UOP chemist receives Society Of Chemical Industry medal
DES PLAINES — UOP LLC, a Honeywell company, said Dr. Dean Rende has been selected to receive the 2012 Society of Chemical Industry Gordon E. Moore Medal for his outstanding record of discovery, scale-up, and commercialization of novel new catalysts used in the production of biodegradable detergents and petrochemical monomers.
The SCI Gordon E. Moore Medal recognizes early-career success in innovation, as reflected both in market impact and improvement to quality of life.
“Dean is an outstanding chemist and leader in UOP’s Research and Development group. He is an inspiring leader in our search for efficient, effective energy solutions,” said Dr. Rajeev Gautam, Honeywell UOP president and CEO. “This medal from SCI is a tremendous recognition of Rende’s accomplishments and a testament to all of the game-changing work being done at Honeywell’s UOP to advance the fields ranging from refining and petrochemical to biofuels.”
By highlighting extraordinary individuals and their work, SCI aims to promote public understanding of research and development in modern chemical industries, enhance the interest of students in applied chemistry by providing role models, and emphasize the role of creative research in the global economy.
SCI noted that Rende’s discoveries have broad applicability in catalysis and have led to commercialization of a novel catalyst-manufacturing methodology currently used to produce catalysts in multiple technologies. Specifically, Rende has commercialized two novel industrial catalysts for commercial oxidation and alkane dehydrogenation, where more than 3 million tons are produced annually.
In addition to his innovations in catalysis, Rende led the effort to developing an adsorbent ion exchange material that can selectively remove radioactive particle from water. The material, UOP IONSIVT Ion Exchangers, has been used at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant for removing radioactive cesium in the contaminated wastewater caused by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in 2011.
Rende is currently a senior manager for Adsorbents Research and Development at Honeywell’s UOP, where he leads a group of about 20 scientists and engineers. Adsorbents are critical to the success of many processes in the energy industry, where they are used to remove contaminants in crude oil and natural gas streams. Rende’s team is involved with increasing selectivity and capacity for some of UOP’s existing adsorbents and also with developing adsorbents for new applications. In this role, he also works closely with UOP’s manufacturing group to identify key procedures.