Rose Harper: YPA winner
to globetrotter
Rose joins 500 industry members in Philadelphia months
after winning the UK Young Person of the Year Award
 After
being awarded the UK Young Person of the Year award in July
this year, I was very excited when I was invited to represent
SCI and the UK chemical industry at an innovation day symposium,
the SCI Perkin Medal dinner and SCI Gordon E Moore Medal presentation
in Philadelphia, USA, in September.
The Warren Schlinger innovation day joined promising young
scientists and technology leaders from across the chemical
industries to focus on innovation. The SCI Perkin Medal recognises
a member of the chemical industry for their lifelong commitment
and achievements in the chemical industry and the SCI Gordon
E Moore Medal was established for recognition of early career
success in innovation. The latter two are awards organised
by SCI’s America Section.
Earlier this year, the Perkin Medal was awarded to Gordon
E Moore in recognition of his innovations in the semiconductor
industry and the SCI Gordon E Moore Medal was awarded to George
Barclay, R&D Manager for Materials Innovation at Rohm and
Haas Electronic Materials.
So with all these events planned ahead, I was prepared for
a whirlwind few days of wining and dining, learning about
the issues affecting the chemical industry in the US and what
the future might hold, as well as recognising the many important
developments of the past. A whirlwind it certainly was.
Warren Schlinger (whom the innovation day was named after)
opened the conference at a dinner with his observations that
innovation was merely about being in the right place at the
right time. However, many of us agreed there was more to it
than that!
After breakfast the following day, and an opening address
by Bob Gower, President, CEO and cofounder of Carbon Nanotechnologies
and former Chief Executive of Atlantic Richfield, the day
was split into sessions covering innovations in health materials,
bioindustrial technologies, nanomaterials, future energy sources,
photonics and optoelectronics, and green chemistry. Delegates
chose two sessions: I attended the green chemistry and bioindustrial
technologies sessions. These were thought provoking, interesting
and highlighted that a lot of change is progressed by regulation.
The sessions were summarised at the end of the day when session
leaders discussed what common barriers may prevent innovation
developing, how they will affect the chemical industry and
its customers, and what happens next.
It was agreed there were a lot of opportunities to innovate,
but does the chemical industry have the competency to take
them on and develop them? Economics were considered a barrier,
but it was thought that this would reduce as technologies
develop. Public perception is important and education is needed,
otherwise the public could reject innovation and as a consequence
the government could introduce more regulation. The availability
of funding for research is seen as an issue because, while
some developed areas have a lot of funding, others are somewhat
neglected.
The day was a great occasion to consider what our industry
can achieve in the future and recognise what progress and
achievements have been made in the past.
In the evening, SCI hosted a dinner to confer the Perkin
Medal on Gordon Moore for lifetime achievement and commitment
to the chemical industry. Moore, the founder of Intel, was
key in the development of the semiconductor industry and developed
Moore’s Law. Over 500 members of the chemical industry attended
the dinner and I was fortunate to be seated with the American
Chemical Society. The evening was both enjoyable and informative,
and I had some interesting discussions about the differing
issues affecting the industry in America compared to the UK.
Overall, it was a fascinating few days that gave fantastic
opportunities to develop a greater insight into the chemical
industry of the past, present and future. I made some useful
contacts and hope to revisit these when I travel to Houston
next year, another benefit of the Young Person of the Year
Award.
I am very grateful to SCI for allowing me this opportunity.
|
