Denis Gontcharov for President of EIT RawMaterials Alumni

Denis Gontcharov is a graduate of the EIT Labelled Master Programme on Sustainable Materials (SUMA), which trains students to become entrepreneurs boosting the circular economy of tomorrow. Denis has been nominated as president of the EIT RawMaterials Alumni Board. (Leuven, KJ, 25/01/2019)

EIT RawMaterials Alumni brings together participants from the full range of the community’s activities, from higher education programmes to business idea competitions, to start-ups and lifelong learning courses. Alumni will draw on the diverse talent and experience within the EIT RawMaterials community to give its members networking and professional development opportunities, not only within raw materials but also by providing connections through the EIT Alumni and wider EIT RawMaterials ecosystem.

Denis studied in Belgium and holds a bachelor degree in materials engineering, with a minor in chemical engineering from KU Leuven. For his master studies Denis followed the two-year EIT-labelled Master Programme in Sustainable Materials (SUMA). As he said: ‘’What appealed to me most about this programme was the opportunity to combine my thesis with a six-month internship in France. After finishing the first year of the programme at KU Leuven I travelled to France to study five months at Grenoble INP. I finished the programme with a six-month internship at TRIMET Aluminium SE in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne.”

Currently Denis is working at the electrolysis department at TRIMET in Germany as a process control engineer collaborating on the development of a new process control application for electrolysis cells. TRIMET is Germany’s largest aluminum producer.

Denis got involved with the EIT RawMaterials Alumni board after attending an event in Berlin organised by EIT RawMaterials. The objective of the workshop was to gather and select candidates to form the founding board of the future EIT RawMaterials Alumni. Denis applied for the role of President as he wanted to “take a leading role in shaping the alumni association from the very beginning.’’

Denis has a clear vision about the future of the EIT RawMaterials Alumni Association: “Ultimately we want the EIT RawMaterials Alumni to complement the workings of the EIT RawMaterials KIC (Knowledge Innovation Community). In that regard, we will focus on enabling our members to build lasting professional connections in a more informal setting. Up to now our board put a lot of care into nailing down the vision, mission and three year strategic objectives that will get us there. To me it was very important to get this right, as it will form the foundation for our successors to build upon. Today I’m delighted that we can go into the new year with a clear agenda of activities and services that we offer to our members. Therefore I look forward to seeing our members and friends from the EIT RawMaterials community again at our activities in the near future.’’