Submitted June 2017

Name: Kyle Hart

Title: Assoc. Research Scientist

Company: The Dow Chemical Company

 

Age: 29

Social media sites commonly used: Twitter @KyleHartPhD

 

Education: BSc in Chemistry from Mercyhurst University (Erie, PA) with minors in Computational Chemistry and Mathematics, and a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from Pennsylvania State University (University Park, PA).

Tell us about your family: My incredible wife, Andréia, and I just had our first son, Benjamin.

What was your first plastics job and why were you interested in the industry?: My current job is my first plastics job, polyethylene product R&D in the Packaging and Specialty Plastics group at Dow Chemical. The plastics industry interested me because after studying materials science and polymer physics in grad school, I was eager to use my fundamental knowledge to create tangible products with the potential for profound societal impact toward sustainability. Plastics was a great fit. Being able to devote myself toward the development of molecular structures in plastic packaging that improves the recyclability, reduces the amount of waste generated, and is more energy efficient has been a rewarding experience.

Greatest achievement? Hopefully I’m just getting started. The things I am proud of so far are defending my Ph.D. at 25 years old, and more recently being a key researcher in the development and launching an innovative polyolefin packaging resin that has sold millions of pounds already. Most importantly is the family my wife and I are creating with our son.

Biggest failure and what it taught you? Marcus Aurelius famously said, “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” What this means to me is that in all failures, big or small, there is opportunity – opportunity to grow, to learn, to be better. Failure has taught me that you do not control what happens, but you can control how you respond. If you have good intentions coupled with this mindset, failures don’t exist. For example,

 What is your current challenge at work? My current challenge is leading a global polyethylene technical development project team. This requires effective communication and collaboration with many experts, such as in materials science, catalysis, manufacturing, marketing, supply chain, sales, value chain, technical service, senior leadership, and business stakeholders. Alignment of such a team can only be accomplished with clear, concise, and comprehensive information, all while competing in the fast-paced plastics industry. I strive to do this while focusing on engaging and inspiring people around me to look at problems differently, see opportunity in challenges, and achieve our goals.

What emerging technology or market most interests you? There are many, but the one that I think has huge potential is the combination of the Internet of things (IoT) and data science. With the continued implementation of the IoT, scientists and engineers will have access to incredible amounts of information. As a result of this flood of high quality data, data scientists will be able to model complex relationships that haven’t been considered. This will facilitate product innovations, efficiencies, and development opportunities like never before.

What about the plastics industry surprises you? The level of scientific innovation that continues to occur in this industry. From the outside it may seem as though plastics is an old and stale technology – this is not true. For even the simplest polymer chemical structure, polyolefins, we have a long way to go before we understand all of the governing physical principles.

What is the best advice you have ever received? My father used to tell me to always be a craftsman. It didn’t matter if you are writing and article, giving a presentation, or designing an experiment, you should have pride in your work – be a craftsman.

 What advice would you give to a person considering a career in the plastics industry? As the 1967 hit film The Graduate said, “There’s a great future in plastics. Think about it. Will you think about it?” The potential of your work to impact people all over the world is extraordinary in the plastics industry. The next great innovation in sustainable plastics, energy efficiency, the circular plastics economy or recyclability could impact literally billions of people.

If you were CEO of a company what would you do first? Listen. The first thing I would do is listen. In my opinion, the responsibility of the CEO is two-fold, cultivating the culture within the company, and setting the vision of the business. To do both of these effectively, the CEO needs to listen to many people, the employees, the board, the C-suite, and the industry. Only then can you effectively lead your company through sustained and deliberate action.

Who is your mentor, or someone you look up to? I firmly believe that you can learn something from everyone. I have learned work ethic and grit from my parents, to be more empathetic from my wife, to do high-quality science from my research professors, how to turn innovation into business from leaders in Dow, and how to be an effective leader from some of my favorite authors (Ben Franklin, Tim Ferris, Ryan Holiday, and many others).

What job do you really want to have in the future? In any future job I have, I want it to have the following characteristics: It should allow me to leverage my strengths and stretch me to grow further in those strengths. It would encourage innovation, entrepreneurship, and leadership, while pushing me to learn new skills to be a more effective influence on the business and the industry.

What do you do to relax? At the moment, I am enjoying trying to cook new foods, such as baking bread, grilling meats, and making desserts to name a few. Cooking is chemistry where you get to lick the spoon!

 

Submitted October 2015

Describe your leadership/volunteer experience in the ACS (ACS student chapter, local section, regional meetings, national meetings, etc.).

Leadership and volunteering in the science community has enriched my life, and has given me the opportunities to reach out to others. My volunteer experiences include being president of the Materials Research Society—Penn State Chapter, a volunteer with the youth organization Big Brothers/Big Sisters, a mentor to undergraduate students, and an academic tutor. While none of these volunteer experiences were with the ACS, the ACS organization as an organization has touched me both professionally and personally. I recall vividly, my first conference the central regional meeting in Cleveland, OH in 2009. I was a junior in college and had been working on organic synthesis of an anhydride molecule. I had assembled a poster on our results and presented at the undergraduate poster session. I distinctly remember professors at much larger schools talking with me about my research and being genuinely interested. They weren’t testing me; it was a discussion. After walking away from that poster session with such a sense of pride, I knew research is where I wanted to work. That would not have been possible without the opportunities that ACS provides to students, and I want to give the next generation of young students the inspiration that was given to me. Later on in my studies, I was awarded The Chemical Computing Group Excellence Award for Graduate Students, and gave a featured presentation. This was an excellent opportunity to showcase my research, network with other students and faculty, and learn more about cutting edge science. I do not take these experiences for granted, and the volunteers at ACS have played a large role in my professional development. I have been lucky enough to participate in several volunteer opportunities that have directly helped others find their passion, both through within university and in the local community. As a result, I have great respect for an organization such as ACS, and the way they affect lives through volunteering.

Describe your leadership/volunteer experiences in other professional societies, organizations, universities/colleges.

The majority of my leadership and volunteer experiences were through the Materials Research Society (MRS). Our department was diverse and there were limited opportunities for interaction among the research groups. With departmental support, I resurrected the Penn State Chapter of MRS to create these opportunities. I became president, recruited an executive board, and grew membership to more than 30 people. During the year I was president, we hosted speakers, organized professional workshops, and social events. For example, PSU was promoting a new reference software, so we organized a tutorial workshop with the research librarian. Another successful event was our bowling night, where you couldn’t bowl with your own research group. I may be biased, but I felt like the hallways of the department were friendlier after these events. Leading this group was an valuable learning experience where I saw firsthand how much hard work is required when volunteering in a leadership role, and the satisfaction I got from the interactions made the all the hard work worthwhile. Aside from volunteering within the college through mentoring, tutoring and teaching, I was heavily involved in volunteering for the local community. I volunteered for Big Brothers/Big Sisters as a mentor to students at an underprivileged middle school in Erie, PA. I was there for whatever the kids wanted help with, whether that was homework, playing sports, or just someone to listen. Seeing these kids’ face light up when I walked in the room showed me how much of a difference you can make in a child’s life just by spending time with them. This experience was one of the most meaningful things I have done and has inspired me to continue to find ways to contribute to the community. I was honored and humbled to be inducted into Mercyhurst University Service Honor Society for exhibiting “significant and sustained service to the Mercyhurst and local community and marked achievement in leadership.”

Describe your leadership experience in your current position and/or potential leadership opportunities.

I consider leadership experience in my current position to be categorized into two separate responsibilities: leading by assignment and leading by influence. For example, I am leading a global R&D team to design and validate high performance polyolefin additive formulations. As the researcher leading this effort, I am responsible for the progress of this project toward our goals. In some aspects, I am the formal leader of a research team, in others I am a team-member and contributor. In these cases, I strive to lead by example, even if that only means accomplishing what is asked of me while facilitating others in their goals. On this project, I noticed one member was struggling developing the model that was their assigned task. Since I have some background in this area, I volunteered to help, going outside of my role in order to help the team. We developed a model together, which turned out to be a key deciding factor in the progress of the project. It is opportunities like these that I take great pride in going the extra mile to be there for my colleagues, and I consider this to be an essential form of leadership. I am learning that clear goals and clear communications are essential skills of leadership, and while in the early stages of my career, I believe that this is the time to develop these key attributes. This is why I am grateful for the opportunity to apply for the Young Chemist Committee Leadership Workshop. The skills learned at this workshop will be able to be implemented into my current and future positions throughout my career.