CCHP Publications

Center for Contemporary History and Policy staff and fellows are engaged in ongoing research projects and related conferences; many of these projects result in publications such as the Studies in Sustainability or Studies in Materials Innovation white paper series.

Studies in Materials Innovation

Part of the Robert W. Gore Materials Innovation Project, this white paper series aims to illuminate the diverse contributions of materials innovation within the broader process of technological development in the contemporary age.

Institutions as Stepping-Stones: Rick Smalley and the Commercialization of Nanotubes

by Cyrus C. M. Mody | View • Download • Purchase

The creation of the biotechnology industry in the 1970s brought a new feature to materials-based innovation: small, high-tech firms started by (or linked closely to) prominent academic scientists. Though there is a very long history of professors starting or consulting with science-based firms, the patenting of recombinant-DNA research by Herbert Boyer of University of California, San Francisco, and Stanley Cohen of Stanford University in 1980 marked a new, self-conscious era of professorial start-ups. With Boyer and Cohen’s patent the venture-capital industry expanded out of its most successful niche—funding spin-off firms from established semiconductor companies—and into financing professorial start-ups. Academic researchers, many initially ambivalent about commercial ventures, eagerly founded companies once they saw the fortune Boyer reaped in the initial public offering of Genentech. Legislation (most notably the Bayh-Dole Act) quickly passed to facilitate further academic start-ups.2 And regional economic-development offices in the United States and the world began cultivating clusters of professorial start-ups in the hopes of eventually rivaling Boston and the San Francisco Bay Area.

The Integrated Circuit for Bioinformatics: The DNA Chip and Materials Innovation at Affymetrix

by Doogab Yi | View • Download • Purchase

The second generation of biotech firms, established in the 1990s, has expanded its business scope into chemical, materials, and research infrastructure for biomedical research and pharmaceutical development. A few start-up companies, such as Affymetrix, Celera, and Human Genome Sciences, exhibited this broader shift in their business toward materials and research after the first biotech boom of the 1980s subsided. This essay analyzes one such case in materials innovation in the biotech industry—Affymetrix’s DNA chip, which ignited the confluence of information technology and biotechnology. This case study illuminates the evolution of business strategies of the second generation of biotech firms, analyzes the reconfiguration of biotech firms’ strategic alliances with academic research communities and pharmaceutical companies in the 1990s, and examines the hybridization of discrete technological components in the development of bioinformatics.

Co-Innovation of Materials, Standards, and Markets: BASF’S Development of Ecoflex

by Arthur Daemmrich | View • Download • Purchase

Product innovation in the chemicals sector today requires not just scientific and technological advances but also compliance with standards and regulations, along with marketing to sophisticated intermediate firms and end users.

Yet the very novelty of new materials often means that product standards, health and safety regulations, and consumer markets are underdeveloped or absent. For new materials that offer environmental advantages over existing products, a lack of widely accepted product standards can doom market introductions.

This report presents a case study of Ecoflex, a biodegradable polymer manufactured by the German chemical company BASF.

Patterning the World: The Rise of Chemically Amplified Photoresists

by David C. Brock | View • Download • Purchase

The rise of the Digital Age has been predicated on Moore’s law—optimal economic advantage comes from an exponential increase in the performance of electronic components, accompanied by an exponential decrease in price. It is about semiconductor mfg. technol. In the early 1980s researchers in the semiconductor industry realized that the then dominant version of a central material on which semiconductor mfg. technol. was built—photoresist—would soon be insufficient. Therefore, a new form of photoresist would be required. This case study examines the innovation of the first of these “chemically amplified photoresists” by IBM in the 1980s. The case supports four findings with implications for our understanding of the nature of innovation. 

Innovation and Regulation on the Open Seas: The Development of Sea-Nine Marine Antifouling Paint

by Jody A. Roberts | View • Download • Purchase

The development of Sea-Nine marine anti-fouling paint linked agricultural biocides, coatings research, and fed. and internat. regulation. The intro. of the marine coating in the 1990s was heralded as a “green” alternative to the toxic coatings used up to that point. Arriving at the final product, however, required the team at Rohm and Haas to negotiate a tricky technical and legal terrain. Work through the regulatory systems helped open new market possibilities for the co. and place Sea-Nine at the forefront of a previously unexplored marketing niche. This case study offers a number of important lessons for current molecular research, emphasizing the role of collaboration for expertise and the ways in which regulation can spur the innovation process.

Sun & Earth and the “Green Economy”: A Case Study in Small-Business Innovation

by Kristoffer Whitney | View • Download • Purchase

Since 1980 the household-cleaning-products industry has proliferated with small, niche firms catering to consumers interested in plant-based surfactants, or oleochemicals, rather than petroleum-based cleaners. While oleochemicals are still a relatively small part of the market, a few successful firms have not only inspired other similar small bus. but have also led large producers to innovate their own lines of “green” household products. This case study focuses on one of the earliest co. to produce “natural” household-cleaning products, Sun & Earth, and places the co. in the context of the larger phenomenon of the so-called green economy. The case of Sun and Earth illuminates what it means to innovate as a small business in a niche market.

 

Studies in Sustainability

The Studies in Sustainability series serves as a forum for discussion about the unique challenges and opportunities that exist in transforming chemistry into a tool for sustainability. The series, which highlights the intersecting roles played by emerging science, innovation, regulation, standards, and civil action, aims to publish dynamic new research examining the links between chemistry, sustainability, and pressing environmental and human health concerns.

Assessing Community Advisory Panels: A Case Study from Louisiana’s Industrial Corridor

by Gwen Ottinger | View • Download • Purchase

Community advisory panels, or CAPs, are a central feature of the US chemical industry’s public outreach efforts. CAPs have fostered dialogue between chemical facilities and neighboring communities nationwide; however, they are also frequently criticized for being merely public-relations vehicles for the chemical industry.

This paper investigates the performance of CAPs and highlights potential sources of public discontent with the dialogues. Drawing on observations of CAP meetings in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, in the heart of the state’s Mississippi River Industrial Corridor, the paper assesses CAP performance with respect to four key goals: building relationships between chemical facilities and nearby communities, educating residents about plant operations, informing facility managers about community concerns, and facilitating improvements in environmental performance.

New Chemical Bodies: A Conversation on Human Biomonitoring and Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals

by Jody A. Roberts | View • Download • Purchase

This paper follows on the 2007 Gordon Cain Conference, “New Chemical Bodies: Biomonitoring, Body Burden, and the Uncertain Threat of Endocrine Disruptors” held at the Chemical Heritage Foundation in March 2007. The conference gathered together experts from academe, government, industry, and NGOs working in fields as diverse as public health, endocrinology, chemistry, sociology, history, and law in order to gather perspectives on current understandings of the ways human biomonitoring studies and research into the endocrine-disrupting effect of chemicals are changing the landscape and discourse of public health in the United States.

This paper presents an outline of the conference and harnesses the discussion that took place in order to offer the thoughts and suggestions made by participants to interested parties working in fields directly related to or impacted by research into these two emerging fields of scientific investigation.

 

Innovation Day

Innovation Day brings young innovators and industry leaders together to celebrate innovation in the chemical industry today and seek solutions for tomorrow’s challenges.

Research Frontiers for the Chemical Industry: A Report on the Fifth Annual CHF-SCI Innovation Day, Warren G. Schlinger Symposium

by Hyungsub Choi | View • Download • Purchase

Report from the fifth annual Chemical Heritage Foundation CHF-SCI Innovation Day and Warren G. Schlinger Symposium. The key concern is to exchange and debate broad viewpoints on innovation in the chemical industry. The proceedings provide a unique opportunity for young industrial chemists to take a step back from their day-to-day operations to contemplate the bigger picture, expanding their outlooks into the broader social, economic, and political contexts that impinge on contemporary innovative activities in the chemical and molecular science industries.

Panel summaries include: Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering; Electronic Materials; Chemistry of Energy Sources; Health Materials; and Emerging Global Economies. Appendix I: Mapping the Future of Science and Innovation.

Research Frontiers for the Chemical Industry: A Report on the Fourth Annual CHF-SCI Innovation Day, Warren G. Schlinger Symposium

by Hyungsub Choi and Jody A. Roberts | View • Download • Purchase

Innovation is inherently a social process—an activity performed by human beings and embedded in a particular time and place as part of an intricate network of disparate institutions. The driving force for technological innovation comes, frequently but not exclusively, from the pressures that shape real and perceived societal needs. Successful innovation is characterized not simply by invention, but by an abilty to successfully intermesh new ideas or methods with social context, to implement them and make them real. Because successful innovations enter society through diverse pathways, they often bring about an unexpected reconstruction of the social milieu. And once entrenched, successful innovations tend to become inextricably linked with that social world, making the possibility of extraction difficult.

From the fourth annual Chemical Heritage Foundation CHF-SCI Innovation Day and Warren G. Schlinger Symposium, this report includes an introduction and summaries of the following panels: Eco-Friendly Products; Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering; Chemistry of Energy Sources; Health Materials; Electronic Materials; Emerging Global Economies.

Research Frontiers for the Chemical Industry: A Report on the Third Annual CHF-SCI Innovation Day, Warren G. Schlinger Symposium

by Cyrus Mody | View • Download • Purchase

Competition is becoming ever fiercer in the chemical industry as new firms from such emerging economies as China and India enter the market and as technological advances, potential new regulations, and rising energy and feedstock costs shrink profit margins. Companies manufacturing commodity products are particularly vulnerable to these forces. Yet chemical firms are also discovering that cooperation, even between competitors, is necessary for meeting today’s challenges.

Today’s market dilemmas and innovation systems are too complex for any one organization. Network building is therefore central to continued innovation. Successful networks must include competitors working in partnership. This report summarizes the third annual CHF–SCI Innovation Day and describes a variety of partnerships among chemical and materials firms that combine cooperation and competition in novel, forward-looking ways.

Research Frontiers for the Chemical Industry: A Report on the Second Annual CHF-SCI Innovation Day, Warren G. Schlinger Symposium

by Cyrus Mody and Arthur Daemmrich | View • Download • Purchase

Squeezed in on all sides—including from raw material costs (which are at unprecedented highs), narrowing access to feedstocks, and growing competition in commodity markets--chemical firms must create new high-value materials and services to survive and profit. This report summarizes the second annual CHF-SCI Innovation Day and suggests solutions for current challenges based on this annual forum in which scientists and technology managers gather to explore frontier areas for the chemical industry. The industry's future, we argue, lies in a strategic “wager” on disruptive technologies, balanced by incremental steps to develop new feedstocks and manufacturing processes that yield novel materials with less environmental impact.

Research Frontiers for the Chemical Industry: A Report on the First Annual CHF-SCI Innovation Day, Warren G. Schlinger Symposium

by Cyrus Mody and Arthur Daemmrich | View • Download • Purchase

Over the past century the chemical industry has been marked by transformations related to product and process innovations, the evolution of global markets, and the expansion of regulatory mandates. Today, the chemical industry faces a unique set of challenges from the rapid emergence of new fields and the maturing of existing methods for manufacturing. Based on findings from the first annual CHF–SCI Innovation Day, which explored frontier areas for industrial chemistry, this white paper argues that the industry’s future lies in exploring diverse areas for research and development (R&D) rather than a narrow focus. As core inventors and manufacturers of the material basis of modern life, chemical firms are uniquely positioned to avoid waves of creative destruction prevalent in other sectors. By reinvigorating R&D, developing new markets, and engaging the public in a new dialogue about the risks and rewards of emerging technology, chemical firms can promote a new wave of innovation and rejuvenate the industry.

 

CCHP Research

Burning Biomass in Delaware? Energy Needs and Environmental Impacts

by Allen A. Denio, Gwen Ottinger, and Jim Black | View • Download

This report surveys the environmental benefits and concerns associated with Ciba Corporation’s switch from natural gas to biomass, and it outlines a series of questions that remain to be answered before the extent of the conversion’s environmental impacts can be assessed. The report recommends that if the project is permitted, it should be approached as an experiment, with the resulting impacts on air quality closely monitored. [From the text]

 

Understanding Moore’s Law: Four Decades of Innovation

Edited by David C. Brock | Purchase

The rise of semiconductor electronics is among the most important global developments of the past half-century. Clearly, insights into the dynamics that have brought us this silicon revolution are vital to our understanding of the world today and our common future.

With the proliferation of silicon chips into nearly every aspect of contemporary life, Moore’s law is increasingly looked to as a bellwether for the whole of technological development.  This text places the silicon revolution in a broad context and charts Gordon Moore's development of his eponymous law across its forty-year life.

The CHF Center for Contemporary History and Policy Research Report 2004–2006

By Arthur Daemmrich | View • Download

This report brings together information about the conferences, public lectures, research, and publications carried out between 2004 and 2006 by CHF staff who now make up the Center for Contemporary History and Policy.

The report focuses on three major themes that cut across all the Center’s research projects: innovation and entrepreneurship, risk and regulation, and scientific and industrial infrastructure. For the Center, contemporary history and policy generally encompass the intertwined phenomena of invention; discovery; industrial or business application; government development, sponsorship, or regulation; and public response to and participation with the chemical sciences and industries between 1950 and the present. [From the text]

 

Conference Proceedings

Setting an Agenda for the Social Studies of Nanotechnology

by Hyungsub Choi, Sarah Kaplan, Cyrus C. M. Mody and Jody A. Roberts  
View • Download

To foster greater collaboration between social scientists and stakeholders in the nanotechnology arena, the Wharton School and the Chemical Heritage Foundation presented a joint symposium to encourage debate about the most productive role of the social sciences in nanotechnology.

Social scientists benefited from hearing various nanotechnology stakeholders discuss what research would be most helpful. Stakeholders, in turn, had the opportunity to consider what social scientists can offer in terms of understanding the evolution of technology, technology-in-use, the economics of technical change, risk analysis, and communication.

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CCHP Activities

Need Meeting Space?

CHF’s state-of-the-art conference center is in Philadelphia’s beautiful historic district.

 

Fellowships at CHF


CHF’s scholars, who spend anywhere from one to nine months in residence, form a vital part of CHF’s intellectual life.

Historically Grounded Perspectives

CHF’s Center for Contemporary History and Policy explores issues ranging from energy to medicine on our blog, Periodic Tabloid.

 

Exhibits at CHF

CHF’s newest exhibit explores public responses to scientific breakthroughs with paintings, photographs, books, and cartoons. Marvels and Ciphers: A Look Inside the Flask is on view until December 10.