Dr. Sudhin Datta
ExxonMobil Chemical Company
315 E. Cowan Drive
Houston,
TX
USA
77007
Email:
sdatta8@comcast.net
Biographical Sketch: Dr. Sudhin Datta was born in 1951 to a family of chemists in Boston, MA and resides in Houston, TX where he is employed by the ExxonMobil Chemical Co. His education in India led to an undergraduate degree in chemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology at Kanpur in 1974 as the valedictorian. He graduated with a Ph.D. in organometallic chemistry from Harvard University in 1978. After postdoctoral appointments at the University of Toronto and at the University of Chicago he joined the Research and Technology department of the Elastomers business of the Exxon Chemical Co. in Linden, NJ in 1981. During the intervening 33 years he has always been associated with the research and development of polyolefin elastomers at the now ExxonMobil Chemical Co. located since 1994 in Baytown, TX.
These organizations were a great incubator of the principal polyolefin elastomers, Butyl and EPDM as well as their blends. For a chemist, there was a lot to learn and most importantly, there were mentors who helped. He transitioned from a chemist’s interest in catalysis and the polymerization of polyolefins, to the physics of structure-property relationship of these elastomers and their blends, and to engineering of their manufacture and utilization. He progressed through the ranks within the research and technology organization to his current role as the Senior Research Associate in Global Chemical Research. During his entire career he has developed and promoted the concept that the utility of the desirable properties of resilience and recovery of elastomers would be more widespread if they could be fabricated easier. Both of his key inventions are manifestations of this key theme. The proximity within ExxonMobil Chemical of the colleagues who helped and the tools for these structural changes have made this vision a reality.
Dr. Datta has a continuing and uninterrupted effort spanning 33 years developing the chemistry, physics and applications of polyolefin elastomers. He coauthored a book on “Polymeric Compatibilizers” (1996), 12 review chapters on aspects of elastomers elsewhere and is the inventor of 108 granted US patents. His work on polyolefin elastomers has been honored in both 2011 and in 2014 by ExxonMobil Chemical Outstanding Patent recognition, which are unique awards for their widespread utility. In addition, he has been honored with the Century Award by ExxonMobil Chemical for being the only inventor in recent memory with more than 100 granted US patents. He has been awarded Best Paper award in 2002, 2003 and 2006 by both the Rubber Division of ACS and the ANTEC of SPE. In addition he has numerous other research and technology awards from ExxonMobil Chemical. In addition he has the responsibility for mentoring about 10 young scientists across the world.
Dr. Datta is being recognized today for his invention and development over a span of 15 years of propylene predominant elastomers with meso propylene crystallinity. These elastomers which have transformational effect on the rubber industry are not only one of the novel polyolefins commercialized in the last twenty years but also one of the few elastomers which can be processed in high throughput plastics fabrication processes such as those used for nonwoven fabrics. This combination has allowed an expansion of elastomers entering nontraditional applications. He lives in Houston with his wife and a daughter and can be found most weekends playing golf, poorly, but steadily improving.
Papers:
Charles Goodyear Medal Winner - Meso Crystalline Propylene-Ethylene Copolymers: Elastomers with Plastics Processing