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NEW YORK and PHILADELPHIA—September 9, 2008—The Society of Chemical Industry (SCI), American International Group, will award the fifth SCI Gordon E. Moore Medal to Edmund (“Ted”) M. Carnahan, a scientist at The Dow Chemical Company in Freeport, Texas. He will be presented with the medal at Innovation Day 2008 at Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF) in Philadelphia on Thursday, September 18. Innovation Day gathers more than 200 scientific leaders from the chemical and molecular science industries to discuss cutting edge research. Immediately following this all-day event will be the Perkin Medal dinner, now in its 102nd year.
Carnahan will receive the 2008 SCI Gordon E. Moore Medal for his contributions and leadership in the breakthrough discovery of a route for the catalytic synthesis of olefin-block copolymers. This process has been scaled-up and commercially implemented at Dow in record time to produce a highly versatile new product line that will be sold as INFUSE™ Olefin Block Copolymers. This distinct polymerization process enables INFUSE to retain its elasticity in high-temperature conditions for applications such as injection molding, bottle-cap lining, liquid packaging, adhesives, health and hygiene, and soft-touch applications.
"A brilliant researcher with an eye for commercial applications, Ted Carnahan embodies the innovative spirit that this award celebrates," said Andrew Liveris, Dow chairman and chief executive officer. “Ted is a great example of the “human element” at work within Dow. By combining his individual ingenuity with chemistry, he has consistently provided new solutions to the market that provide clear value for our customers.”
About Edward M. Carnahan
Edmund M. Carnahan will receive the 2008 SCI Gordon E. Moore Medal for his pioneering contributions and leadership in the scientific community. The olefin block copolymer distinct platform technology employs the ingenious use of multiple-catalyst moieties and companion chain-shuttling reagents to modulate the transfer of growing polymer chains from one active catalyst site to another. This elegant chemistry allows, for the first time, production of unique polyolefin-block copolymers at commercial scale and practical economics.
Carnahan is a scientist at Dow in Freeport, Texas. He joined Dow in 1996, and his initial research focused on aspects of polyolefin catalysis for solution, slurry, and gas-phase processes. In 2006 he became the scientific leader for the Catalyst and Chemistry group and is responsible for setting the overall technical strategy and vision within the group.
Catalytic chain-shuttling polymerization has been scaled-up and commercially implemented at Dow in record time to produce a highly versatile new product line that will be sold as INFUSE™ Olefin Block Copolymers. These innovative polymers are comprised of high-crystallinity (hard-segment) blocks connected to near-amorphous (soft-segment) blocks. The copolymers exhibit a very broad range of properties and heretofore unseen profiles of end-use functionality. This distinct polymerization process enables INFUSE™ to retain its elasticity in high-temperature conditions for applications such as injection molding and bottle-cap lining. Recently Dow has announced the availability of INFUSE™ for liquid packaging, adhesives, health and hygiene, and soft-touch applications.
Carnahan is the author of numerous articles in leading journals and holds 12 patents, with 19 additional patents pending. He holds a B.A. in chemistry from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
About the Society of Chemical Industry
The Society of Chemical Industry is an international society founded in London in 1881 to foster applied chemistry in all branches and facilitate the exchange of ideas. The America Section, established in 1894, is one of the Society's largest sections. For more information, please visit http://www.soci.org.
About the Chemical Heritage Foundation
The Chemical Heritage Foundation serves the community of the chemical and molecular sciences, and the wider public, by treasuring the past, educating the present, and inspiring the future. CHF carries out a program of outreach and interpretation, in order to advance an understanding of the role of the chemical and molecular sciences, technologies, and industries in shaping society; maintains a world-class collection of materials that document the history and heritage of the chemical and molecular sciences, technologies and industries; and encourages research in its collections. For more information, please visit http://www.chemheritage.org. |
