LAUREN, MIT GRADUATE – BOSTON, UNITED STATES

We met with a young, ambitious, talented and driven materials science graduate who would make a valuable addition to Saint-Gobain’s teams.

We meet Lauren in a café in Boston. The captain of her own soccer team, she joins us straight from the field. She’s looking very pleased with herself, so we can guess how the game went! It’s just one of the victories recently chalked up by this 27-year-old, who has just been awarded a doctorate in materials science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). “I’m so lucky,” says the young graduate, who now hopes to embark on a career filled with interesting challenges.

In fact, the main reason she decided to apply to Saint-Gobain was to work on life-changing solutions for habitat and industry. As the recruiter who presented Saint-Gobain to MIT students pointed out, when you join the group’s R&D department, you immediately gain a deeper understanding of a wide range of materials and solutions. A springboard for careers in a variety of professional fields, these skills also hone and build on the sort of things students learn at MIT. After the presentation, Lauren decided to find out more about Saint-Gobain, and now she’s eager to join the teams in the Northboro R&D center because “it takes a multidisciplinary approach to work and, with people from more than 30 countries, it’s really international.”

To meet engineers from all over the world.

“The idea is to invent the materials of tomorrow by working with other Saint-Gobain research centers, recognized university laboratories and advanced start-ups – it’s really exciting,” adds Lauren. She hopes to have the opportunity to meet international engineers from different backgrounds and experience in a wide range of fields. “I also work really well in a team” and she doesn’t just mean when she’s playing soccer!

She also finds the company’s international presence really appealing – Saint-Gobain operates in more than 60 countries worldwide – and she already has an idea of where she’d like to work: “Ideally, I’d be based at the Chennai research center in India, where the teams are inventing solutions for sustainable habitat adapted to hot and humid climates.” But wherever she works, whether in Europe, Brazil or China, she intends to benefit Saint-Gobain with her drive and creativity,and she’s determined to reach her full potential.

During the presentation, the Saint-Gobain recruiter explained that job mobility and career paths come at the top of the to-do list for new employees, so they can be put in contact with the right mentors and so, create a personal career plan that meets their expectations. Lauren understands the importance of this personal coaching approach, which she sees as the best way to achieve her goals. “I like the spirit of innovation at Saint-Gobain. I think I’d thrive there, and could carve out a great career,” she says, with the sense of commitment and determination people have come to expect from her. After all, she is the captain of her team.