Razones para la procrastinación

NAME: Dr. Gerd Wingefeld

DATE/PLACE OF BIRTH: 1958 in Gießen, Germany RESPONSIBILITIES: Graphite Materials & Systems,

Technology & Innovations

1. You have been Chairman of the Graphite Materials & Systems (GMS) Business Unit since 2005 and have also been responsible for GMS on the Board of Management since October 1, 2008. What has changed for you with your new position?

Besides the responsibilities for the GMS Business Unit, I now focus increasingly on corporate themes. These topics range from the general growth of our Company to the strategic direction of individual business areas and to the current challenges in the overall economic environment.

2. GMS manufactures a very broad product range – which products in your Business Unit do you find especially fascinating?

It would not be fair to highlight a single product. The diversity of the Business Unit is key. By this I mean not only product diversity, but also diversity among our customers and areas of application, as well as the very global presence of our business. This, in conjunction with the cultural diversity of our employees, certainly makes the position as head of this Business Unit one of the most appealing within SGL Group.

3. As a chemist, what is it about carbon that sparks your enthusiasm?

As a chemistry student you learn that carbon, with its prominent position in the periodic table, offers more opportuni- ties to form compounds than any other chemical element. I was surprised to see the broad spectrum of properties that carbon offers. Our materials scientists claim, and rightly so, that the properties of this material can be varied according to the needs of customers over a broad range of applications. This enables us to offer solutions that are on the cutting edge of technology.

7 Q U E S T I O N S

4. How much are you able to bring to your current work from your earlier activities as a researcher in the Materials Division of Hoechst AG?

While dealing with carbon was pretty much unexplored territory for me, I was able to fall back on experience that I had acquired during my time at Hoechst AG in ceramics research. The process steps and nomenclature are certainly compa- rable, physical properties are measured using the same units and the applications industries are similar to a certain extent. In addition, working for a global chemical company teaches you a lot about project management and the implementation of ideas, all the way from the laboratory to pilot facilities to the market and thus production.

5. A third of the products in your Business Unit are relatively new. How much development work did you have to undertake to make this number of innovations marketable?

Development work in this Business Unit doesn’t just happen in research and development, but takes place on a daily basis through our sales engineers and with the customers on site. Production staff continuously work at optimizing processes and products on an ongoing basis. Over the last few years we have concentrated our efforts on creating a culture of inno- vation since we are convinced that this is the only way we will be able to assert ourselves in global competition. We take pride in our accomplishments but we are most certainly not resting on our laurels. By focusing on our core activity areas, clearly defining interfaces with other functions in the Group and consolidating and expanding a technology and innovation center, we have created the groundwork for even more success in the future. A number of ideas in our pipeline indicate that we should continue to advance along the path we have chosen.

6. What does “Broad Base. Best Solutions.” mean to you?

We have a wider product range than any of our competitors in the GMS Business Unit. The claim “Broad Base. Best Solutions.” is already true to a great extent in our case. This does not mean of course that we should be satisfied with what we have achieved. We will continue to maintain our rapid rate of innovation and develop new solutions for our custom- ers. Entry to new markets also plays an important role, as does the use of carbon materials in renewable energy, which is becoming increasingly significant. For instance, it was the use of optimized graphite materials in conjunction with high- temperature insulation materials and fiber-reinforced carbon that first opened the door to the economical production of solar cell modules. Lithium-ion high-performance batteries are almost unimaginable without synthetic graphite and only these have enabled customer acceptance and thus mass distribution of cell phones, laptops and entertainment electronics. We are only at the beginning of their application in the automotive sector in connection with hybrid motors.

7. What is your personal motto?

It’s the people who make the difference. If we have confidence in the expertise of our employees and continue to develop their talent, we do not have to fear for our future.

CORPORATE SOCIAL