When there's real chemistry

The first thing Stephanie saw one day in November were several enormous vacuum tubes made of stainless steel, each as big as an entire room, arranged in a spacious, bright hall. It was her first day working at ZEISS. The 28-year-old had just completed her degree in chemistry. Seeing the installation with its hundreds of supply lines and dozens of electric cabinets impressed her, and confirmed her decision: "Yes – I want to work here."

That was almost three years ago. Today, Stephanie is a project manager for optical metrology at the Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology segment. She has achieved the goal she set for herself when she was at college: She helps to turn major challenges into major opportunities and contributes to the development of innovations at ZEISS that benefit society. "For example, our optics enable the production of microchips that are used in the latest smartphones, enable autonomous driving and take digitalization to a completely new level. That definitely makes me feel proud." Her day-to-day work revolves around a globally unique optical element in a measuring cell used in high-precision measuring machines.

The measuring machines enable the production of increasingly precise optics essential to the production of state-of-the-art microchips. "As the project manager, I am in charge of one of the measuring cell's core components," says Stephanie. For this reason, she often has to make quick decisions. The role requires swift reactions and good communication with her team. Recently, for example, a machine crucial to the production of the optical component suddenly malfunctioned at an external supplier's on a Friday afternoon. "I had to quickly call over the entire team to organize an emergency workaround," recalls Stephanie.