Lawrence Vanhoye

Production Engineering Expertise Manager

My name is Lawrence and I’m a production engineering expertise manager with boundless energy. Imagine this: I graduated from Universiteit Gent in 2014 and got my dream job right away! I’m always exploring new things and trying to find out why something works the way it does. I want to solve problems and come up with new perspectives. My career at Dow started in 2013 as an intern at the DOWLEX Miniplant, and since then I have held a variety of engineering roles. In 2014, I joined Dow Terneuzen Light Hydrocarbon Unit (LHC) as improvement engineer for the butadiene plants. In this role, I was responsible for various butadiene projects and was certified as a Six Sigma green belt project leader. In 2015 I took on the position of run plant engineer for the butadiene plants where I prepared and executed, along with the operational team, several successful maintenance outages of the butadiene and spent caustic units. In 2017 I was the focal point for both the aromatics and butadiene sections. During this time, I investigated and applied new methodologies for fouling reduction and KLP-catalyst lifetime expansion. In August 2018, I transitioned to a project engineering role in the Houston Dow Center as part of the CEOX program – Dow promising talent exchange program. Afterward I assumed the role of Run Plant Engineer for the Dow fluidized catalytic dehydrogenation (FCDh) unit in Plaquemine (Louisiana) and now I am working as Production Engineering Expertise Manager. In addition to my core position, I was part of the Ghent University team and served as a STEM ambassador for Dow from 2015 to 2019. I am also member of the young ambassadors of Petrochemicals Europe - the voice of the European petrochemical industry representing about 70 member companies.

“I’m always exploring new things and trying to find out why something works the way it does. I want to solve problems and come up with new perspectives."