FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | August 11, 2010

American Chemical Society, Council for Chemical Research to hold R&D symposium Aug. 22

BOSTON, Aug. 11, 2010 — The American Chemical Society (ACS) and the Council for Chemical Research (CCR) will hold a special half-day symposium to address the critical challenge of keeping the United States’ chemical enterprise competitive, and the central role research and development (R&D) will play in this process. Entitled “Translational Chemical R&D: The Driving Force for Job Creation,” the event takes place on Sunday, Aug. 22, during the ACS National Meeting & Exposition here. The symposium, which includes a half-dozen experts from the chemical enterprise, will take place from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. in Room 210A of the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. A private reception for further discussion with the speakers and other R&D leaders will follow the symposium.

“With annual sales of $689 billion, the chemical sector employs nearly 1 million workers and has long shown a positive trade balance,” explained CCR Executive Director Paul Mendez. “But it is now threatened by the same offshoring trends that have decimated the U.S. machine tool, steel and consumer electronics industries. This symposium will look at how innovation can reverse this trend and maintain the chemical industry export success story.”

The symposium will be divided into two sessions. In the first, presenters will explore big picture trends and new tools to maximize the impact of R&D. In the second session, presenters will focus on tools to translate R&D to commercialization, such as open collaboration, venture investment in spin-offs, and R&D centers or hubs.

PLEASE NOTE THAT PRESENTATIONS IN THE R&D SYMPOSIUM ARE EMBARGOED UNTIL SUNDAY, AUG. 22, 1:30 p.m., EASTERN TIME.

Scheduled presenters in the R&D symposium are:

  • Montgomery Alger, Ph.D.
    Chief Technology Officer
    Air Products & Chemicals, Inc.
    Allentown, Penn.
    Board of Directors, American Institute of Chemical Engineers
  • Mark G. Allen, Ph.D.
    Senior Vice Provost for Research & Innovation
    Georgia Institute of Technology
    Atlanta, Ga.
    Co-Director, Center for MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) and Microsystems Technologies
  • Pat N. Confalone, Ph.D.
    Vice President
    DuPont Crop Protection, Global R&D
    Wilmington, Del.
    Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
    Board of Directors, American Chemical Society
  • Eric D. Isaacs, Ph.D.
    Director
    Argonne National Laboratory
    Argonne, Ill.
    Fellow, American Physical Society
  • Dr. Chad A. Mirkin, Ph.D.
    Department of Chemistry
    Northwestern University
    Evanston, Ill.
    Entrepreneur and Director of the International Institute for Nanotechnology
  • Charles W. Wessner, Ph.D.
    Director, Technology, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship
    The National Academies
    Washington, D.C.
    National Academy Scholar

More than 8,000 reports on new advances in medicine, health, energy, environment, and other scientific disciplines that involve chemistry will be presented during the ACS National Meeting. The ACS Press Center will open at 8 a.m. Aug. 21 in Room 152 in the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. It will host daily press conferences starting on Aug. 22 and a news media workroom fully staffed to assist in arranging interviews. The Press Center will have wireless Internet access, telephones, Skype access, computers, photocopy and fax machines, and refreshments. Free news media registration for the meeting is still open.

Embargoed copies of press releases, non-technical summaries of newsworthy presentations, and a press conference schedule will be available in August. Reporters planning to cover the meeting from their home bases will have access to the press conferences over the Internet in ACS’ popular “Live Chat” format.

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Media Contact

Michael Bernstein
617-954-3522 (Meeting, Aug. 22-26)
202-872-6042 (Before Aug. 21)
m_bernstein@acs.org

Paul Mendez
202-429-3971
pmendez@ccrhq.org