Hydrocarbon Processing - September 2022 - 146

Industry Pioneers
into the National Academy of Engineering, named a high-technology
Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young, and named a
" Hero of Manufacturing " by FORTUNE magazine.82
HAREN S. GANDHI
Haren S. Gandhi was an engineer and an inventor
who is known for his work in the field of automotive
exhaust catalysts. While still attending
the University of Detroit, he joined the
Ford Motor Co. as a research scientist and dedicated
his research to advanced emissions control.
He began his research in areas such as three-way catalysts
(TWCs) which convert carbon monoxide to CO2
carbons to CO2
and hydro,
nitrogen and water. Gandhi employed precious
metal utilization and recycling to reduce the use of the
most used catalysts (platinum, palladium and rhodium). Gandhi's
research also showed evidence of catalytic poisoning
from lead and helped hasten the ban of leaded gasoline.
Gandhi earned 61 patents and has received numerous
awards, including the U.S. National Medal of Technology and
Innovation in 2002.83
of Engineering (NAE) in 1999.83
ployees designated as Henry Ford Technical Fellow. In 2010,
the Ford Motor Co. introduced the Haren Gandhi Research
and Innovation Awards to honor his contributions. He was inducted
into the National Hall of Inventors in 2017.84
HEINO FINKELMANN
Heino Finkelmann is known for his work in liquid crystalline
elastomers. Although the liquid crystal state was first observed
in late 1800s, the first classical application of liquid crystal polymers
(LCPs) was Kevlar. The primary driving force in developing
LCPs was to incorporate them into displays. Finkelmann's
proposal to insert a flexible spacer between the main and side
chains of the LCs helped create different nematic, smectic and
cholesteric LC phases of side-chain LCPs (SCLCPs) which are
useful functional materials.
P.G. de Gennes proposed liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs)
in 1975, and Finkelmann and coworkers synthesized and established
the properties of LCEs in 1981.85
LCEs caught the
interest of researchers and industry alike. LCEs are highly responsive
to heat, light and magnetic fields, and nanomaterials
additives have been used to tailor the LCEs properties to
generate response to specific stimuli. LCE films can be used as
optical retarders, in 3D glasses, patterned retarders for transflective
displays and flat-panel LC displays.
Finkelmann received several awards and honors including
the Duisberg Memorial Prize from the Society of German
Chemists in 1984, the Gay-Lussac Humboldt Price in 2000,
Agilent technologies Europhysics prize of the European Physical
Society in 2003, and the George William Gray medal of the
British Liquid Crystal Society in 2006.86
LEO BAEKELAND
Leo Baekeland was a Belgian-American chemist
who is best known for the invention of Velox
photographic paper in 1893 and Bakelite in
1907.87
He is called the father of the plastics
industry due to his introduction of Bakelite,
146 SEPTEMBER 2022 | HydrocarbonProcessing.com
He was elected to the National Academy
He was one of the few emthe
world's first synthetic plastic which marked the introduction
of the Polymer Age.
Baekeland invented a process to develop photographic
plates using water instead of other chemicals, patenting his
technology in 1887. By 1891, he set up his own business working
as a consulting chemist but returned to his old interest of
producing paper that will enable enlarged pictures to be printed
in artificial light. He successfully produced the first commercially
successful photographic paper, Velox. He partnered
with Leonard Jacobi and the Nepera Chemical Co. to commercialize
his new product. The sales of Nepera to Eastman
Kodak in 1899 enabled Baekeland to have enough funds to
set up his own laboratory in New York. Baekeland developed
a stronger diaphragm cell for a chloralkali electrolysis process.
His contribution to an improved electrolysis cell was significant
in that it led to the founding of the Hooker Chemical Co.
After the success of Velox, Baekeland was ready for a new
project in chemical development and chose the field of synthetic
resins. He followed the experimental results of Adolf
von Baeyer and his failure in crystallizing, purifying or utilizing
the 'black guck' these reactions produced. He began his
own experiments while precisely controlling and studying the
effects of temperature, pressure, molecular ratios and types of
reactants used.
His first successful application was a synthetic replacement
of shellac which he named Novolak. Although Baekeland determined
that its properties were inferior and it failed commercially,
it is still used as a photoresist. As Baekeland continued
to experiment with various combinations of phenol and formaldehyde,
he eventually produced a moldable plastic, Bakelite.
Bakelite was the first plastic that formed the class of plastics
called thermosets. Due to the excellent heat resistance and
electrical insulation properties of Bakelite, immediate commercial
applications included radios, telephones and electrical
insulators. Other notable advantages of Bakelite are its non-inflammable
and inexpensive nature despite being more versatile
in applications than other plastics. Since its invention, it has
been used in a wide array of applications from engine parts to
jewelry and electronics.
He received several awards and recognitions including the
Perkin Medal in 1916, the Franklin medal in 1940 and was
inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1978.88
He earned more than 100 patents and was awarded honorary
degrees from the Universities of Pittsburgh and Edinburgh.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Hydrocarbon Processing would like to thank several institutions/companies for
the use of archived images of industry pioneers. These include ACS science history,
AspenTech, BASF, Bayer, the Canadian Petroleum Hall of Fame, Corning, Explore
Pennsylvania History, Goodyear, Linde, Michigan State University's College of
Natural Science Department of Chemistry, MIT Lemelson, MIT Museum, the
National Inventors Hall of Fame, The Nobel Prize, Northwestern University,
Nottingham Trent University, the Plastics Hall of Fame, Plastics Historical Society,
Röhm and Hass AG, Science History and The National Academy of Engineers,
Science History Institute, Shell, Solvay, University of Massachusetts and Wikipedia.
LITERATURE CITED
Complete literature cited available online at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com.
An expanded version of Industry Pioneers can be
found online at HydrocarbonProcessing.com.
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