Wacker employees shine with 'Presidential Spotlight' award

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Wacker Chemie A.G. has recognized five employees with the Presidential Spotlight Value Award for embodying the five values of the Munich-based company.

The awards were issued Feb. 28 to Richard King, Laura Polchinski, Sebastian Rommel, Yan Shao and SeungBeom Yun.

"This team truly exemplifies what it means to collaborate globally and serve the customer," said Priya Tabaddor, business director, Industrial Solutions Americas.

According to Tabaddor, the 2023 honorees are the result of Wacker being approached in 2021 by a customer seeking an alternative silicone sealant material for fuel cell applications.

In response, Wacker introduced Semicosil 988/1K, which boasts adhesion performance, compression set properties and proper qualities "for maintaining seal dimensions and improving knit joints."

"When the customer started purchasing initial volumes out of Europe, we realized we would not have the capacity to support their growth needs," Tabaddor said. "The team doubled down to accelerate the technology transfer and requalification at an alternative site, improving the product quality along the way. As a result of our support, the customer also discovered additional benefits in reduced equipment wear and 50-percent increased throughput."

Wacker's values include primacy for products and solutions for customers; embodying company attributes and increasing value for Wacker; employees; innovations; and sustainability.

The awards began in February 2017 to renew awareness of Wacker's corporate vision statement: "We develop intelligent solutions for sustainable growth."