Closer to the cosmos through glass ceramics: Interview with alumna Dr. Janina Krieg

Astronaut instead of Santa Claus: At Schott, employees who work in connection with space travel received their Christmas present in a special way - including Dr. Janina Krieg. © private
Astronaut instead of Santa Claus: At Schott, employees who work in connection with space travel received their Christmas present in a special way – including Dr. Janina Krieg. © private

Traveling and discovering the world, two days are never the same for Janina Krieg. With all the variety, however, one thing always remains the same – her enthusiasm for space and science. Janina realized what she wanted to do during her doctorate at GSI/FAIR.  Now she is a product manager at Schott. In this interview, Janina tells us more about her work and her experiences.

The interview was conducted by Lilly Sztatecsny and Felix Leitz, who are studying “Science – Media – Communication” at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). As part of the course “Media and Public Relations”, in which KIT and GSI/FAIR cooperate, students conducted interviews with young researchers at GSI/FAIR.

Janina, how do you prepare for your workday?

My workday is different every day. Besides commuting between the office and home office, I travel a lot. There is actually no morning routine. I sleep as long as possible, have a quick coffee and then I’m off.

What exactly do you do as a product manager at Schott?

If you Google product management, you don’t get very far. You don’t really find out what product managers do. Even internally at Schott, there are many different variations and focuses in this regard. In a nutshell, product managers are responsible for a product. To do this, we gather information about the current market situation, projects and project ideas, the resources needed for them, and the prevailing competitive conditions. We establish contact with customers at conferences or through sales. In the end, we bundle all the requests and then work as translators to production. In principle, everything that has to do with this product comes together in our company. I always have to convince all the interfaces and act as a coordinating force.

Do you have an office or do you work digitally?

With the pandemic, our company has set itself up in a modern way. We have an office that is there for meetings. You don’t have fixed desks anymore. I’ve set up a home office and I can also unpack my laptop when I’m in a hotel, at a client, at a conference, or on the train. I prefer to have two screens and my laptop. It’s easier then.

What are your current projects?

For my product, a glass ceramic called ZERODUR®, I am traveling in Europe and North America. Right now, my main job is to go to every conference and exhibition where you can make contacts. I was recently in Bremen at the Space Tech Expo, in Dubrovnik in October at a conference on space optics, and in Montreal in July. In the last six months it has been important to meet the whole community again. These trips are now followed by internal desk work and coordination in the factory. In general, I work very long-term on science projects that will still take a few years to be launched by ESA or NASA.

You are responsible for ZERODUR®, what is that?

ZERODUR® is a glass ceramic. A glass ceramic is a glass matrix containing crystals. These crystals have the property of contracting when the temperature increases, while the glass matrix around them expands. It can be determined that the crystals contract as much as the glass matrix expands. Thus, microscopically a lot happens, macroscopically the material does nothing. You know something similar from another Schott product: CERAN® from the cooktop.

What is so special about ZERODUR® and where is it used?

ZERODUR® neither expands nor contracts with temperature differences. That doesn’t sound exciting at first, but it’s very important for high-precision applications.

Think of a telescope, such as the Extremely Large Telescope in Chile. There, there are temperature differences between day and night of up to 20 degrees Celsius. The material for the optics must be able to withstand these fluctuations and not expand or contract. Otherwise, you wouldn’t get a sharp image. One of these temperature-stable materials is ZERODUR®. This is used as a mirror substrate in telescopes. In addition to its use in large telescopes, it is also used in aerospace applications. It is also found in mechanical engineering as a length scale and in lithography.

Are there any experiences from your time at GSI that help you in your current job?

GSI is super international. I learned a lot about other cultures and other ways of working through my work group. Also, I’ve had a lot of experiments abroad at GSI. I went to Paris, Toulouse or Dresden, among other places, and got to work with international groups there. That was definitely a good foundation for my travel activities. I was able to practice communicating well with others. Especially with clients or at conferences, there are completely different cultural groups with whom you can get into conversation faster and better if you have already done something in this direction.

The most important thing is that during my PhD I found out what I like to do and what I want to do in the future. I always thought I wanted to be a researcher and save the world. But then I realized that I would rather support other researchers in this task. Instead of spending years studying a topic in great detail, I enjoyed planning the experiments, finding and inspiring people, and ultimately conducting the experiment. This realization also helped me find my current job.

What was your most exciting travel experience?

The coolest trip I had was in the spring. I was standing in the JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) control room and they were communicating with Voyager, a spacecraft.

You wanted to be an astronaut, right?

Yes, I’ve already applied twice. Every time there was an opportunity, I thought I’d give it a try. I wanted to be an astronaut to advance science and communicate about science. If I had the chance, I would take it because of that. Otherwise, I try to pursue these goals through my work.

What are your future aspirations?

I always want to learn new things. In the last two years, I’ve been studying on the side and finishing an MBA (Master of Business Administration). In the future, I see myself in an interface position, like the one I have now as a product manager. Thematically, I could imagine something in the direction of sustainability. That also has something to do with space. I can also well imagine taking on management responsibility in the future.

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