C&EN Talks With ...
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SODIUM η JALCOHOLATES \ SODIUM METHYLATE NaOCH3 Powder or liquid ïn commercial quantities SODIUM ETHYLATE 21% Solution and SODIUM n-BUTYLATE 19% Solution produced on order ) ) 49 HARSHAW THE HARSHAW CHEMICAL COMPANY DIVISION OF KEWANEE OIL COMPANY 1945 E. 97th Street · Cleveland, Ohio 44106 A new approach to water purification The Continental® 250 Reverse Osmosis System... one of our line of modular systems which use the new tech- nique of reverse osmosis utilizing the hollow fiber membrane. It removes over 90% of the total dissolved solids. When combined with Continental's Deionized Water Service, 100% of the total dissolved solids are removed plus most of the organic and inorganic materials present. It occupies only 25 square feet of floor space and produces up to 30,000 gal- lons of quality water daily. Available from Continental and its Distributors, the people who bring you CONTINENTAL DEIONIZED WATER SERVICE. We'd like to design a System especially for your application. Write for brochure and demonstration. CONTINENTAL WATER CONDITIONING CORPORATION 1013 Wall St. P.O. Box 26428 El Paso, Texas 79926 Telephone 915/778-5266 WATER TREATMENT SPECIALISTS FOR 15 YEARS C&EN Talks With Ludwig Rebenfeld President Nixon's special science and technology message to Congress earlier this year suggested that the Federal Gov- ernment should encourage, and perhaps even fund, industrywide research and de- velopment efforts in a variety of fields. Few concrete results have arisen from this suggestion, however, largely because of Administration and Congressional fears that such efforts would inevitably lead to re- straint of trade. Yet there is ample evidence that pooled R&D efforts can be managed in a fashion that provides substantial benefits for the supporting industry without straining anti- trust regulations. A good example of such an effort is the Textile Research Institute in Princeton, N.J. This 42-year-old institution performs basic publishable research in fi- ber and textile science—research that pro- vides fundamental background information for and growing technology of the textile industry, says TRI president Ludwig Reben- feld. "Science is the raw material for tech- nology," Dr. Rebenfeld tells C&EN, "and in any process there must be a steady supply of raw materials. I believe there is a real threat of a severe shortage of this important commodity in the years ahead and, as a result, the technology upon which our in- dustry has come to rely will also be threatened." Increased funding would obviously help to avert such a threat, and Dr. Rebenfeld would be quite happy to see government support of industrial R&D. At TRI, for ex- ample, such support "would enable us to intensify our research in the various fields of interest to industry where technological innovation appears possible, [but] where background scientific information is needed." These areas include wetting processes, interfibers bonding, and the sur- face chemistry, physics, and thermal and flammability characteristics of fibers. But what is also needed, he contends, is a more sophisticated and realistic approach to research planning. "We must learn," he argues, "that proper planning and coordi- nation of scientific research need not de- stroy our ability to generate and maintain the necessary flow of scientific knowledge for the support of technological innovation. One of the major responsibilities of a mean- ingful scientific planning effort [must] be the establishment of priorities and the elimination of duplication." A certain amount of overlap in research is desirable, he concedes, but "even the most basic research has to be directed to- ward certain potential end uses. Even for centralized institutions such as ours, where you're cost-sharing, let's say, among indus- trial firms, it's just too expensive to buck- shot even basic research. One has to identify areas of basic research where a need exists, and where there is a signifi- cant potential of a payoff in terms of tech- nological innovation. "This is really one of the great strengths of TRI—that we, unlike other academic in- stitutions, don't work in an environment iso- lated from the problem and needs of in- dustry. We are very much at the interface, really, between the industrial world and the academic world. . . . . allowing a greater transmission of knowledge and abilities from the academic world to industry, and providing an avenue for information to come from industry to the academic world. This probably sums up in the best way what TRI can and does provide for the tex- tile and fiber industry that cannot be and is not as directly provided by our traditional universities." TRI, Dr. Rebenfeld suggests, is an ex- cellent model for joint efforts in other indus- tries. As resources for scientific research become more limited, he contends, the optimal approach for their utilization is the adoption of widespread cooperative insti- tutionalized programs. He doesn't, how- ever, advocate that industrial concerns eliminate their own R&D activities. Rather, "cooperative centers of research and education should become the primary sources of scientific information and knowl- edge, and the proprietary efforts in industry should concentrate on the application of this knowledge to the development of new technologies. With coordinated efforts in industry and among the several centralized research institutions, science and tech- nology in proper balance will lead to the achievement of our national goals." 70 C&EN JUNE 5, 1972'
Transcript of C&EN Talks With ...
SODIUM η JALCOHOLATES \ SODIUM METHYLATE
NaOCH3 Powder or liquid
ïn commercial quantities SODIUM ETHYLATE
21% Solution and
SODIUM n-BUTYLATE 19% Solution
produced on order
)
)
49 HARSHAW THE HARSHAW CHEMICAL COMPANY DIVISION OF KEWANEE OIL COMPANY
1945 E. 97th Street · Cleveland, Ohio 44106
A new approach to water purification
The Continental® 250 Reverse Osmosis System... one of our l ine of modular systems which use the new technique of reverse osmosis utilizing the hollow fiber membrane. It removes over 90% of the total dissolved solids. When combined with Continental's Deionized Water Service, 100% of the total dissolved solids are removed plus most of the organic and inorganic materials present. It occupies only 25 square feet of floor space and produces up to 30,000 gallons of quality water daily. Available from Continental and its Distributors, the people who bring you CONTINENTAL DEIONIZED WATER SERVICE. We'd like to design a System especially for your application.
Write for brochure and demonstration.
CONTINENTAL WATER CONDITIONING CORPORATION 1013 Wal l St. P.O. Box 26428
El Paso, Texas 79926 Telephone 915/778-5266
WATER TREATMENT SPECIALISTS FOR 15 YEARS
C&EN Talks With
Ludwig Rebenfeld
President Nixon's special science and technology message to Congress earlier this year suggested that the Federal Government should encourage, and perhaps even fund, industrywide research and development efforts in a variety of fields. Few concrete results have arisen from this suggestion, however, largely because of Administration and Congressional fears that such efforts would inevitably lead to restraint of trade.
Yet there is ample evidence that pooled R&D efforts can be managed in a fashion that provides substantial benefits for the supporting industry without straining antitrust regulations. A good example of such an effort is the Textile Research Institute in Princeton, N.J. This 42-year-old institution performs basic publishable research in fiber and textile science—research that provides fundamental background information for and growing technology of the textile industry, says TRI president Ludwig Rebenfeld.
"Science is the raw material for technology," Dr. Rebenfeld tells C&EN, "and in any process there must be a steady supply of raw materials. I believe there is a real threat of a severe shortage of this important commodity in the years ahead and, as a result, the technology upon which our industry has come to rely will also be threatened."
Increased funding would obviously help to avert such a threat, and Dr. Rebenfeld would be quite happy to see government support of industrial R&D. At TRI, for example, such support "would enable us to intensify our research in the various fields of interest to industry where technological innovation appears possible, [but] where background scientific information is needed." These areas include wetting processes, interfibers bonding, and the surface chemistry, physics, and thermal and flammability characteristics of fibers.
But what is also needed, he contends, is a more sophisticated and realistic approach to research planning. "We must learn," he argues, "that proper planning and coordination of scientific research need not destroy our ability to generate and maintain the necessary flow of scientific knowledge for the support of technological innovation. One of the major responsibilities of a meaningful scientific planning effort [must] be the establishment of priorities and the elimination of duplication."
A certain amount of overlap in research is desirable, he concedes, but "even the most basic research has to be directed toward certain potential end uses. Even for centralized institutions such as ours, where
you're cost-sharing, let's say, among industrial firms, it's just too expensive to buckshot even basic research. One has to identify areas of basic research where a need exists, and where there is a significant potential of a payoff in terms of technological innovation.
"This is really one of the great strengths of TRI—that we, unlike other academic institutions, don't work in an environment isolated from the problem and needs of industry. We are very much at the interface, really, between the industrial world and the academic world. . . . . allowing a greater transmission of knowledge and abilities from the academic world to industry, and providing an avenue for information to come from industry to the academic world. This probably sums up in the best way what TRI can and does provide for the textile and fiber industry that cannot be and is not as directly provided by our traditional universities."
TRI, Dr. Rebenfeld suggests, is an excellent model for joint efforts in other industries. As resources for scientific research become more limited, he contends, the optimal approach for their utilization is the adoption of widespread cooperative institutionalized programs. He doesn't, however, advocate that industrial concerns eliminate their own R&D activities. Rather, "cooperative centers of research and education should become the primary sources of scientific information and knowledge, and the proprietary efforts in industry should concentrate on the application of this knowledge to the development of new technologies. With coordinated efforts in industry and among the several centralized research institutions, science and technology in proper balance will lead to the achievement of our national goals."
70 C&EN JUNE 5, 1972'
