Abhishek Roy Invited to Join NASEM’s New Voices in Sciences, Engineering and Medicine

 Abhishek Roy, PhD, principal research scientist at The Dow Chemical Company, has been invited to join the inaugural cohort of New Voices in Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. The “New Voices in Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine” initiative was launched to identify outstanding early-career science, engineering, and medicine (SEM) leaders. The group will engage in communicating the evidence base for addressing national and global challenges to provide new perspectives on issues of importance to the community represented by the National Academies, and to help identify ways to expand the diversity of expertise that is brought to all of the Academies’ convening and advisory activities.

“I’m excited and humbled by this opportunity to work with this incredibly talented group of young leaders over the next two years and to share our ideas and perspectives on addressing national and global challenges,” said Dr. Roy.

With an extremely competitive selection process, Dr. Roy was chosen for his accomplishments and contributions at the intersection of innovation, sustainability and citizenship, including his award-winning work to fight water scarcity.

“We are proud that Abhishek’s outstanding contributions have been recognized by the prestigious NASEM organization. He offers a unique perspective on real-life breakthrough innovations that address the world’s need for water and energy,” said A.N. Sreeram, Dow senior vice president and chief technology officer.

SEM early-career leaders will provide a written personal perspective and evaluation of her/his experience, as well as suggestions for future activities after gathering over a two year period with a senior advisory committee. They will also help identify ways to expand the diversity of expertise that is brought to all of the Academies’ convening and advisory activities.

“Abhishek’s passion to take on the world’s toughest challenges through sustainable innovation makes him a wonderful addition to the NASEM team,” said Neil Hawkins, Dow’s corporate vice president of EH&S and chief sustainability officer. “Together with his peers, their work will contribute important new perspectives on issues that will improve the lives of people around the world.”

In the last few years, Dr. Roy and his team developed several generations of membrane chemistry resulting in more than 10 new reverse osmosis (RO) products. These discoveries enabled reduction in energy consumption of brackish water RO by 30 percent while at the same time improving the quality of water by 40 percent. The technologies are also addressing the scarcity of fresh drinking water in the residential market segments in India and China.

Dr. Roy is a past recipient of the prestigious Gordon E. Moore Medal. He has coauthored more than 100 scientific articles and presentations and is an inventor of 24 granted U.S. patents. Notable awards include Edison award, Dow’s presidential Sustainability Innovator award, Influential Researcher IE&C, and outstanding recent graduate alumnus from Virginia Tech. He participated in Dow’s Leadership In Action program for rehabilitation of Creeks in Cebu, Philippines. Abhishek currently lives with his beloved wife Mou and twin boys, Aharshi and Anush in Houston.

For more information about Dow’s leading science and sustainable innovations, visit www.dow.com/en-us/science-and-sustainability.

About Dow
The Dow Chemical Company (Dow) combines science and technology knowledge to develop premier materials science solutions that are essential to human progress. Dow has one of the strongest and broadest toolkits in the industry, with robust technology, asset integration, scale and competitive capabilities that enable it to address complex global issues. Dow’s market-driven, industry-leading portfolio of advanced materials, industrial intermediates, and plastics businesses deliver a broad range of differentiated technology-based products and solutions for customers in high-growth markets such as packaging, infrastructure, and consumer care. Dow is a subsidiary of DowDuPont (NYSE: DWDP), a holding company comprised of Dow and DuPont with the intent to form three strong, independent, publicly traded companies in agriculture, materials science and specialty sectors. More information can be found at www.dow.com.