Guest Blog by Dr. Robert Humphreys Crops that are high in starch are the principal source of food calories for people globally, although many affluent people tend to think of starch as a thickener for sauces and gravies or as “bad carbs” in a health conscious diet. On the other hand, even technologically savvy people might not mention starch as a potential raw material for ... [Click to Continue...]

By far some of our most popular posts have covered the exciting new field of biopolymers and bioplastics.  The image on the left shows a smartphone cover made from Ingeo polylactic acid (PLA) from NatureWorks.  In a fairly extensive set of posts, Dr. Bob Humphreys and I will cover a wide variety of biopolymers currently in the market.  We will look at the chemistry, end-use ... [Click to Continue...]

In our previous post we started to outline a process management approach to solving complex problems.  In the second in the series, we will discuss the very useful Six Sigma approach. Six Sigma is a systematic process management method for improving, building, and sustaining business performance. Six Sigma uses a structured approach and toolset focused on reducing variation ... [Click to Continue...]

In the last couple posts we discussed solving really big polymer problems and gave some examples.  In the next two posts we will go into more details on a systematic approach to solving those big hairy polymer problems. Tough times call for bold actions. The advanced materials manufacturing sector is going through a challenging period. Take a hard look at your business. Are ... [Click to Continue...]

When I was a young scientist at IBM one of our production lines had a problem during the soldering of components onto a printed circuit board.  The cards would delaminate when they were exposed to the high temperature solder and split apart destroying the printed circuit card.  A task force was put together and all of the data was collected.  It turns out this happened every ... [Click to Continue...]