Patricia Preikschat, Managing Director of presch matters GmbH in Nidfurn, Switzerland, celebrated her 65th birthday on October 13, 2024. As co-founder of the SurTec Group, the chemical engineer has been associated with surface technology for over 30 years and has been involved in various organizations in the industry, most recently with the Female (Sur)Faces of the German Surface Technology Association (ZVO).
After studying communication science at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich and chemical engineering at the Fresenius University of Applied Sciences in Wiesbaden, Patricia Preikschat joined the small electroplating chemicals supplier Elektro-Brite in Trebur in 1987, where she was initially entrusted with the optimization of analysis methods and later with the development of an acidic zinc-nickel process as deputy laboratory manager. Just as she was about to make a change after two years, Elektro-Brite was taken over by Unilever and integrated into Lever Sutter. After a few months, she became Technical Manager of the Surface Technology division, which now included industrial cleaning, the first products for the treatment of light metals and electroplating processes. After a further three years, she became Technical Managing Director and shareholder of SurTec International together with Herbert Baunach following a management buy-out at the end of 1992. Important milestones were the development and successful market launch of the first thick-film passivation for zinc and zinc alloys and the overall replacement of hazardous substances in surface technology, as well as the project and construction of the new SurTec building in Zwingenberg in 1999, which was designed and built as a passive house. It was the first integrated passive house with offices, meeting rooms, production and storage.
From 2002 to 2008, Patricia Preikschat managed the German SurTec, after which she was a member of the management and shareholder of SurTec International. In 2011, she then focused on the company's global product management. This included portfolio management, but also the management and selection of R&D projects and strategic issues. She left Surtec in 2021. Patricia Preikschat is known throughout the industry for her great expertise and her role at industry heavyweight SurTec, but also for her many years of involvement in the German Society for Electroplating and Surface Technology (DGO). She was a member of the board for twelve years, including four years as chairwoman. In 2002, Patricia Preikschaft received the environmental award from the Work and Environment Foundation (factory as a passive house), in 2005 she was awarded the Top 100 innovation prize for chromium(VI) replacement in aluminum passivation, followed by the Leipzig Electroplating Prize for chromium(VI) replacement in zinc passivation in 2012 and finally the DGO plaque for her commitment to the industry in 2024.
Galvanotechnik magazine and Leuze Verlag congratulate her on her birthday!
