Last week the ACS GCI Roundtables hosted the 4th Annual ACS GCI Roundtable Poster Reception, dedicated to green chemistry in industry. The event was co-located with 18th Annual Green Chemistry and Engineering Conference in Bethesda, MD, and was welcomed by the four roundtables, Chemical Manufacturer’s (ChMR), Formulators’ (FR), Hydraulic Fracturing (HFR), and Pharmaceutical (PR). While the conference convenes a broad audience of more than 400 people, the Roundtable Reception hosts a more focused audience of about 120 people drawn largely from industry but includes selected esteemed colleagues from government and non-government organizations, and academia performing highly relevant research.
There were government officials (EPA, USDA, Dpt of Commerce, Dpt. of State, etc.), industry professionals, and academics in attendance whose work is dedicated to addressing challenges in the chemical industry and developing green chemistry solutions. The evening is centered around the invited poster presenters, whose work is on display throughout the evening to inspire conversation. The exclusive event is meant to foster collaborations across the value chain to develop innovative, more sustainable products and processes in various sectors of the chemical industry.
(L to R) Amit Sehgal of Solvay (ChMR), Danny Durham of Apache (HFR), Phil Sliva of Amway (FR), Dave Long of ACS GCI Board (HFR), John Tucker of Amgen (PR), Juan Colberg of Pfizer (PR), David Constable, and Samy Ponnusamy of Sigma Aldrich (ChMR)
This year’s reception was sponsored by Flotek Industries' Florida Chemical, ILSI Health and Environmental Sciences Institute, and LAUNCH (a platform that was founded by NASA, NIKE, The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and The U.S. Department of State to identify and foster breakthrough ideas for a more sustainable world). The night began with opening remarks from ACS GCI Director David Constable, John Tucker, a senior scientist at Amgen and newly elected co-chair of the ACS GCI Pharmaceutical Roundtable, and David Acker the VP of Business Development at Flotek-Florida Chemical. It was followed by an announcement from LAUNCH about their 2014 challenge. John Frazier, Nike's Senior Director of Chemical Innovation, and Nancy Jackson, a current Franklin Fellow at the State Department (on loan from Sandia National Laboratories) unveiled that the focus of the LAUNCH competition this year is green chemistry. To learn more, please visit their website.
Overall, with food and conversations flowing for hours, the night was a hit. With the objective being to expand attendees' network in order to advance the research, development, and marketing of industrially relevant, greener alternatives, over 90% of the event's survey respondents indicated that the reception met or exceeded this objective. With new partnerships already underway from the reception, we are already looking forward to next year's event!
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