Midland, MI - March 08, 2006
Pak-Wing "Steve" Chum, Ph.D., chief scientist and Dow fellow in the Performance Plastics & Chemicals portfolio for The Dow Chemical Company, will be inducted into the Plastics Hall of Fame on June 19, 2006, at the Chicago Hilton and Towers during the National Plastics Exposition in Chicago, Ill.
Chum is being recognized for his life-time contributions in the development of polymer materials science and the use of materials science to guide and speed up the development and the innovation of new plastic products and applications. He is a world recognized expert in semi-crystalline polymers materials science, including structure/property models, crystallization of semi-crystalline polyolefins, rheology models and fabrication technology for polyolefins.
Chum joins 145 distinguished inductees in the Plastics Hall of Fame, which is administered by The Plastics Academy Inc. The Plastics Hall of Fame was established in 1972 to honor individuals who have made significant contributions to the advancement and growth of the plastics industry in the United States, and is the highest honor awarded in the plastics industry. The awards were expanded to include non-U.S. contributions in 2004. New inductees are elected every three years by majority vote.
"Dr. Chum is one of the world's leading experts in structure-processing-property relationships in polymers, including their blends and composites," adds Professor Eric Baer, Department of Macromolecular Science and Engineering, Case Western Reserve University. "In addition to his considerable service to the plastics industry, he has played key roles in interacting with both academia and government organizations, and continues to provide the leadership that is required to keep the American polymer industry highly competitive in the vast international arena."
Chum's Accomplishments
Chum joined Dow in 1980 as a senior research chemist in functional Polymers R&D and has held various leadership roles in R&D for functional polymers, foams and polyolefin products. Early in his career at Dow, Chum made significant contributions to plastic foam technology. He worked closely with L. C. "Bud" Rubens, a legendary Dow scientist in foam technology and a member of the Plastics Hall of Fame, in developing several key technologies that enabled Dow to extend its polyolefin foam products and technology.
Later, collaborating with Kurt Swogger and others, Chum was one of the key inventors for the INSITE™ Technology, an innovative metallocene-based polymer technology. His developments enabled Dow to commercialize several new families of and applications for polyolefins, including ELITE™ Enhanced Polyethylenes, AFFINITY™ Polyolefin Plastomers, INSPIRE™ Performance Polypropylenes, ENGAGE™ Polyolefin Elastomers, NORDEL-IP™ EPDM (ethylene-propylene-diene monomer), and XLA™ Elastic Fiber. Since their discovery and development in the early 1990s, sales of these products have exceeded 1.5 billion pounds. These polyolefin products are now widely used for food and specialty packaging, durables, and automotive applications with improved performance to benefit the consumers. INSITE™ Technology is one of the Dow technologies that received the 2002 U.S. National Medal of Technology from President George W. Bush.
Recently, he co-led another new product development effort and the successful launch of a new polypropylene-based product, VERSIFY™ Plastomers and Elastomers. VERSIFY™ Polymers are used in packaging and durable markets that provide excellent clarity and gloss, superb elasticity, flexibility, softness and compatibility.
As a world-class polymer materials scientist, Chum is among the first in the polyolefin industry who combined polymer materials science and structure/property models into a product design model. The resulting product design models incorporated in SixDay™ Product Design Software allowed Dow to design new, high-performance polyolefin products for its customers in a drastically reduced time cycle. The results enabled customers to develop new products with increased speed to market. He worked closely with Professor Eric Baer and Professor Anne Hiltner of Case Western Reserve University to develop a materials science model on semi-crystalline polymers. Baer is also a member of the Plastics Hall of Fame.
Chum is a well-recognized educator in the plastic industry and academia. He has been invited to give lectures around the world, has co-authored over 60 journal articles and is the author of several plastic technology review articles that were published in various plastic technology textbooks and encyclopedias. He holds 55 U.S. patents as well as numerous European and world patents.
Chum grew up in Macau and received his bachelor's degree in chemistry from Hong Kong Baptist College. He completed graduate studies in Chemistry at Northern Michigan University, earned a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Oregon State University and completed post-doctoral Research at Kent State University.
Other Awards Bestowed
Chum is the recipient of many prestigious awards for his contributions to polymer science and to the plastic industry. In 2001, he received the ACS Industry/Academia Cooperative Research Award, jointly with Professor Anne Hiltner of Case Western Reserve University. In 2000, he received The H.H. Dow Medal, the highest honor bestowed to the most senior scientists by The Dow Chemical Company, and, in that same year, he was inducted as a society fellow by the Society of Plastics Engineers. He was the co-recipient of three R&D 100 awards; for ELITE™ Resin development in 1998, for XLA™ Elastic Fiber development in 2003, and for VERSIFY™ Plastomers and Elastomers development in 2005. In 1996, he received the Distinguish Alumni Award from Northern Michigan University. In 1994, he received the U.S. National Inventor of the Year award. In the same year, he was named one of "50 U.S. R&D Stars" by the Industry Week magazine. In 1993, he received the ACS Outstanding Achievement Award.
Chum Joins Other Plastic Hall of Fame Recipients from Dow
Chum joins five other Plastics Hall of Fame inductees from Dow, who include Willard H. Dow (1975, posthumous); John Grebe (1990, posthumous); Ray Boyer (1991); Bill Goggin (1996, posthumous) and L.C. "Bud" Rubens (2000).
About THE PLASTICS ACADEMY, INC
THE PLASTICS ACADEMY, INC was founded in 1987 to administer and perpetuate the tradition of honoring individuals who have contributed significantly to the development of plastics or the plastics industry by inducting them into the PLASTICS HALL OF FAME. For more details: www.plasticsacademy.org
About The Dow Chemical Company
Dow is a diversified chemical company that harnesses the power of science and technology to improve living daily. The Company offers a broad range of innovative products and services to customers in more than 175 countries, helping them to provide everything from fresh water, food and pharmaceuticals to paints, packaging and personal care products. Built on a commitment to its principles of sustainability, Dow has annual sales of $46 billion and employs 42,000 people worldwide. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted.
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The Dow Chemical Company
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