Alexander Gertzman, Class of 1997

Shortly after graduating from NMSU in May 1997 with Bachelors of Science in ChE, I went to work for Alfa Laval Separation Division in Warminster, PA as an Applications Engineer. Job required implementing Alfa Laval Centrifugal separation equipment to various industrial processes. I chose this job over the other two offers because I wanted to do a lot of travel and wanted to work with numerous different processes in different industries versus being tied to one location and working with one or maybe just a few different applications. I took many different basic, advanced and special product courses at home bases in Sweden and Denmark. I developed a lot of different applications for various centrifugal products by means of pilot testing at customer’s facilities with scale-up machines. When Alfa Laval acquired membrane technology unit in Denmark, I was factory trained on that product as well and did well on its implementation. I worked for this company for 8 years advancing from Applications Engineer to Sales manager in Chemical Industry for separation products in US in 2001. This also involved relocation to Richmond, VA. With company contraction moved to Food, Beverage and Protein Division where I worked as Technical manager for separation products. Within the course of my career with Alfa Laval, the company changed drastically as it became publically traded and closed its factories in US, UK, Italy and Spain and contracting production in Sweden in Denmark. Most of the production in separation area moved to China and India and company shrunk from 18,000 to 9000 employees. There were a series of mass layoffs since 2000 and finally I became a statistic in 2005. I did not have to sit long without work as I had numerous offers from some of the customers I worked with and also competitors. I really loved what I was doing with centrifugal separation and I wanted to continue on.

I accepted an offer from a competitor, German-based Flottweg. Flottweg attracted me with its continuous innovation and quality dedication. All our products are designed and manufactured in Vilsbiburg, Germany. I’ve been with them almost 3 years and believe I made the right choice, working as an Applications & Business Development manager for its North American office. Most of my recent work has been in the renewable fuels market. Job involved relocation to Cincinnati area, and now my family lives in Mason, OH. On a personal note, I got married in 1999 to my wonderful wife Marina. In 2004 we had a son, Nikolai. My hobbies are ice hockey, soccer, rollerblading and snowboarding. I also enjoy swimming with my son.