Professional Profile: Menno Schagen
Lab Design News spoke to Menno Schagen, the CEO of Europe and the Middle East & lab design director at LTS Health in Cape Town, South Africa. Menno shared his career journey, career goals, and his love of the outdoors.
Q: How did you get started in your career? Did you major in your field in college, get an internship, switch careers mid-stream, etc.?
A: I studied as an industrial engineer at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. I started working for LTS after University as a junior engineer. I gained experience in all fields of performance improvement, from automating potato chip manufacturing to designing new assembly lines for a major car brand. LTS later created a specialist healthcare department where I worked my way up the ranks to become the Design Director. Fast forward another 15 years, and I am still designing laboratories and implementing performance improvement. To date, I have implemented laboratories in 45 countries.
Q: What is a typical day at work like for you?
A: A typical day in my career is traveling to various clients across the globe to design state-of-the-art cutting-edge laboratories or to implement technologies to improve laboratories' performance. For example, last month, I was in the Middle East, where we are constructing a high containment laboratory facility; I then flew to the Czech Republic, where we are consolidating three laboratories into a single super laboratory, and then I flew to the United States where we are converting a warehouse into a diagnostic laboratory and then the last week of the month, I was in South Africa commissioning a research facility.
Q: What's a common misconception about your job?
A: A widespread misconception is that any designer can be appointed to design a laboratory; it is just another design, right? I take pride in using my 20 years of experience to design workflow-based laboratories to optimize work efficiency, effectively utilize resources, and improve staff morale. We use the latest laboratory technologies to ensure laboratories are flexible into the future and that staff and technology can make critical decisions about human life.
Q: What is the funniest thing that has happened to you at work?
A: We were renovating an old medical school; the old cadaver processing facility was closed down ages ago as they were still using the pickling (salt and vinegar processing) method of embalming. As we were renovating the area and tearing down the salt baths, we found a hidden door that led to a blacked-out room. There was a neon light and, when turned on, revealed a 70's disco dance hall. It seems that the medical students had created this room in the closed-down section of the medical school. It soon became our project office with the hidden party decorations that you could only see when the black light was turned on.
Q: If you weren't in this profession, what job would you like to have instead?
A: I am passionate about improving people's work environments and healthcare. Therefore, I would probably design research equipment or technology to improve laboratories.
Q: What is the best piece of professional advice you have received?
A: Always strive to improve, and don't sell yourself short.
Q: What are some of your future career goals?
A: I want to be able to build a network of professionals connecting resource-constrained countries in Africa and Eurasia to experienced companies and experts to ensure early detection of novel diseases and finding cost-effective cures for current disease burdens.
Q: If you could teleport to any destination in the world, where would you go?
A: It's Bern in Switzerland. It is the most beautiful old town surrounded by rivers from the Swiss Alps and melted snow. It is close to the best ski slopes and mountain biking trails in the Alps.
Q: What's your typical order when you visit a coffee shop?
A: Cortado in a glass cup.
Q: What kinds of hobbies or interests do you have outside of work?
A: I love being outdoors and exploring new cities. My favorite sport is mountain biking, and I usually rent a bike in towns I visit for work and try to commute by bike as much as possible.
