.

"I believe all of us are given talents, things we do pretty well, naturally. I think it is important to feed those talents and to share those talents," Oldfield said.

Oldfield's passion for nature also gave her the chance to work on projects that are environmentally focused, including the Bluebird Monitoring team as well as the other habitat groups such as Mitchells Satyr Butterfly Habitat and Monarch Pollinator Gardens, as well as the Trail Team.

"I also like to help the community in various areas like the Raisin River Clean up, where we have removed log jams, helping in Habitat for Humanity to help build homes for needy families (I am a DIY'er) and we also promote tips to bring bluebirds into your own back yard."

Last year, Wacker's Ann Arbor, Mich., facility initiated a new program called Chem2Do, where the company contacts local high schools and works with the chemistry teachers to train them in a couple of experiments involving Wacker products in applications that have real-world applications. Last year, one dynamic chemistry teacher in the Saline school district was trained, and this coming school year, the company plans to expand the training to more teachers and districts.

"I do the training for one of these experiments and also attend the training for the initial run in their classroom to offer additional information and assistance as needed to run the experiment with the students," Oldfield said. "Wacker provided the training session, a training video, and the chemicals and tools needed to successfully run this experiment in the classroom."

As Oldfield looks to the future, she looks to continue growing in her opportunities to teach and learn.

"As I am close to 30 years working at Wacker," Oldfield said, "I hope to continue to be an integral part of a very high-functioning team of technical service managers, chemists and technicians who share knowledge, best practices and offer a support network to all."

Years with company: Close to 30 years
Years in rubber industry: Started with Wacker, in silicones in 1994

As a technical service manager, I work with production, customers and colleagues to troubleshoot and create solutions. This work challenges me due to the nature of the work. I may have an emergency at a customer's location where I need to be adaptive and troubleshoot to find them a solution. I may be called to assist with an issue that has cropped up within production or may need to collaborate with global colleagues to help solve an issue or anticipate overcoming an obstacle. So each day I may have a general idea what I might be working on, but that might fly out the window due to other more pressing matters that need my attention and efforts.

Innovation is a large part of our annual MBO (management by objectives) goals, established each spring for each technical employee. This is why we have weekly meetings where project status is shared and issues are presented to the team to help solve. It gets all of us thinking of possible solutions and ways to get to the finish line quicker.

I think the important aspects of good leadership are 1) Being supportive. 2) Operating with a strong results orientation: We have the same goals. 3) Seeking different perspectives. 4) Problem solving effectively. I try to always have a positive attitude. I like to have fun, and we are all sitting together in an open, collaborative area, so when anyone approaches me with a comment or question, I try to greet them with: "Hello, how can I help you?" that sets a good tone.

Celebrate team successes and "Circle the Wagons" when emergencies crop up (pull the team to focus on the problem to find a resolution quickly.)

This was a starting position that fit my skill level and at a company I had heard positive things about.

For credibility: Be a woman of real substance; always be honest and upfront, and if and when you have made an error, apologize—admit to it and learn from it.

For ideas: Put a lot of thought and planning into your idea, troubleshoot it fully ahead of time, and present it confidently. If your idea does not get chosen, you still have a voice as a team player, and sometimes, if you have the bandwidth, run with your idea.

I believe my tenure here at Wacker speaks volumes. I have been in the technician role, the chemist role, the QA and shipping/receiving role. I state my ideas clearly and concisely, and sometimes, you have to go it alone and see how your idea results. I feel it is best to discuss ideas as a group and with a common goal in mind, decide on a path moving forward to the goal. Maybe someone came up with a better idea, lets run with it!

Very early in my career as a TSM, I was hesitant to reach out when a customer was angry and having trouble with the material or the application was not working successfully. I did not want to deal with an upset/irate customer and, in turn, an unhappy Wacker sales rep. My colleague explained that it is important to reach out to the customer (the sooner the better) in order to dig into what was going on and troubleshoot. Allowing the customer to tell you what is going on and the discovery questions involved in finding the root cause and how we can correct it or prevent it is very important for both sides of the transaction. This allows you to find a solution or a substitution much more quickly.