“I am moving on!” – a personal message from René Meuleman
On May 5th 2022, I officially reached the age of retirement and I will start receiving state pension, but I have decided to stay active in the industry for a couple more years. I am not done yet!
Back in February 1978, I applied for a technical assistant job at Vereenigde Glasfabrieken at Maastricht, the Netherlands.
It was 1 June 1978 when I saw, for the first time in my life, how a glass bottle was made and it obviously made a huge impression.
My colleagues at the time told me that if I stayed for one year and still enjoyed it, then most probably I would stay for the rest of my life.
Today, after almost 44 years I started to realise that they were right. I am still in the glass industry and I have to say that I haven’t regretted it for one moment.
Vereenigde Glasfabrieken became BSN and BSN became O-I. Electronic tubes became transistors, transistors became ICs and ICs became microprocessors.
Nozzle and Flapper became PID, PID became DCS and DCS became rMPC. And for me? I moved from O-I to Eurotherm and CelSian and I am now announcing that I will go to Schneider-Electric to spend my final working years to further help shape the landscape of the electrification of the glass industry.
Of course I will stay in contact with all my old colleagues and the companies I worked for and, most probably, we will keep on working together to push the industry into a prosperous future all together.
I still believe more in co-operation than I do in competition! Schneider-Electric, CelSian and I want to witness and contribute to developing furnaces that will move the industry into a greener future.
I will remember the time I spent at CelSian as one of the highlights of my career. It’s for sure a great team in Eindhoven.
They really make a difference in helping the glass industry be more productive and profitable. CelSian has been, is, and will continue helping the global glass industry to successfully reduce its carbon footprint and much more.
GlassTrend is perhaps the best forum to exchange ideas and run R&D projects and the CelSian Academy is teaching young and old alike to improve their glass knowledge and increase levels of fun and involvement in the glass industry.
Leaving CelSian was emotional but knowing that we stay connected now that I am at Schneider has made it a little bit easier.
I will retain my mobile number (+31 6 26879952) and my new email address will be rene.meuleman@se.com.
Thanks and Godspeed, CelSian!
René Meuleman
