Messer is committed to the education and training of talented young professionals, who represent an important investment in the competitiveness and capability of our company. Some of that training takes place at various locations, supplemented by multi-week assignments abroad. In 2020, the training quota at the Messer was 1.3 percent.
Open dialog and in-house transmission of expertise are important to us. That’s why we promote the establishment and maintenance of cross-regional and intercultural networks. In 2020, employees participated 15,559 times – in most cases virtually – in site conferences or network meetings for strategic integration or know-how transfer. By contrast, that figure was 8,369 in 2019.

We made good use of the time during the lockdown to qualify employees. Our “Messer Innovation Forum” advanced training platform for application engineering is designed for our customers, sales representatives, sales managers, application specialists and technicians. One of the aims of the forum is to transfer know-how from the individual divisions and departments to the national entities and subsidiaries. In the first half of 2020, our application specialists conducted a total of 100 webinars, for which 1,920 colleagues in Europe, Asia and the Americas registered. The software and the presentations were also made available to our teams in France, enabling them to train some 400 additional participants at the national level.

In May 2020, we organized a virtual visit of our production site in El Morell, Spain, for more than 60 chemical engineering students and teachers at Rovira i Virgili University (URV) in Tarragona. Videos presented the separate process steps and equipment of the plant and audiovisual materials were used to provide commentary. Due to the existing restrictions, we also presented the Messer Award to URV students in a virtual ceremony. The undergraduate students defended their projects online before a jury comprised of professors and Messer employees. Representatives of the university, the Chemical Business Association of Tarragona, and Messer participated in another virtual event during which the prize for the best project was awarded.

As part of an initiative launched by the “Institute for the Blinds,” our Messer team in Hungary participated in an interesting project: With the support of two physics teachers, interactive classes were provided for blind people. Experiments and demonstrations involving the properties of our “Gases for Life” were presented in a way that they could be felt or heard. The sense of taste was also stimulated – by ice cream previously frozen with liquid nitrogen. Some of our employees volunteered to assist in the project.

Messer in Serbia supported the “Battle for knowledge” program, with the goal of supporting developmentally disabled children. This took place at special education schools with, among other things, “Bee Bots,” which look something like bees. These small, easy to use “learning robots” were procured to make the transmittal of instructional matter more fun. They help to promote equality of opportunity for these children in national and European school competitions as well as in society in general.

The purpose of any foundation should be to support projects and ideas that are given no or insufficient consideration within the framework of basic state provision. The Dr. Hans Messer Foundation also pursues this idea by supporting and recognizing scientists who gain prominence through special or outstanding achievements, by awarding scholarships and prizes, and by supporting scientific and educational establishments.

The Dr. Hans Messer Foundation’s activities encompass support and funding as well as operational aspects. It operates as a charitable foundation with legal capacity established under private law, making a varied and ongoing contribution to the promotion of science and research as well as school and vocational education. This work is becoming increasingly important in this day and age as the state is often unable to provide sufficient funding. In this way, thirst for education, innovation, scientific curiosity and pioneering spirit are rewarded.

The purpose of the Dr. Hans Messer Foundation is to be a driving force for education and science. According to its charter, the Dr. Hans Messer Foundation supports science and research, public and vocational education, and the provision of help to students. In all, more than 20 million euros have been spent for foundation purposes to date.

The board of the Dr. Hans Messer Foundation determines the focus of the foundation’s work with the aim of defining a specific direction. The focal areas can change, however, or apply for only a certain period of time. The foundation currently focuses on science and research grants primarily in STEM fields, i.e. science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The field of medicine also receives regular funding. The Dr. Hans Messer Foundation awards a number of different scholarships to students, undergraduates, doctoral candidates and professionals. In addition, special scholarship programs are also set up.

In 2020, the Dr. Hans Messer Foundation donated a pipetting robot to the Institute of Medical Virology at Frankfurt University Hospital for use in SARS-CoV-2 research. It facilitates the researchers’ work, for example, in the high-volume testing of several thousands of substances that may show potential antiviral activity. Moreover, the automated pipetting of thousands of samples can be completed much faster overall and with fewer errors.

With its webinars, the Messer Innovation Forum has become an established continuing education vehicle for application engineering at Messer. Whereas just over 1,000 people participated in 2019, we registered more than 2,600 participants in more than 164 webinars in 2020, 26 of which were external with 430 interested parties. Topics ranged across the full spectrum, including areas such as food, metallurgy, welding and cutting, industry and chemistry/environment. The platform was used by the national subsidiaries and also by ASCO. The first external webinars with our customers were also held. We plan to continue this success story with a new layout and new technology in the near future. Today we already know that our webinars are becoming an integral part of our team’s training and promoting the acquisition of new customers.

In February 2019, various departments of Messer in Bosnia-Herzegovina completed a training course developed by the Academy Messer Group. “Focus on Cylinder Gases” concentrated on the strategic improvement of marketing activities. The training course, which started in September 2018, consisted of six two-day workshops. On the first day, practical exercises were used to strengthen sales skills. The second day consisted of training on various subjects such as welding and cutting, medicine, special gases or the packaging of food under protective gases. 

February 2019 marked the launch of Application Engineering’s new online continuing education platform “Messer Innovation Forum”. It uses webinars to pass along application knowledge and is oriented toward customers, salespeople, sales managers, applications specialists and technicians. One objective is to transport the know-how from the individual fields to the national subsidiaries. The scope of training covers a broad spectrum and is regularly repeated – also according to individual need.
This makes it possible to communicate specialized information quickly and cost-effectively, for example, in preparation for an upcoming customer visit. Additional benefits include reduced travel times along with fast, straightforward training for new employees. During the first two months of the program, the first webinars reached more than 250 participants.

In 2019 in Hungary, professional forums on wastewater treatment as well as gas metal arc welding, laser technology and 3D metal printing were held under the new name “Get into Gases – Messer Innovation Forum.” The purpose of these innovation forums is to present the most advanced and exciting innovation projects and trends from research and technology in a special gases application field. The two high-caliber events drew more than 260 highly qualified specialists together and ushered in a number of business opportunities. Even the professional media rated the innovation forum on welding as the foremost professional event in this field.

In 2019, Messer in Hungary gaves training courses in welding technology for metal and steel construction companies as well as for technical schools. Among other things, these courses aim to offer the future generation of welding specialists practical training that addresses the needs of the industry. Participants also get the chance to learn about the benefits of using our three-component mixtures.