Catalytic Process Technology (2000)

Stanley A. Gembicki (chair) is chief technology officer at UOP Corporation, where he has worked for 27 years. Dr. Gembicki has broad expertise in chemical engineering research, the development of new applications for catalysts, and the commercialization and scale-up of new catalytic processes. He has held numerous positions, including head of catalyst development, head of separation-process development, director of process research, and director of research, where he oversaw a redesign of UOP’s research and development program. He is UOP’s representative to the Industrial Research Institute and the Council of Chemical Research and is currently a member of the International Scientific Board for the 12th International Congress on Catalysis.

Ralph A. Dalla Betta is vice president of Catalytica, Inc., where he has worked for 23 years, and vice president and chief scientist of Catalytica Combustion Systems, Inc. While at Catalytica, he has been involved in the development of Fischer-Tropsch catalyst systems with high selectivity for selected product fractions, high- performance, catalytic sensor systems for combustion-system monitoring, low-cost catalytic processes for the manufacture of pharmaceutical intermediates, and other specialty chemicals, rapid methods of catalyst characterization, the preparation and production of high-stability catalytic materials, including noble metal catalysts, and the development of catalytic combustion catalysts and combustion-system components. He is a member of the American Chemical Society and the North American Catalysis Society.

Francis G. Dwyer retired in 1993 as senior scientist and manager of catalysis research and development at the Mobil Research and Development Corporation, where he had worked for 40 years. He is currently a consultant to the chemical industry. During his career, he has been intimately involved with the research, development, and commercialization of catalysts, the introduction and development of zeolite catalysts in the catalytic cracking technology associated with ZSM-5 catalysts. He is a member of the of petroleum, and the development of the broad catalyst and process National Academy of Engineering and is currently chair of the National

Research Council Standing Committee on Program and Technical Review of the U.S. Army Soldier and Biological Chemical Command.

Robert J. Farrauto is a research fellow at Engelhard Corporation, where he has worked for 24 years. His research interests include the development of catalysts for environmental applications for stationary and mobile sources, fuel processors for fuel cells, and the production of nitric acid. Dr. Farrauto is the author of more than 60 journal articles and coauthor of two books, one on the fundamentals of industrial catalytic processes and one on catalytic air-pollution control. He holds more than 25 U.S. patents and is a member of the American Chemical Society and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. Dr. Farrauto is the North American and South American editor of Applied Catalysis B: Environmental.

Randolph L. Greasham is director of bioprocess research and development at Merck and Company, where he has worked for 16 years. Previously, he worked at the International Minerals and Chemical Corporation for 10 years in research and management positions. His research interests include biological catalysis, fermentation biochemistry, and microbial genetics. Dr. Greasham is the author or coauthor of 40 journal articles and six book chapters and holds one U.S. patent. He has served on the advisory board of the Center for Biocatalysis and Bioprocessing at the University of Iowa and the National Institute of Health Biotechnology Training Program Review Committee. He is a member of the American Chemical Society, the American Society of Microbiology, and the Society of Industrial Microbiology.

James F. Roth retired from Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., as corporate chief scientist and founder and director of the Corporate Science Center. Prior to his tenure with Air Products, Dr. Roth spent 20 years as a scientist and research director with Monsanto Company. He is currently a consultant to the chemical industry. He brings to the panel his broad industrial experience in the scale-up and commercialization of catalytic processes, as well as his knowledge of the chemical intermediates industry. He is the author of more than 35 papers and holds numerous U.S. and foreign patents. He was associate editor of Applied Catalysis and a member of the editorial board of Catalysis Today. He has received numerous awards, is a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), and has served on the National Research Council Committee on New Directions in Catalyst Science and Technology and the NAE Chemical Engineering Peer Committee.

Martin B. Sherwin is currently managing director of ChemVen Group, Inc., which he founded in 1996. Prior to this, Dr. Sherwin was with W.R. Grace and Company for 17 years, where he was vice president and president for five years of the Commercial Development Division, a new ventures operation. Before that he was executive vice president of the Research Division. For 14 years prior to joining W.R. Grace and Company, he was a member of the team that formed and built Chem Systems, Inc., an international consulting and research firm in the chemicals sectors, where he held several key positions. Earlier he spent five years at Halcon International in the areas of petrochemical process development, design, and start-up. Dr. Sherwin has developed a wide range of products, including first-of-a-kind petrochemical processes and catalysts, spiral wound-polymer membranes for natural gas purification, biopesticides, and metal-supported auto catalysts. He is a fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, a member of the American Chemical Society, a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and a member of the National Research Council Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology.

Francis A. Via has been manager of catalyst research at the GE Corporate Research and Development Center in Schenectady, New York, since 1988. Prior to joining GE, Dr. Via held a variety of positions at Stauffer Chemical Company, including group leader, Organic Synthesis; section manager, Catalyst and Materials Research; and assistant to the director. In 1988, he became director of contract research for the newly created corporate research programs in the United States. In this capacity, he was responsible for cooperative discovery research with universities and national laboratories in catalysts, polymers, materials, and biotechnology. Dr. Via is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a member of the Chemical Sciences Roundtable of the National Academy of Sciences. He has been a board member of the Council of Chemical Research, chair of the External Research Director’s Network of the Industrial Research Institute, and a member of several professional committees for government-industry collaborative research.

Barbara K. Warren was named manager of recruiting, workforce planning, and university relations at Union Carbide in 1998 after 24 years in the Research and Development Department. Dr. Warren has undertaken fundamental research on heterogeneous catalysis (including methane oxidation to ethylene and fuels, propane and ethane oxidation, catalyzed hydrocarbon cracking, direct propylene epoxidation, mechanisms of ethylene epoxidation, catalyzed ethylene oxide hydrolysis, olefin metathesis, and mechanisms of alkoxylation) and homogeneous catalysis (including ethanol from synthesis gas and ethylene glycol from synthesis

gas). In addition, she has designed and built pilot plants and developed and automated continuous reactors. She is the author of eight technical publications, the coeditor of a book, and holder of eight U.S. patents. Dr. Warren has been an officer of the Tri-State Catalyst Society and the North American Catalysis Society and has chaired a division of the American Chemical Society, where she organized five international symposia. She is also a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Joseph R. Zoeller is a research associate in the Chemical Processes Research Laboratory at Eastman Chemical Company, where he has worked for 18 years. He brings to the panel expertise in catalytic process technologies and experience in the chemical-intermediates industry. Dr. Zoeller’s current research interests include new catalysts and processes for the generation of acetic acid, acetic anhydride, methyl acetate, propionic acid, and propionic anhydride from synthetic gas. He is the author of 16 journal articles and five book chapters, coeditor of a book on acetic acid and its derivatives, and holder of 34 U.S. patents, with 20 additional patents pending. He is a member of the American Chemical Society, an associate editor of Catalysis Today, and a member of the Board of Advisors of Industrial Catalysis News.