Innovation Day Reports

Innovation Frontiers in Industrial Chemistry: A Report on the Fifth Annual CHF–SCI Innovation Day, Warren G. Schlinger Symposium (PDF, 1.11 MB)

Now in its 5th year the Chemical Heritage Foundation CHF-SCI Innovation Day and Warren G. Schlinger Symposium has had the most successful event in its short history. The key concern is to exchange and debate broad viewpoints on innovation in the chemical industry rather than to discuss scientific and technical details. The proceedings provide a unique opportunity for young industrial chemists to take a step back from their day-to-day operations to contemplate the bigger picture, expanding their outlooks into the broader social, economic, and political contexts that impinge on contemporary innovative activities in the chemical and molecular science industries.

Panel summaries: Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering; Electronic Materials; Chemistry of Energy Sources; Health Materials; and Emerging Global Economies. Appendix I: Mapping the Future of Science and Innovation.

Also available in softcover from our online catalog.

Innovation Frontiers in Industrial Chemistry: A Report on the Fourth Annual CHF–SCI Innovation Day, Warren G. Schlinger Symposium (PDF, 383KB)

Innovation is inherently a social process -- an activity performed by human beings and embedded in a particular time and place as part of an intricate network of disparate institutions. The driving force for technological innovation comes, frequently but not exclusively, from the pressures that shape real and perceived societal needs. Successful innovation is characterized not simply by invention, but by an abilty to successfully intermesh new ideas or methods with social context, to implement them and make them real. Because successful innovations enter society through diverse pathways, they often bring about an unexpected reconstruction of the social milieu. And once entrenched, successful innovations tend to become inextricably linked with that social world, making the possibility of extraction difficult.

Includes an introduction and summaries of panels: Eco-Friendly Products; Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering; Chemistry of Energy Sources; Health Materials; Electronic Materials; Emerging Global Economies.

Also available in softcover from our online catalog.

Innovation Frontiers in Industrial Chemistry: A Report on the Third Annual CHF–SCI Innovation Day, Warren G. Schlinger Symposium (PDF, 383KB)

Competition is becoming ever fiercer in the chemical industry as new firms from emerging economies enter the market and as technological advances, potential new regulations, and rising energy and feedstock costs shrink profit margins. Today’s market dilemmas and innovation systems are too complex for any one organization. Network building is therefore central to continued innovation.

This report summarizes the third annual CHF–SCI Innovation Day and describes a variety of partnerships among chemical and materials firms that combine cooperation and competition in novel, forward-looking ways. 

Also available in softcover from our online catalog.

Innovation Frontiers in Industrial Chemistry: A Report on the Second Annual CHF–SCI Innovation Day, Warren G. Schlinger Symposium (PDF, 297KB)

Squeezed in on all sides—including from raw material costs, 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, the second in the series, 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. 

Also available in softcover from our online catalog.

Innovation Frontiers in Industrial Chemistry: A Report on the First Annual CHF–SCI Innovation Day, Warren G. Schlinger Symposium (PDF, 211KB)

Based on findings from the first annual CHF–SCI Innovation Day, which explored frontier areas for industrial chemistry, this white paper argues that the chemical industry’s future lies in exploring diverse areas for research and development (R&D) rather than a narrow focus. By reinvigorating R&D, developing new markets, and engaging the public in a new dialogue about the risks and rewards of emerging technology, chemical firms can promote a new wave of innovation and rejuvenate the industry.

Also available in softcover from our online catalog.

Patterning the World: The Rise of Chemically Amplified Photoresists
by David C. Brock
The rise of the Digital Age has been predicated on Moore’s law—the observation, turned industrywide goal, that optimal economic advantage comes from an exponential increase in the performance of electronic components, accompanied by an exponential decrease in price. That is, the complexity of semiconductor devices should double every year or two, at a constant price. The realization of Moore’s law over the last four decades has required unrelenting development
of semiconductor manufacturing technology. Indeed, Moore’s law is fundamentally about semiconductor manufacturing technology. This technology involves chemical and physical processes for depositing, chemically altering, and patterning thin films of materials on a silicon substrate. The rise of the Digital Age then is a story of continual
materials innovation at a fundamental level.

In the early 1980s researchers in the semiconductor industry realized that the then dominant version of an absolutely central material on which semiconductor manufacturing technology was built— photoresist—would soon be insufficient, given the drive to maintain Moore’s law. Therefore, a radically new form of photoresist would be required. This case study examines the innovation of the first of these radical “chemically amplified photoresists” by IBM in the 1980s.

Innovation and Regulation on the Open Seas: The Development of Sea-Nine Marine Antifouling Paint
by Jody A. Roberts
The development of Sea-Nine marine antifouling paint linked agricultural biocides, coatings research, and federal and international regulation. The introduction of the marine coating in the 1990s was heralded as a “green” alternative to the toxic tin-based coatings widely used up to that point. Arriving at the final product, however, required the team at Rohm and Haas to negotiate a tricky technical and legal terrain. Drawing on internal expertise as well as outside help, the company was able to develop and deliver its new product in a timely manner. Meanwhile, work with and through the regulatory systems helped open new market possibilities for the company and place Sea-Nine at the forefront of a previously unexplored marketing niche. The case offers a number of important lessons for current molecular research, emphasizing the role of collaboration for expertise and the ways in which regulation (real and pending) can spur the innovation process.

Sun & Earth and the “Green Economy”: A Case Study in Small-Business Innovation
by Kristoffer Whitney
Since 1980 the household-cleaning-products industry has proliferated with small, niche firms catering to consumers interested in plant-based surfactants, or oleochemicals, rather than mainstream petroleum-based cleaners. While oleochemicals are still a relatively small part of the market, a few highly successful firms have not only inspired other similar small businesses but have also led large, mainstream producers to innovate their own lines of “green” household products. This case study focuses on one of the earliest companies 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. The case of Sun & Earth illuminates what it means to innovate as a small business in a niche market.

Assessing Community Advisory Panels: A Case Study from Louisiana’s Industrial Corridor
by Gwen Ottinger
Community advisory panels, or CAPs, are a central feature of the U.S. chemical industry’s public outreach efforts. CAPs have fostered dialogue between chemical facilities and neighboring communities nationwide; however, they are also frequently criticized for being merely public-relations vehicles for the chemical industry.

This paper investigates the performance of CAPs and highlights potential sources of public discontent with the dialogues. Drawing on observations of CAP meetings in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, in the heart of the state’s Mississippi River Industrial Corridor, the paper assesses CAP performance with respect to four key goals: building relationships between chemical facilities and nearby communities, educating residents about plant operations, informing facility managers about community concerns, and facilitating improvements in environmental performance.

New Chemical Bodies: A Conversation on Human Biomonitoring and Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals
by Jody A. Roberts
This paper follows on the 2007 Gordon Cain Conference, "New Chemical Bodies: Biomonitoring, Body Burden, and the Uncertain Threat of Endocrine Disruptors" held at the Chemical Heritage Foundation in March 2007.

The conference gathered together experts from academe, government, industry, and NGOs working in fields as diverse as public health, endocrinology, chemistry, sociology, history, and law in order to gather perspectives on current understandings of the ways human biomonitoring studies and research into the endocrine-disrupting effect of chemicals are changing the landscape and discourse of public health in the United States.

Twenty-First-Century Science Education: Preparing Teachers and Students for the Future (PDF, 1.23 MB)

The 7th Leadership Initiative in Science Education (LISE 7) presented multiple perspectives on how to be prepared for 21st-century science education. In attendance were leaders from industry, colleges and universities, education, science and technology museums and learning centers, and national and regional organizations.

Also available in softcover from our online catalog.

Discovery in Our Classrooms: Inquiry and the Nature of Science (PDF, 288KB)

This online book presents the revised proceedings of the fifth Leadership Initiative in Science Education (LISE 5), "Discovery in Our Classrooms: Inquiry and the Nature of Science,"showcasing methods of improving student understanding in science education by highlighting inquiry-based techniques and techniques for teaching the nature of science in classrooms.

Partners in Innovation: Science Education and the
Science Workforce (PDF, 5MB)

This book presents the revised proceedings of the fourth Leadership Initiative in Science Education (LISE 4), "Partners in Innovation: Science Education and the Science Workforce," which gathered educators, industry executives, leaders from professional societies, and government officials to examine the needs of the modern science workforce and the implications for science educators.

Setting an Agenda for the Social Studies of Nanotechnology
To foster greater collaboration between social scientists and stakeholders in the nanotechnology arena, the Wharton School and the Chemical Heritage Foundation presented a joint symposium to encourage debate about the most productive role of the social sciences in nanotechnology.

Social scientists benefited from hearing various nanotechnology stakeholders discuss what research would be most helpful. Stakeholders, in turn, had the opportunity to consider what social scientists can offer in terms of understanding the evolution of technology, technology-in-use, the economics of technical change, risk analysis, and communication.

Understanding Moore's Law: Four Decades of Innovation
The rise of semiconductor electronics is among the most important global developments of the past half-century. Clearly, insights into the dynamics that have brought us this silicon revolution are vital to our understanding of the world today and our common future.

With the proliferation of silicon chips into nearly every aspect of contemporary life, Moore's law is increasingly looked to as a bellwether for the whole of technological development.  This text places the silicon revolution in a broad context and charts Gordon Moore's development of his eponymous law across its forty-year life. 

Also available in softcover from our online catalog.

Polymers and People: An Informal History
Related to the traveling exhibit of the same name, this online exhibit book shows how polymers and people are the closest partners in everyday life. It begins by introducing the many scientists who developed plastics, rubber, and resins, most notably Wallace Carothers. It then illustrates how polymers are fashioned and outlines their increasing role in our future.

Also available in softcover from our online catalog.

The History and Heritage of Scientific and Technological Information Systems: Proceedings of the 2002 Conference
In November 2002, CHF and the American Society for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) hosted their second conference on the history and heritage of scientific and technological information systems. Emphasis for this conference was on systems in the period from World War II up through the early 1990s. Historians of science and technology, information scientists, and scientists in other fields delivered papers on a wide range of topics.

Also available in softcover from our online catalog.

R&D Meets M&A: Proceedings of the 2003 Conference on Innovation and Creativity in Chemical R&D (PDF, 538KB)
In April 2003 a group of chemical industry research directors and technology officers, current and retired CEOs, business analysts, economists, and historians gathered at CHF to discuss the relationship of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) to research and development (R&D) and to address the role of innovation in the chemical industry’s future.

This volume contains an edited set of the presentations and discussions that tackled these issues.

Also available in softcover from our online catalog.