Squeezed in on all sides--including from raw material costs (which are at unprecedented highs), narrowing access to feedstocks, and growing competition in commodity markets--chemical firms must create new high-value materials and services to survive and profit. This report summarizes the second annual CHF-SCI Innovation Day and suggests solutions for current challenges based on this annual forum in which scientists and technology managers gather to explore frontier areas for the chemical industry. The industry's future, we argue, lies in a strategic "wager" on disruptive technologies, balanced by incremental steps to develop new feedstocks and manufacturing processes that yield novel materials with less environmental impact.

This is the second in a series of white papers to be produced by CHF's Center for Contemporary History and Policy.

Also in this series:

Research Frontiers for the Chemical Industry: A Report on the Fifth Annual CHF-SCI Innovation Day, Warren G. Schlinger Symposium

Research Frontiers for the Chemical Industry: A Report on the Fourth Annual CHF-SCI Innovation Day, Warren G. Schlinger Symposium

Research Frontiers for the Chemical Industry: A Report on the Third Annual CHF-SCI Innovation Day, Warren G. Schlinger Symposium

Research Frontiers for the Chemical Industry: A Report on the First Annual CHF-SCI Innovation Day, Warren G. Schlinger Symposium

Arthur Daemmrich is an assistant professor in the Business, Government, and the International Economy Unit at Harvard Business School (HBS) and a faculty member of the HBS Healthcare Initiative. His research examines science, medicine, and the state, with a focus on advancing theories of risk and regulation through empirical research on the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and chemical sectors. Daemmrich has published on regulation and innovation as well as science, technology, and business policy. He holds a Ph.D. from Cornell University and a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.

Cyrus Mody is an assistant professor in the Department of History at Rice University. He holds a Ph.D. in science and technology studies from Cornell University and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical and materials engineering from Harvard University. He was the 2004–2005 Gordon Cain Fellow at CHF. Mody has published widely on the history and sociology of materials science, instrumentation, and nanotechnology. He is also the author of Instrumental Community: Probe Microscopy and the Path to Nanotechnology.