PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Society of Chemical Industry (SCI), America Section, will award the 13th annual SCI Gordon E. Moore Medal to Abhishek Roy, Ph.D. Roy is the lead product research and development manager and technical platform leader for the reverse osmosis (RO) membrane chemistry platform of Dow Energy and Water Solutions.

The SCI established the Gordon E. Moore Medal to recognize early-career success in innovation, as reflected both in market impact and improvement to quality of life.

Roy is credited as the primary inventor of DOW FILMTEC™ ECO Reverse Osmosis Elements. The solution fights water scarcity by delivering 40 percent better purification with 30 percent less energy and has the potential to impact millions of lives. FILMTEC™ ECO Elements require less energy to pump water through the membrane and less chemicals for cleaning. These combined benefits result in significant operational savings for customers, ranging from 16 to 19 percent.

Besides water-energy nexus, Roy and his team have contributed toward addressing two of the most critical emerging needs: increasing availability of fresh drinking water in developing countries and taking steps toward making water reuse economical and practical. Introduction of the breakthrough residential tankless product has reduced the footprint cost and DOW FILMTEC™ XFRLE product is enabling low-energy operation under challenging water in water reuse applications. These technologies have enabled more than 10 new products over the last five years.

“The availability of clean water is one of the most difficult challenges Dow is helping to solve. Abhishek is the talented scientist behind the breakthrough innovation that will deliver a more sustainable water supply to the world,” says A.N. Sreeram, Dow senior vice president and chief technology officer. “We are proud that Abhishek’s outstanding contributions have been honored with the Gordon E. Moore Medal. It is a fitting recognition for work that will improve the lives of people around the world.”

Roy was honored with the prestigious Dow Sustainability Innovator Award in 2014. The DOW FILMTEC™ ECO Reverse Osmosis element is a ‘Breakthrough to World Challenges’ under Dow’s 2015 Sustainability Goals, recognition that the innovation played a significant role in the Company attaining these goals and that the product is both an ecological and commercial success. The DOW FILMTEC™ ECO Reverse Osmosis element is also a 2014 Edison Award winner in the Energy and Sustainability category.

The Moore Medal will be awarded on September 13, 2016, during a luncheon at the Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF) headquarters in Philadelphia as part of Innovation Day 2016. This event will be jointly hosted by SCI and CHF, bringing together more than 150 leading researchers from industrial laboratories to discuss current trends and issues in chemical research.

Roy earned his PhD from Virginia Tech under the guidance of James E. McGrath in the macromolecular science and engineering program. He has authored 30 peer reviewed journal articles and holds 10 issued patents, with many pending on his RO work. Roy was recognized with numerous awards including Dow’s prestigious Sustainability Innovator Award and Virginia Tech’s outstanding recent alumnus award from the College of Science.

Roy is the fourth Dow researcher to win the Medal over the thirteen years of its existence. He joins Jerzy Klosin (2013), Edmund M. “Ted” Carnahan (2008) and George Barclay (2004) as Moore medalists from Dow.

About Dow

Dow (NYSE: DOW) combines the power of science and technology to passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. The Company is driving innovations that extract value from material, polymer, chemical and biological science to help address many of the world's most challenging problems such as the need for clean water, clean energy generation and conservation, and increasing agricultural productivity. Dow's integrated, market-driven, industry-leading portfolio of specialty chemical, advanced materials, agrosciences and plastics businesses delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in approximately 180 countries and in high-growth sectors such as packaging, electronics, water, coatings and agriculture. In 2015, Dow had annual sales of nearly $49 billion and employed approximately 49,500 people worldwide. The Company's more than 6,000 product families are manufactured at 179 sites in 35 countries across the globe. On June 1, 2016, Dow became the 100 percent owner of Dow Corning Corporation’s silicones business, a global company with sales of greater than $4.5 billion in 2015, 25 manufacturing sites in 9 countries and approximately 10,000 employees worldwide. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com.

About the SCI Gordon E. Moore Medal

The Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) established the SCI Gordon E. Moore Medal to recognize early-career success in innovation, as reflected both in market impact and improvement to quality of life. By highlighting extraordinary individuals and their work, SCI aims to promote public understanding of research and development in modern chemical industries, enhance the interest of students in applied chemistry by providing role models, and emphasize the role of creative research in the global economy.

About the Society of Chemical Industry (SCI)

SCI America Group, launched in 1894, is part of the Society of Chemical Industry’s international organization. It provides a unique networking forum for chemical industry leaders, industrial scientists and technologists to exchange new business ideas and best practices. It celebrates achievement to promote public awareness of the contributions of industrial chemistry and inspire students to enter technical careers. The prestigious Perkin and Chemical Industry Medals are awarded annually by SCI. SCI America events are managed by the Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF).

The Moore Medal award luncheon is part of Innovation Day, a full day of research collaboration in the molecular sciences held at CHF on September 13, 2016.

About the Chemical Heritage Foundation

CHF fosters dialogue on science and technology in society. Our staff and fellows study the past in order to understand the present and inform the future. We focus on matter and materials and their effects on our modern world in territory ranging from the physical sciences and industries, through the chemical sciences and engineering, to the life sciences and technologies. We collect, preserve, and exhibit historical artifacts; engage communities of scientists and engineers; and tell the stories of the people behind breakthroughs and innovations.