A cleaning man leaves the pure area after 33 years

Links: Dirk Steil, right: Paul Jochem

Paul Jochem

In 1989, a significant chapter of my career began in my life. I was given the opportunity to build up a relatively unknown industry sector within the company. My ascendant is the "Scorpio" (ambitious, patient, and consistent), so the motto was: think carefully, research, and get involved.

As a career changer, I had to acquire the necessary expertise gradually as a self-taught learner. The best method to acquire knowledge, I found out, is exchange with experts "from practice for practice." Through the guru of cleanroom technology, Dieter Schmidt, IBM Sindelfingen, I gained the basic knowledge of this technology. He rightly earned the nickname: "Cleanroom Pabst" of IBM worldwide. The deeper I delved into this subject, the more exciting it became for me; I was increasingly fascinated to learn more about it.

On March 1, 2005, I founded the network CleanRoomNet. Today, strict and clear requirements are placed on cleanroom planners and operators across all industries regarding "working under cleanroom conditions." The competence and many years of experience in the individual areas are essential to work and produce qualitatively, effectively, and economically under cleanroom conditions. Until now, there was no comprehensive concept on the market that provided insight into construction, clothing, cleaning, furnishing, and monitoring. The CleanRoomNet network has taken on this issue.

Numerous cleanroom events, each addressing one of these core topics, and technical reports published in trade magazines such as "Reinraum online" by me, made me increasingly curious to delve deeper into this subject. Through the founding of my business, ReinRaumTechnik-Jochem, new opportunities opened up for me to directly contact users and pass on my expertise during training of cleanroom personnel. Even the University of Saarbrücken provided me with the opportunity for knowledge transfer with pharmacy students through a guest lecture. The ongoing spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, which prevents in-person events, did not stop me from planning and offering online events. Thanks to our network partner ELPRO Messtechnik GmbH, we received the support necessary to ensure that this form of communication becomes sustainable. I would like to sincerely thank Ms. Corina Marquart for sharing the necessary know-how with us in this type of event and for providing leadership support.

The quote by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche: "Go not only the smooth paths, go paths that no one has walked before, so that you leave traces and not just dust." This was the motto of my ideas, which I put into action.

Today, I would like to say goodbye to you.

I want to sincerely thank my network partners for their support. A very special thanks goes to my network partner Dirk Steil, Managing Director of Becker Reinraumtechnik Saarbrücken. Dirk, you have not only become a serious partner but also a great friend, with whom I enjoyed working very much. Thank you very much.

I would also like to express special thanks to Mr. Reinhold Schuster and his team from reinraum online for publishing some of my reports.

These are over 30 years in my life that I can call contamination-free days. I wouldn't want to miss this time.