2019 Symposium Keynote Address

We are delighted to announce that Rui Cruz, Global R&D Director for Industrial Solutions at Dow, will be delivering the keynote address at this year's symposium titled "Trends, Challenges and Opportunities in Process Development and Scale-up".

Dr. Rui Cruz is currently the Global R&D Director for Industrial Solutions at Dow, responsible for the business innovation pipeline and a global organization dedicated to technical services, process, product and application development for a diverse pool of technologies dedicated to enabling manufacturing at our customers, with focus in key market segments among which Oil and Gas, Crop Defense, Lubricants, Electronics and Coatings.  He joined Dow in Brazil in 2001, having worked in several different businesses and technologies. In 2010 he moved to Texas, serving as the leader for Polyglycols and Surfactants R&D and later for Epoxy Process Research, Amines and Chelants, Plastics Additives and Oil and Gas. Dr. Cruz studied Chemical Engineering at the Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo and the Karlsruhe University in Germany and holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering by the University of São Paulo. In 2014, he received the prestigious HENAAC Great Minds of STEM Professional Achievement award.

Trends, Challenges and Opportunities in Process Development and Scale-up

Rui Cruz, Global R&D Director for Industrial Solutions, The Dow Chemical Company

Strong process development organizations and capabilities constitute very relevant competitive advantages in the chemical industry, enabling constant improvements for the existing plants (increased yields, safety, optimal product mix, minimizing emissions) as well as the development of new technologies to scale-up new molecules or to bring breakthroughs to the way a traditional product can manufactured. This presentation will address some of the most relevant trends (such as sustainability, digitalization, process intensification), best practices in research and some of the common challenges of industrial process development and scale-up, also covering select case studies related to different scales and types of projects.