Yiyang Luo's company is flourishing

She speaks Chinese, English, and Dutch fluently, likes flowers, and set up a completely new company on her own in Shanghai in 2008. Since its start-up, the company has grown to 200 employees. We are talking about Yiyang Luo, a manager with a Master in Biochemical Engineering.


Joint International Engineering Program
Yiyang Luo is from Tianjin but spent most of her youth in Beijing. At the Beijing Jiaotong University (BJTU) she studied Logistics for two years. She continued her studies in Group T's Joint International Engineering Program in 2004. “It was a drastic decision to go to an unknown country. Also, it was in the middle of the SARS period which made things even more complicated,” she relates.

Re-orientation
As most BJTU students, Yiyang Luo chose Electronics Engineering but quickly realized that this program was not right for her. She switched to Biochemical Engineering. “Yes, I lost a semester because of this, but at least I ended up where I was supposed to be.”

Proctor & Gamble
Yiyang Luo did her master’s thesis in Proctor & Gamble’s Brussels’ R&D Center, researching the way detergents interact with different materials. “I was the first student from China to do an apprenticeship there,” she continues. “I was even offered a student contract which allowed me to make some extra money. After my studies at Group T, I continued to work there for a couple of months.”

Dera Food Technology
In October 2006, Yiyang Luo got a call from Dera Food Technology in Bornem (near Antwerp). The company manufactures additives for the meat industry and was looking for a Field Support Manager. “It was an excellent opportunity to develop my management skills. I was put in charge of the complete project cycle: from the very beginning to the final realization, including delivery and customer feedback. It was also very varied because every project is different.”

Dutch
Yiyang Luo learned a few other things as well. At Dera Food Technology and with most of the customers the language of communication was Dutch. So she registered for an intensive course and learned the language in three months.

Vitro Plants
Late 2007, Yiyang Luo started working for Vitro Plants, a company in the flower industry in Ghent. The company is associated with Exotic Plants which had decided to open a branch in Shanghai. For that challenge, they needed somebody who not only knew the ropes but was also familiar with both the Chinese and the Western cultures and was perfectly trilingual. Yiyang Luo left for Shanghai in October 2008.

Flourishing
A tough job was awaiting her there. Starting a company from scratch, finding and equipping working accommodation, hiring personnel, buying raw materials and machines, finding customers, and so on. Yet she managed it all and the Shanghai branch of Exotic Plants is now a flourishing company.

Moving away from technology
Whereas her jobs in Belgium were mainly technical, in China this shifted completely to management. Organization of seminars and events, human resources, communication with customers, promotion and sales, price negotiation, deliveries, and so on, Yiyang Luo is responsible for it all. Officially, she is Lab Manager but she works outside the lab more than in it.

Biochemical bond
Yiyang Luo is still in touch with her fellow Belgian and Chinese students at Group T. “The Biochemical Engineering students form a small but tight-knit group. Whenever I come to Belgium, we get together. I also always visit Group T on those occasions. It’s a pleasure to be able to include everyone I met there in my bouquet.”
 

• Yiyang Luo's full story and more on her company in the 2009 Fall-issue of Interview, Group T's periodical.

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