Behind every insulation solution from NOVIUM Composites is a person with an opinion. Someone who doesn't start with the product, but with the underlying question: will this actually work later on, right there in your production?
That person is Gerard Worm. He has been active in the world of engineering plastics, composites, and thermal insulation for more than four decades. Not from an office or a marketing department, but from practical experience — among the machines, alongside the engineers, in the production halls where it really counts.
Engineering has never been just theory to me. The truth is on the shop floor, not in the brochure.
Anyone who works with Gerard quickly notices the difference. He doesn't speak in datasheets, but in processes. True knowledge doesn't arise behind a desk but among the installations: seeing where a process gets stuck, understanding why a material fails, and searching together for what does work.
That perspective has been shaped over decades. By visiting countless companies, domestically and abroad, and by building insight in more than twenty market segments. From rubber processing to high-tech mechanical engineering, always with the same question: what does this process need right now?
A large part of that knowledge grew within the world of Philips. Gerard visited factories and engineering departments in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Poland, during a period when the industry had to say goodbye to traditional asbestos-containing materials.
At that time, thermal insulation was barely included in the standard purchasing structures of large companies. And precisely there, in that gap, room for innovation arose. By combining practical experience with material knowledge, solutions could be introduced that improved processes, limited energy loss, and increased reliability — in applications where no one expected them yet.
One conviction has never changed: securing an order has no value if the solution doesn't function in practice. That is why Gerard is always open about possibilities, limitations, and risks. Sometimes the conclusion is a wholehearted yes. Sometimes it's more honest to say: we don't know for sure yet.
"We don't know for sure if it works — but let's test it together."
It is exactly those words that have led to the most valuable solutions. These trial-and-error processes built a practical database that cannot be found in any textbook. And they generated trust: many relationships from Gerard's early years still exist today.
The roots of that attitude lie in an internship at Philips' legendary Nat.Lab, in the General Technical Service. That department kept laboratories, installations, and workshops operational for the groundbreaking research taking place there. But what stuck with Gerard the most wasn't the machines, but the people around them.
He still remembers the Belgian pipefitter who installed the piping for a soldering machine with such precision that it almost became a work of art. A detail, perhaps. But right there, a lasting realization was born: quality isn't just in a product, but in the way people think, build, and collaborate.
The world of composites and thermal insulation is constantly changing, and that is exactly what keeps the work fascinating. New applications within semiconductor, additive manufacturing, aerospace, defense, energy technology, and high-tech mechanical engineering continuously demand new knowledge and fresh insights.
Gerard follows developments closely — and applies them. Not only in materials, but also in the way of working: from the latest insulation technology from partner Brandenburger to actively deploying AI in his own business operations. Decades of experience, combined with the curiosity of someone who is far from done learning.
“The day you think you know it all, you stand still. And I cannot afford to stand still in this market.”
After more than forty years of experience, Gerard still believes that the best technical solutions arise by listening, analyzing, advising honestly, and collaborating with people in the field. That is the foundation on which NOVIUM Composites is built. And it is still the way he works every single day.
