April 25
@
12:20 PM
–
1:20 PM
Materials Science Seminar Series presents Dr. Ed Rakiewicz on Thursday, April 25, from 12:20 to 1:20 p.m. The seminar is hosted by Professor Izabela Szlufarska and will be held in MS&E building room 265. Dr. Rakiewicz will be discussing how to consistently drive sustainability and growth.
Abstract
In today’s corporate landscape, businesses are under increasing pressure to enhance their sustainability profiles, and many are grappling with the challenge of integrating sustainability into their Research and Development (R&D) and other functions. In addition, a prevailing assumption is that these initiatives may come at the cost of sacrificing commercial value and/or may never scale. This presentation will provide critical insights and project examples derived from a PPG case study demonstrating that it is possible for companies to consistently (over a 40- year period) develop and commercialize new sustainable technologies that also drive organic growth by leveraging the best practices of transformative innovation.
Bio
Ed Rakiewicz is a Corporate Fellow and Intrapreneur at PPG, a leading global manufacturer of paints, coatings and specialty materials headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In this role, Ed is responsible for the identification and development of early stage adjacent and transformational “front end” ventures that have the potential to create new revenue streams for the company. He also plays a key role in developing and leveraging external partnership, funding and licensing opportunities with universities, government agencies and other companies. A 33-year veteran of the coatings and specialty chemicals industries, Ed has held a variety of analytical, product development, innovation/technical leadership and business development roles focused primarily on the Automotive, Industrial and Aerospace markets. His accomplishments include numerous contributions relating to the characterization, advancement and commercialization of new innovative materials and processes. His 25 US patents and 8 technical publications cover a wide variety of sustainable technologies including NOx-reducing fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) catalysts, lithium-ion battery electrodes and numerous environmentally-friendly metal pretreatments and corrosion protection coatings systems. In addition to being named on several R&D 100 awards, Ed was a 2018 recipient of PPG’s biennial President’s Award for Technical Achievement for the successful development and commercialization of Zircobond® pretreatment, a market disrupting technology for the Automotive and Industrial markets. In 2021, Ed was elected to the PPG Collegium, an association of PPG leaders who have made key technological contributions that support PPG’s growth and financial success. A native of Pennsylvania, Rakiewicz received a B.S. in Chemistry with Honors from Mount St. Mary’s University (Emmitsburg, MD) and a Ph.D. in Physical Organic Chemistry from Penn State University. Ed serves on the External Advisory Board (EAB) for the University of Minnesota’s Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science (CEMS) and is a mentor at the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University.
Materials Science Seminar Series – Speaker Dr. Ed Rakiewicz