How Covestro Turns Airflow Into a Simulation Toolbox with Anja Mackenzie episode artwork

EPISODE · Nov 20, 2025 · 23 MIN

How Covestro Turns Airflow Into a Simulation Toolbox with Anja Mackenzie

from The Data Flowcast: Mastering Apache Airflow ® for Data Engineering and AI · host Astronomer

Building scalable, reproducible workflows for scientific computing often requires bridging the gap between research flexibility and enterprise reliability.In this episode, Anja MacKenzie, Expert for Cheminformatics at Covestro, explains how her team uses Airflow and Kubernetes to create a shared, self-service platform for computational chemistry.Key Takeaways:00:00 Introduction.06:19 Custom scripts made sharing and reuse difficult.09:29 Workflows are manually triggered with user traceability.10:38 Customization supports varied compute requirements.12:48 Persistent volumes allow tasks to share large amounts of data.14:25 Custom operators separate logic from infrastructure.16:43 Modified triggers connect dependent workflows.18:36 UI plugins enable file uploads and secure access.Resources Mentioned:Anja MacKenziehttps://www.linkedin.com/in/anja-mackenzie/Covestro | LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/covestro/Covestro | Websitehttps://www.covestro.comApache Airflowhttps://airflow.apache.org/Kuberneteshttps://kubernetes.io/Airflow KubernetesPodOperatorhttps://airflow.apache.org/docs/apache-airflow-providers-cncf-kubernetes/stable/operators.htmlAstronomerhttps://www.astronomer.io/Airflow Academy by Marc Lambertihttps://www.udemy.com/user/lockgfg/?utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=udemyads&utm_campaign=Search_DSA_GammaCatchall_NonP_la.EN_cc.ROW-English&campaigntype=Search&portfolio=ROW-English&language=EN&product=Course&test=&audience=DSA&topic=&priority=Gamma&utm_content=deal4584&utm_term=_._ag_169801645584_._ad_700876640602_._kw__._de_c_._dm__._pl__._ti_dsa-1456167871416_._li_9061346_._pd__._&matchtype=&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21341313808&gbraid=0AAAAADROdO1_-I2TMcVyU8F3i1jRXJ24K&gclid=Cj0KCQjwvJHIBhCgARIsAEQnWlC1uYHIRm3y9Q8rPNSuVPNivsxogqfczpKHwhmNho2uKZYC-y0taNQaApU2EALw_wcBAirflow Documentationhttps://airflow.apache.org/docs/Airflow Pluginshttps://airflow.apache.org/docs/apache-airflow/1.10.9/plugins.htmlThanks for listening to “The Data Flowcast: Mastering Apache Airflow® for Data Engineering and AI.” If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5-star review to help get the word out about the show. And be sure to subscribe so you never miss any of the insightful conversations.#AI #Automation #Airflow

Building scalable, reproducible workflows for scientific computing often requires bridging the gap between research flexibility and enterprise reliability.In this episode, Anja MacKenzie, Expert for Cheminformatics at Covestro, explains how her team uses Airflow and Kubernetes to create a shared, self-service platform for computational chemistry.Key Takeaways:00:00 Introduction.06:19 Custom scripts made sharing and reuse difficult.09:29 Workflows are manually triggered with user traceability.10:38 Customization supports varied compute requirements.12:48 Persistent volumes allow tasks to share large amounts of data.14:25 Custom operators separate logic from infrastructure.16:43 Modified triggers connect dependent workflows.18:36 UI plugins enable file uploads and secure access.Resources Mentioned:Anja MacKenziehttps://www.linkedin.com/in/anja-mackenzie/Covestro | LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/covestro/Covestro | Websitehttps://www.covestro.comApache Airflowhttps://airflow.apache.org/Kuberneteshttps://kubernetes.io/Airflow KubernetesPodOperatorhttps://airflow.apache.org/docs/apache-airflow-providers-cncf-kubernetes/stable/operators.htmlAstronomerhttps://www.astronomer.io/Airflow Academy by Marc Lambertihttps://www.udemy.com/user/lockgfg/?utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=udemyads&utm_campaign=Search_DSA_GammaCatchall_NonP_la.EN_cc.ROW-English&campaigntype=Search&portfolio=ROW-English&language=EN&product=Course&test=&audience=DSA&topic=&priority=Gamma&utm_content=deal4584&utm_term=_._ag_169801645584_._ad_700876640602_._kw__._de_c_._dm__._pl__._ti_dsa-1456167871416_._li_9061346_._pd__._&matchtype=&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21341313808&gbraid=0AAAAADROdO1_-I2TMcVyU8F3i1jRXJ24K&gclid=Cj0KCQjwvJHIBhCgARIsAEQnWlC1uYHIRm3y9Q8rPNSuVPNivsxogqfczpKHwhmNho2uKZYC-y0taNQaApU2EALw_wcBAirflow Documentationhttps://airflow.apache.org/docs/Airflow Pluginshttps://airflow.apache.org/docs/apache-airflow/1.10.9/plugins.htmlThanks for listening to “The Data Flowcast: Mastering Apache Airflow® for Data Engineering and AI.” If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5-star review to help get the word out about the show. And be sure to subscribe so you never miss any of the insightful conversations.#AI #Automation #Airflow

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How Covestro Turns Airflow Into a Simulation Toolbox with Anja Mackenzie

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This episode was published on November 20, 2025.

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Building scalable, reproducible workflows for scientific computing often requires bridging the gap between research flexibility and enterprise reliability.In this episode, Anja MacKenzie, Expert for Cheminformatics at Covestro, explains how her team...

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