The Chemical Heritage Foundation and Discover host roundtable with six chemical industry executives on “Building a better world, one atom at a time”
Berwyn, PA - September 26, 2012
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| Clockwise from left: A.N. Sreeram, vice president of R&D Dow Chemical; Greg Nelson, chief technology officer, Eastman Chemical; Mark Doriski, global intermediates technology manager, ExxonMobil; Ivan Amato, moderator; Thomas Connelly, chief innovation officer, DuPont; Ryan Dirkx, vice president of R&D, Arkema; Christopher Pappas, president and CEO, Styron. |
The September issue of Discover Magazine features an interview with Chris Pappas and chemical industry executives from DuPont, Arkema, ExxonMobil, Eastman Chemical and Dow Chemical who spoke about the role of materials innovation in technology and society at the Chemical Heritage Foundation event in February in Philadelphia.
The feature is part of a partnership between Discover Magazine and the Chemical Heritage Foundation to promote awareness of the chemical and materials industry, and their contribution to modern life. The February symposium was called, “Building a Better World With Chemicals.”
“People think of innovation as the creation of brand new things. But if you take basic molecules and arrange them in the right way, you can do a lot with what already exists. You can apply that to something like an automobile tire; you can change the physical properties of the rubber so that the tire has better rolling capabilities, no loss of wear and no loss of wet grip,” said Pappas. “Tires that our partner companies are now working on can improve gas mileage by up to 10 percent, because this new rubber rolls with less resistance.”
All the executives spoke about the next big challenges for the chemical industry and breakthrough technologies that are just around the corner.
“LED Lighting is an emerging technology challenge where material science is just beginning to play a big role in achieving something for society with lower energy use and energy cost,” said Pappas. “Carbon Nanotubes have fascinating material and electrical properties but are messy and wasteful to produce. There are breakthrough technologies today close to commercialization that will help solve this problem. Then you’ll see the cost for nanotubes come down enough that they can be incorporated into everyday uses, for example tires to increase durability.”
As the article explains, material science will become increasingly vital as the world’s population demands more resources with cleaner energy and more efficiency.
Watch the video from the Chemical Heritage Foundation Symposium Roundtable.
About Styron
Styron is a leading global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber, dedicated to collaborating with customers to deliver innovative and sustainable solutions. Styron's technology solutions are used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building & construction, carpet, commercial transportation, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper & paperboard, rubber goods and tires. Styron had approximately USD 6 billion in revenue in 2011, with 20 manufacturing sites around the world, and 2100 employees.
More information can be found at www.styron.com.
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