Nobel Prize Winners Lehn and Laughlin Address Solvay Researchers
Lectures by Jean-Marie Lehn (Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry, 1987) and Robert B. Laughlin (Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics, 1998) today concluded a three-day Solvay Science for Innovation conference, which focused on “Building up complex materials: from nanoscale to end-use properties.” The conference, which was the third of its kind organized within Solvay, mustered more than 150 of the Group’s high level experts and researchers from Europe, the United States and Asia as well as some 30 representatives of the international scientific community. The event was initiated by Solvay’s Material Science Community, which fosters scientific emulation and cross-fertilization between Solvay’s worldwide research centers and between the Group’s different sectors of activity - Chemicals, Plastics and Pharmaceuticals.
The objective of the latest Solvay Science for Innovation conference was to understand the various links between nanoscale building blocks and the properties of end-use Solvay materials and products. Science for Innovation conferences form part of Solvay’s innovation strategy, which seeks to identify new sources for sustainable and profitable growth. Among others, Solvay’s exploratory research in nanoscience currently includes projects focusing on:
Materials for the next-generation very high resolution, high contrast thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) screens;
The improvement of bioavailability of active substances, for medicines which would be better assimilated by the human body, with consequently possibly improved therapeutic benefits;
Specialty polymers to manufacture biosensors – i.e. devices capable of translating a biological event into an electric pulse, such as for instance blood glucose biosensors for diabetics;
Further improvement in the physical and chemical properties of materials; development of new properties.
The Solvay Science for Innovation conference also specifically addressed the issue of possible health risks related to the implementation of nanotechnologies.
Solvay employs some 3,000 people in its Research and Development centers, located in Europe, North America and Asia. The Group’s total R&D investment in 2007 is expected to reach EUR 556 million. Solvay also operates a New Business Development (NBD) unit, whose mission is to explore new technologies, products and markets, where Solvay’s expertise could generate economical solutions for sustainable development challenges. Sustainable energy and organic electronics are Solvay’s most important NBD platforms today; recent developments include significant initiatives in the areas of printed electronics and fuel cells.
“Innovation is the cornerstone of our strategy to generate growth and to ensure competitiveness,” said Jacques van Rijckevorsel, Member of the Executive Committee, General Manager of the Plastics Sector and Group Innovation Sponsor. The Solvay Science for Innovation conference illustrates the vitality of our R&D activities and allows us to generate positive synergies between our different sectors of activity. It is also a continuation of Solvay’s long-standing tradition of promoting advancement through science,” van Rijckevorsel.
The International Solvay Institutes for Physics and Chemistry are simultaneously hosting a 21st Solvay Conference on Chemistry, from November 28 to December 1, 2007 in Brussels, on the topic of “Molecular Machines”. A public event with Jean-Marie Lehn is scheduled in this context on December 2. For further information, go to (www.solvayinstitutes.be). The Solvay Institutes and the Solvay company have the same founder – Ernest Solvay – but are separate entities. When he created the Institutes and initiated the conferences which bear his name, Ernest Solvay sought to encourage pioneering fundamental research. In 1911, the very first “Conseil Solvay” assembled the most famous chemists and physicists of the day, including Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, Max Planck, Ernest Rutherford, Henri Poincaré and Maurice de Broglie.
SOLVAY is an international chemical and pharmaceutical Group with headquarters in Brussels. It employs some 29,000 people in 50 countries. In 2006, its consolidated sales amounted to EUR 9.4 billion, generated by its three sectors of activity: Chemicals, Plastics and Pharmaceuticals. Solvay (NYSE Euronext: SOLB.BE - Bloomberg: SOLB.BB - Reuters: SOLBt.BR) is listed on the NYSE Euronext stock exchange in Brussels. Details are available at www.solvay.com
