DOW Seminar at Walter Library
Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Dow A.N. Sreeram will deliver a seminar titled, “Innovation at Dow: Innovating and Implementing Science-Based Scalable Solutions for the World’s Greatest Challenges” on Thursday, September 19th, at 1:30 p.m. in room 402 of Walter library.
Abstract - Innovation at Dow: Innovating and Implementing Science-Based Scalable Solutions for the World’s Greatest Challenges
The challenges facing the world today and in the future are some of most significant and most daunting that humankind has ever encountered. If we aim to find solutions that truly improve the quality of life for all people on the planet, we must rely even more heavily on rigorous engineering and science to lead the way. Sustainability is now an essential component of innovation, and Dow has repeatedly demonstrated an ability to deliver solutions that are simultaneously better performing and more sustainable. New solutions must be developed at an unprecedented speed and implemented at world-scale. To meet the growing demands of society, industry must innovate, grow production volume and “decarbonize” processes simultaneously. Dow is well positioned to address this challenge, leading the industry with technologies to deliver zero-CO2-emissions, whose carbon benefits propagate the value chain. Using rigorous science and engineering grounded in the laws of nature, the Dow team rapidly commercializes new products with improved performance and enhanced sustainability profiles. We develop products for the diverse markets we serve, including packaging, infrastructure, consumer, and mobility, which enables energy efficiency, more efficient modes of transportation, packaging and recycling, construction, and home and personal care. The accelerated pace of innovation at Dow is made possible by investment in world-class workflows that encompass molecular modeling and AI, high throughput research, formulation, application screening, and digital tools for data modeling and visualization. These platforms are constantly evolving as the Dow team tackles ever-more-challenging technical problems.
A.N. Sreeram's Bio
A.N. Sreeram is Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Dow, where he focuses on accelerating new product commercialization through strategic collaboration with Dow’s businesses and customers.
Sreeram leads a vibrant R&D organization at Dow focused on step-change technology development aligned with market demand. Under Sreeram’s leadership, Dow transformed its innovation approach, significantly growing high throughput experimentation and analysis capabilities extending from material discovery and processing through to application development. Sreeram has established strong value chain partnerships, giving Dow a seat at the customer’s design table and strong connections to market signals. Dow’s innovation pipeline is strongly aligned with strategic growth areas and global challenges, and empowering Dow researchers to excel. When combined, the capabilities and expertise of Dow’s R&D organization provide a distinct competitive advantage, enabling the company to more quickly develop products, ensuring that new products are simultaneously better performing and more sustainable in order to meet customer needs, and rapidly commercializing new innovations into established and emerging markets. In 2020 he received the prestigious biennial Henry F. Whalen Jr. Award that recognizes outstanding contributions to research and business within the chemical industry.
Products developed at Dow under Sreeram’s tenure have received many awards for innovation and sustainability, including the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge, the Business Intelligence Group Innovation and Sustainability Awards, as well as R&D 100 and Edison Awards, both of which Dow has cumulative won more than any other company. Examples of award-winning technologies include DOWSIL™ TC-4060 Thermal Gel, ENGAGETM 11000 Polyolefin Elastomers, RHOBARRTM 320 Polyolefin Dispersion for Paper and Board, EVOQUE™ Pre-composite Polymer for Paints, INNATE™ Precision Packaging Resins, INFUSE™ Olefin Block Copolymers, DOWSIL™ EP-9610 Cosmetic Powder, ECOFAST™ Pure Sustainable Textile Treatment, Dow Performance Silicones Moldable Optical Silicone, ROPAQUE™ Opaque Polymer for BLU4EST™ Thermal Paper, ACCUTRACE™ Fuel Markers and RENUVA™ Mattress Recycling Program for polyurethane foams.
Sreeram served as Vice President of R&D for Dow Advanced Materials prior to assuming his current role. He joined Dow in June 2006 as Vice President of Core R&D, driving innovation in a number of key market segments, including automotive, infrastructure and health. He led the adoption of high-throughput technologies to significantly accelerate the R&D process, while lowering costs and dramatically increasing product successes.
Prior to joining Dow, Sreeram served as the Global Technology Director and Chief Technology Officer for DuPont Electronic Technologies. Prior to this, he served as Vice President of Worldwide Technology for Cookson Electronics, and, before that, he led the Electronic and Flat Display Program for Sarnoff Corporation.
Sreeram served on the White House’s President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) advising the President on matters of science, technology, education and innovation policy. Sreeram holds more than 20 U.S. patents, earned his doctorate degree from the Department of Materials Science & Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.), and his master’s degree in Glass Science from Alfred University in New York where he currently serves as a member of Board of Trustees. He is also a graduate of the ceramics engineering program at the Indian Institute of Technology – BHU in Varanasi, India.