International Flavors & Fragrances : Meet a Scent Design Manager

Sumukha grew up in Bengaluru, India and has since lived in France, the Netherlands and will be moving to Singapore soon. After earning his bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from BMS College of Engineering, Bengaluru, India, he was drawn to the fragrance industry and discovered the Master of Scent Design and Creation program at ISIPCA. His first job in the fragrance industry was an internship at IFF Mumbai as part of his program at ISIPCA.

'I graduated from the first class of the IFF sponsored ISIPCA Masters. I had a great three years at ISIPCA in France. I moved from India to France to pursue my dream to work in the world of fragrance. During my time at ISIPCA, I learned so much from great teachers and learned more about the fragrance industry. I had great opportunity to work as an intern at two IFF creative centers, the Netherlands and Singapore. For me personally, the SDM role is a great fit. I love that you're sort of a linchpin in the whole ecosystem. Anytime someone picks up a product from the shelves in a supermarket or wherever they shop, and they smell the product and are happy with how that product smells and performs - it makes me really happy that I had some part to play in that product.'

'I get many questions from applicants and students from ISIPCA , who always ask, 'Why SDM?'. I enjoy encouraging them to become an SDM. It's a very dynamic role. You wear multiple hats, you're a project manager, you're a scent designer, you're sometimes a lead for many projects. It's a job where you interact a lot, so you're in constant interaction with multiple teams, sometimes with the customer, sales, and technical teams. All of this apart from the designing of scents that you do with the perfumer. The thing I like the most is the combination of managing the projects while still designing, using your creativity.'

'Being an SDM has been an inspiring experience for me. It lets me be creative and allows me to explore a broad olfactive spectrum of products from different which has helped me understand tastes and preferences of people from across the world. It's a dynamic role that has helped me build olfactive expertise, teamwork, decisive decision making, resilience and technical grasp over the design of fragrances. It is an exciting experience and has helped me grow significantly on the professional front.'