Studies in Materials Innovation White Papers
Part of the Robert W. Gore Materials Innovation Project, this white paper series aims to illuminate the diverse contributions of materials innovation within the broader process of contemporary technological development.
by Kristoffer Whitney
This case study focuses on one of the earliest company's to produce “natural” household-cleaning products, Sun & Earth, and places the company in the context of the larger phenomenon of the so-called green economy.
by Cyrus C. M. Mody
The creation of the biotechnology industry in the 1970s brought a new feature to materials-based innovation: small, high-tech firms started by (or linked closely to) prominent academic scientists. Though there is a very long history of professors starting or consulting with science-based firms, the patenting of recombinant-DNA research by Herbert Boyer of University of California, San Francisco, and Stanley Cohen of Stanford University in 1980 marked a new, self-conscious era of professorial start-ups.
by Doogab Yi
This case study illuminates the evolution of business strategies of the second generation of biotech firms, analyzes the reconfiguration of biotech firms’ strategic alliances.
by Arthur Daemmrich
Product innovation in the chemicals sector today requires not just scientific and technological advances but also compliance with standards and regulations, along with marketing to sophisticated intermediate firms and end users. Yet the very novelty of new materials often means that product standards, health and safety regulations, and consumer markets are underdeveloped or absent.
by Jody A. Roberts
This case study discusses how the development of Sea-Nine marine anti-fouling paint linked agricultural biocides, coatings research, and federal and international regulation.
by David C. Brock
This case study examines the innovation of the first “chemically amplified photoresists” by IBM in the 1980s. The case supports four findings with implications for our understanding of the nature of innovation.