Thursday, April 14th, 2022
Bill Schoster Recognized by CINTACS as “Cincinnati Chemist of the Year”
Please join us in congratulating Bill Schoster, who was recently celebrated at the CINTACS award ceremony for being named CINTACS 2022 “Cincinnati Chemist of the Year”!
Bill is recognized for his significant contributions to the Shepherd Chemical Company business and mankind with commercialization of technologies that are used in variety of products including: Automobile Airbag Inflators, Spandex elastic fibers, and Namex flame-resistant fibers (which improved and saved the lives of millions of people). He is also recognized for his dedication in training and mentoring others as well as for his overall positive impact on his coworkers.
“Bill is the quintessential problem solver. He connects seemingly unrelated observations to creatively tackle our toughest challenges, whether they are in the lab, pilot plant, or production,” says Rob Hart, research & development leader at Shepherd. “I’m thrilled for Bill, and very pleased that CINTACS is recognizing his work.”
As part of the award ceremony, Schoster was asked to present on the role of inorganic chemistry and its many important applications in the modern world. In his talk, Schoster dove deeper into three chemistries that contribute to Shepherd’s core purpose of ‘Creating Value that Brightens Lives’: Basic Copper Nitrate, Bismuth Sub Carbonate, and Spherical Copper Carbonate.
- Basic Copper Nitrate (BCN) is the oxidizer and burn rate modifier in most automobile airbag inflators. BCN has been estimated to save tens of thousands of lives since its introduction.
- Bismuth Sub Carbonate is a marker in catheters and improves patient outcomes. This product has been implemented in millions of procedures a year.
- Spherical Copper Carbonate is a pre-catalyst that is used in the 1,4-butynediol process which is a precursor to Spandex. The global market for Spandex is $8 Bn. Shepherd’s SCC has reduced the cost by over 80% and improved performance by 15%.
In all three applications, particle size, morphology, and surface area are critical. Shepherd’s process technology is key in these developments, and Schoster presented additional details related to this.
The Cincinnati Section of the American Chemical Society (CINTACS) has celebrated over 125 years of chemistry in Cincinnati, so to be nominated by such a long-standing pillar of the chemical community is a true honor. We’d like to thank all involved in the nomination process for recognizing Bill, and as an extension, Shepherd Chemical. It was a beautiful night and we couldn’t be prouder of Bill and all our team members who are dedicated to creating value and brightening lives every day!