Alice Cheung, Senior Principal Scientist Product Development for Henkel North America, and Susanne Wieland, Head of BioScience for Henkel Consumer Brands, reflect on their professional journeys, the inspirations that drive them and the advice they would give their younger selves. A conversation about career paths, the influence of great leadership and empowering diversity.
Interview
“Believe in yourself and others will believe in you, too”
What drives you to make an impact in your field and accelerate action?
Alice: I love to inspire curiosity and create paths for the next generation of scientists to explore. STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) helps advance our society and I am passionate about doing my part to encourage future generations to recognize its importance and contributions to everyday life.
Susanne: I am an accelerator because I make things happen. I have a small buzzer device on my desk which I buzz whenever a project is completed. It’s the best feeling to get things done. But more than that, I would call myself an enabler. I pursue enabling myself and others to be successful. My firm belief is that I was gifted some talents, and I must use them.
Alice Cheung,
Senior Principal Scientist Product Development for Henkel North America
Alice is a scientist, inventor and volunteer at heart. She has been with Henkel in North America for 15 years working on advancements in hot melt adhesive products for end-of-line packaging applications. Henkel’s commitment to education through programs like the Henkel Researchers’ World provides opportunities for Alice to share her love of science. She was one of the lead organizers of the Henkel Researchers’ World event for National STEM Day where she taught science lessons to elementary school children.
Alice’s life motto: Stretch your boundaries
Susanne Wieland,
Head of BioScience for Henkel Consumer Brands
Susanne joined Henkel as an enzyme engineer and held various positions in Corporate and R&D over 24 years. She has a passion for people and loves to connect great minds. She loves to learn and help others understand. On the contrary, she can’t stand to be told what is not working. When the family bought an old house, Susanne renovated it on her own without professional help thanks to her hands-on approach of learning and applying. For Susanne, her family is her rock, enabling her to thrive in her career.
Susanne’s life motto: Nothing is impossible.
Did you follow a certain plan in your career? You’re both in leadership positions, but looking at your careers, your professional journeys were not linear.
Susanne: Even before I joined Henkel, I started my education in Chemistry and with my diploma thesis I switched to Biotechnology and moved even further out to Microbiology, which is quite unusual. Simply, because it was not enough for me to be a specialist in Chemistry, I also wanted to see how science is being applied and work interdisciplinary to create something meaningful. That’s why our company purpose really resonates with me: “Pioneers at heart for the good of generations”. At Henkel, I was lucky to have supervisors and also male allies who always trusted me, especially in difficult situations. All this empowered me and helped me to come back even stronger. At Henkel, I feel valued every day.
Alice: As a Senior Principal Scientist for Henkel’s Packaging and Consumer Goods business, I design and formulate new and innovative hot melt adhesive products for Henkel’s customers and consumers. After graduating with my Ph.D. in Polymer Science and working at a chemical company, I was interested in joining Henkel to pursue an adhesive formulation position, which was a new area for me. Since my journey at Henkel began 15 years ago, I have been able to develop innovative solutions and patented technologies that have contributed to Henkel’s product portfolio. Of course, it always takes a team, and I agree with Susanne that luckily there are many pioneers here at Henkel.
An innovation made by Alice and her team
Together with her team, Alice developed a water dispersible hot melt adhesive enabling customers to reduce waste while making paper towels.
What inspires you in your career?
Alice: Each year, I join a Henkel team as a Sustainability Ambassador, where they visit schools to teach children about sustainable behavior at home. My favorite part of every program is answering questions from the students and seeing that spark of innovative creativity within each child. These experiences have been rewarding knowing that I have the opportunity to provide a stimulating and fun environment for each child. I hope one day they may also aspire to encourage future generations to take an active role in protecting our environment and igniting the spirit of a researcher to keep searching for ways to improve life.
Susanne: In January 2025, I was responsible for organizing the Tech Day for the first time, together with a colleague from Adhesives. A big event for R&D colleagues around the world to get together in Düsseldorf and connect the innovative minds from our two business units Henkel Consumer Brands and Henkel Adhesive Technologies as well as Henkel Corporate Scientific Solutions. Mind you, I am not an event organizer; I am a scientist, so I really went out of my comfort zone. But connecting people – that is what I do best. I was always keen to bring people with different expertise together, help them understand each other and create something new. For me, this is where the magic happens. It was a wonderful experience!
An innovation made by Susanne and her team
Susanne developed a couple of enzymes together with her team which are being used in almost all of Henkel’s liquid and solid laundry and household detergents resulting in higher product performance.
If you could travel back in time with everything you know today: What would be your advice to your younger self?
Alice: My advice for young scientists is to be curious, courageous, and communicative! Being a pioneer at heart for the good of generations means continuously exploring and challenging the current standard. To me this includes pushing forward so everyone has an opportunity to do good for generations.
Susanne: I would remind myself that it is beneficial to look at others, to learn from them and to see what makes a difference. Be true to yourself and don’t force yourself to change. Just always try to be a bit better than yesterday. Believe in yourself and others will believe in you, too.
New Work
HOW FLEXIBLE WORK, AGILE PROCESSES, MODERN LEADERSHIP
What sounds like a new lifestyle trend is actually a paradigm-shifting concept for the workplace. New Work is digital, flexible, and democratic. Job applicants and employees are demanding more freedom in terms of where, when, and how much they work. And the New Normal paves the way for more self-determination and self-realization, driven by the digital transformation and smart working models.
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