Young Professionals

A Chemist Weighs in on Doing Meaningful Work, Staying Passionate

Age: 34Occupation: Formulating ChemistCompany: Foam Supplies Inc.Education: Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering- University of Missouri, Columbia

At 34 years-old, Rima Ghoreishi isn’t your typical chemist. For starters, she is younger than most of her colleagues and also happens to part of the growing number of women working in the field of polyurethane. Her education started in her home country of Iran, took her to Sweden and eventually landed her here in the United States, where she resides and works just outside of St. Louis. However, those are all facts you can glean from a glance at her resume. If you go...

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A Chemistry Major Finds His Niche in Advocacy

Name: Stephen WieronieyAge: 35Occupation: DirectorCompany: ACC Center for the Polyurethanes Industry

As an undergraduate chemistry major at the University of Maryland, Stephen Wieroniey had dreams of working in the chemical industry. .Upon graduation, he found himself entering the job market right at the peak of the Great Recession and had no concrete plan for what a career in the chemistry might look like. After some time and with a little luck, he eventually landed a role at the Environmental Protection Agency.

“I graduated in 2008 and worked a few odd jobs during the recession. The way I ended up at...

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A Student Athlete Finds A Career in Polyurethane

After graduating from the University of Texas with a chemical engineering degree, Austin Boudreaux hoped to put his newfound skills to work in the polyurethane industry. With a background in athletics and having played for various teams growing up, he was peripherally aware of polyurethane’s (PU) use in sporting goods and athletic wear.

A Young Scientist Works to Improve Infrastructure

Growing up on her family’s farm in Auburn, Michigan, Staci Wegener spent the summers of her childhood tending fields of beans and sugar beets.

An International Postdoc Research Fellow Finds a Home in Polyurethane Additives

Petr Koutnik had a plan; he was going to spend his entire career in academia. When the young graduate student embarked upon his post-doctoral research, he intended to complete his studies, then look for a tenure track position at one of the many big-name chemistry departments at universities in the United States. Then, as plans do, his changed.