Eastman Chemical Company on April 23 recognized its inventors at the company’s annual inventors’ banquet held this year at the Meadowview Conference Resort and Convention Center in Kingsport, Tenn.
The celebration honored the work of 205 inventors from company sites in the U.S. and Europe. Seventeen employees received awards for their first issued U.S. patent. Also, seven Kingsport employees were recognized for having earned their 10th U.S. patent. Norma Buchanan, Wes Hale, Bob Hembre, Jim Mercer, Rodney Piner, Kab Seo and Candace Tanner were each recognized for this career milestone.
“There are many technologies, processes, and products that have contributed to Eastman’s success,” said Brian Ferguson, chairman and chief executive officer of Eastman. “An idea that someone may have today might just be the breakthrough technology or product that we will be talking about tomorrow. Although we are celebrating accomplishments that have been achieved, we must look ahead and continue to evolve to react to a changing world.”
Also at the banquet, Eastman awarded its second annual Perley S. Wilcox award to Dr. Joseph Zoeller, a technology fellow in Eastman’s chemistry research laboratory in Kingsport. The award recognizes long-term innovation that has resulted in business success.
Dr. Zoeller’s work has played a critical part in developing a fundamental understanding of a number of Eastman’s existing chemical processes, as well as developing new processes. His contributions include developing methods for the more efficient and selective production of various industrial chemicals.
“Dr. Zoeller’s work has proven to be crucial to our ability to not only understand our processes, but also to our ability to optimize their operation and significantly reduce operating costs,” said Ron Lindsay, senior vice president and chief technology officer for Eastman. “While this award recognizes innovation over a sustained period of time, it is not a lifetime achievement award. That is — Joe’s not done yet. He continues to work on inventing new catalysts and carbonylation processes and continues to produce some very promising results which we are very excited about.”
Zoeller began working at Eastman in 1981 as a chemist. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in organic chemistry from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Hofstra University. He currently holds 59 U.S. patents and has 11 applications pending.
The award is named for Perley S. Wilcox, the first general manager of Tennessee Eastman. Wilcox had vision for Eastman's future and an understanding of the importance of being an industry leader. An early patent issued for Eastman was granted to Wilcox in 1924 and is an example of his contributions to both the business and technical success of Eastman.
Eastman manufactures and markets chemicals, fibers and plastics worldwide. It provides key differentiated coatings, adhesives and specialty plastics products; is a major supplier of cellulose acetate fibers; and produces PET polymers for packaging. As a Responsible Care company, Eastman is committed to achieving the highest standards of health, safety, environmental and security performance. Founded in 1920 and headquartered in Kingsport, Tenn., Eastman is a Fortune 500 company with 2007 sales of $6.8 billion and approximately 10,5000 employees.