Margaret Wu Receives
2007 Industrial Chemistry Award
from National ACS
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Margaret Wu (center) receives the 2007 Industrial Chemistry Award from ACS
President Catherine Hunt (right) and the Division of Business Development and
Management Chair Janet Bryant (left) at the ACS Spring National meeting.
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Motor oil is an essential chemical product that most people think about
only every few thousand miles when it's time for an oil change. But
thanks to chemists like Margaret M. Wu, who think about oil all the
time, lubricant products have continued to improve over the years to
meet the performance needs of our new cars.
Wu, a senior scientific adviser at ExxonMobil Research & Engineering,
in Annandale, N.J., has been recognized as a top industrial chemist for
her "creative and outstanding research contributions leading to
breakthrough synthetic lubricant products of considerable commercial
and environmental importance."
In addition to synthetic lubricants, Wu's research has contributed
significantly to technology in areas as diverse as polymer synthesis,
homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis, and zeolite chemistry. "The
knowledge and exposure to science in different areas early in my career
has provided me a fertile ground for developing synergies and novel
solutions that would not have been obvious if I had focused only in one
area," she says.
For instance, in the early 1980s, Wu did pioneering work to produce
ethylene from methanol in high yields by using proprietary zeolite
catalysts. But her major discovery came a few years later when she took
advantage of her experience to develop a new class of synthetic oil
hydrocarbon base stocks. These antiwear fluids are used in the Mobil1
with SuperSyn brand of synthetic automotive engine oil and other
products. They help improve engine oil life, reduce engine wear, and
improve fuel economy.
"Margaret has essentially revolutionized how automobile and industrial
lubricants are designed and synthesized," notes colleague Hsueh-Chia
Chang, a chemical engineering professor at the University of Notre
Dame, in Indiana. "By using combinatorial high-throughput testing and
molecular-level insight, she can judiciously select the plethora of
additives and functional groups needed to tailor lubricants for
different operating conditions. She designs lubricants like molecular
biologists design new anticancer drugs."
She also was a key participant in the team effort to bring this
important family of products to successful commercialization. The
fluids are now present in a host of ExxonMobil products, including
lubricants for new low-emission automobiles and for various types of
industrial machinery.
Wu, 56, was born and raised in Taiwan. She received a B.S. degree in
chemical engineering from Taipei Institute of Technology in 1970. She
then traveled to the U.S. for graduate studies and received a Ph.D. in
physical organic chemistry from the University of Rochester in 1976.
After a short stint as a process chemist with American Cyanamid, Wu
joined Mobil's Petrochemicals Division in Edison, N.J., in 1978. In
2002, she became the first woman to be named to the prestigious rank of
senior scientific adviser at ExxonMobil. In addition to many internal
company awards, she received the Thomas Alva Edison Award in 2005 from
the New Jersey R&D Council for her accomplishments.
"I find the work of an industrial chemist to be important and
rewarding, because I can see the fruits of my labors," Wu observes.
"Whether it's a product on the shelf or a process to produce something
useful, I know it's improving the quality of life for many people in my
own community and around the world." She adds that industrial chemists
have evolved from working nearly alone in the lab to working as part of
a team of scientists from different areas to bring products to the
market in a fast-changing and competitive business environment. "That's
always refreshing and exciting," she says.
The award was presented at the 2007 ACS national meeting in Chicago.
[Adapted from Chemical & Engineering News with permission.]
