How Careers in the Industrial Gas Industry Turn Into Lifelong Journeys
I happened here by chance and stayed forever by choice. Like most people with no exposure, the industrial gas industry was not a segment I had ever heard of or aspired to. But when I got that call after college from a recruiter about a sales job in the gases industry, my curious mind led me onward and the rest is history. Many people stumble into this gas world from the outside, just as I did, and there are also many who grew up in a multi-generational family business. We are all kindred spirits of the molecules now. In my Navy days, before college, those that stayed on after the initial enlistment were tagged as “lifers” and I guess you could refer to all of us inside the world of cryogenics as “gas lifers.” If we were to pick a theme song, it would be Hotel California by the Eagles with the fitting lyrics, “you can check out anytime you like but you can never leave.”
THE SECRET SAUCE
There is a connection to every corner of life. It’s the hidden backbone of everything that moves around us. Hospitals rely on oxygen, food processors run on CO2 and nitrogen, the electronics industry drives technology with high purity gases, welding and fabrication are supported by critical shielding gases that connect the infrastructure we all live in, and the energy and aerospace frontiers move because of hydrogen and other fuel gases as power sources. It continues on and on. This may be part of the magic that keeps us all here once we enter. It’s so interesting to work in and see the impact our products and services support that make the world go round. You’ll understand you’ve arrived the first time you notice a cryogenic tank you see along the road you’re traveling as a new opportunity or explain to your family the truck you just passed with the tagline “Tell me More” or “Gases for Life.”
JOURNEY FROM THE INSIDE
I recall during my early days and industry encounters, the first sign I was in the right place was my experience inside a pulp and paper mill in Alabama. As would most people, I never imagined that paper is literally made from trees. And further, the connection between the oxygen we were supplying and the process that produces bright white paper, oxygen bleaching. And the lesson I learned from spending time inside a pulp mill: it smells really bad and you wear that smell for a while. But, as I also learned, that’s the “smell of money,” so keep that O2 flowing.
From there, it was on to a float glass plant and the connection between all the glass around us in automobiles, skyscrapers, and homes, which create the protective shield through which we view the world. Call me a geek, but seeing a tin bath up close was pretty amazing. A long and shallow pool of molten tin where the glass is poured and spreads out like a ribbon with a reflective surface, literally a long and flowing mirror. Nitrogen is used here to protect the surface, and, prior to this point, oxygen was used for oxy-combustion in the melting furnace. Our gases at work produce the windshield in your cars and trucks from which we navigate the highways and byways.
One other significant early milestone I recall, was the experience of seeing the space shuttle launch up close from the vendor staging area at the Kennedy Space Center, thinking “that’s our hydrogen and oxygen moving that rocket into orbit and against the pull of gravity.” And there’s more to the story. This was the first launch in more than two years after the Challenger explosion, so all of us on the ground and across the world watched with anxious eyes, holding our breath for a safe and successful return to space travel. And, indeed, it was.
THE BACKSTAGE TOUR
There are many other examples that we experience daily while supporting customers with gas and equipment. And we do this from the inside, looking out on the floor of a fab shop with argon shielding gas to join the metals cut by laser machines in the same facility using nitrogen as an assist gas. In the laboratory where high purity gases are used in critical instruments for testing samples and support for medical devices. Close encounters with a superconducting magnet while delivering liquid helium for medical imaging in an area where boundaries matter. There is something to be said for understanding processes that put the fizz in your soda, purify the water you drink, form the bottle you drink from, and extend the shelf life of that bag of chips you’re eating. From the complex to the simple things in life, there is a gas behind it somewhere. And, even more impressive, is understanding the lifecycle in supply chain growth from cylinders to dewars to microbulk to bulk and beyond. It takes a village to make all this happen in perfect harmony and avoid customer operational disruptions, something we in the industry appreciate more than anyone outside will ever know.
NOW THAT YOU’RE HERE
A very unique culture is forged with the charm of products that have an impact on every corner of any industry. We all get it. And, further to this, are the industry associations that bring us together. The Gases and Welding Distributor Association, or GAWDA, is one of the best examples where relationships drive everything and where identity and purpose run deep. The fascination with gases is not enough if running solo. It’s best to join others of the same mentality, where you’ll experience the culture and share and learn from others to form lifelong bonds. And, expect to hear in every conversation the experience of others that recognize the glue that holds them here. Thank you Don Henley for reminding us, we are unique as “gas people” for the long run and will never leave.
