John Warner, Director of UML Center for Green Chemistry to present Keynote Address at 2007 FutureCoat!

The FSCT has announced that Dr. John Warner, of University of Massachusetts-Lowell, will present the Keynote Address at the 2007 FutureCoat!. The event will be held on October 3-5, 2007, at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in Toronto, Ontario. Dr. Warner is Professor and Director of the UML Center for Green Chemistry.

From 1988 to 1996, Dr. Warner worked for the Polaroid Corporation, in Cambridge, MA, as Senior Research Scientist/Research Group Leader for Exploratory Research. While at Polaroid, he developed the field of Noncovalent Derivatization, which was used for applications in Polaroid instant photography. This technology has been used for diffusion control in multilayer film structures and as a coating aid in aqueous dispersions.

At UMass-Boston, Dr. Warner championed a new Ph.D. program in Green Chemistry and created the new Green Chemistry Laboratory for Research and Education in Sustainable Innovation.

His efforts also resulted in co-authoring the defining text in the field, Green Chemistry: Theory and Practice. The book has been translated into over a dozen languages and there are now over 30 international green chemistry research institutes.

Now at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, Dr. Warner directs a large research group working on a diverse set of projects involving green chemistry using principles of crystal engineering, molecular recognition, and self assembly. His work has achieved recognition by combining aspects of community outreach, government policy, and industrial collaboration.

Dr. Warner received the B.S. degree from UMass Boston, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Organic Chemistry from Princeton University.

His numerous awards include the 2004 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring, presented by the NSF and President Bush; the 2004 Outstanding Environmental Innovation Award by the Environmental Business Council of New England; and the 2004 College and University Health and Safety Award by the American Chemical Society Division of Chemical Health and Safety. Most recently he was awarded the 2006 Cosmetic Chemistry Society's "Best Research Paper" at that organization's annual meeting.

Dr. Warner is associate editor of Organic Preparations and Procedures International, has served as editor of Green Chemistry Letters and Reviews, and serves on the Board of Directors of the Green Chemistry Institute in Washington, D.C.

His recent patents in the fields of semiconductor design, biodegradable plastics, personal care products, and polymeric photoresists are examples of how green chemistry principles can be immediately incorporated into commercially relevant applications.

Dr. Warner's presentation at FutureCoat! will be featured at the opening session on Wednesday, October 3.