A Pacemaker for American Innovation

How chemistry is driving the future economy

BY GERARDO FAMILIAR

THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR has been a cornerstone of the U.S. economy for generations, contributing significantly to economic growth, job creation, and technological advancement. Today, the evolution of our sector has seen manufacturing evolve into a dynamic landscape of innovations driving the sustainable transition of societies and economies.

In Delaware, we have a rich history of industrial advancements, and we have a real opportunity to position the First State at the forefront of innovations that are helping shape the economy of today and the future. Ingenuity has thrived in our state, and our chemical industry has been a pacemaker for innovations that impact our local economy and the global landscape. It all begins with manufacturing, investments in American innovation, and providing great jobs in our communities.

For Chemours, innovation is at the core of what we do. Chemicals are the building block of modern society, and our chemistries play a crucial role in tomorrow’s economy–enabling clean energy, driving decarbonization, and realizing global climate goals. We are committed to making cutting-edge products that are better for our customers and our planet. We’re focused on the “why” behind our solutions—which is to create a cleaner and more connected world.

This pace of innovation requires a culture of collaboration. We ensure hand-in-glove connectivity between our Chemours Discovery Hub, the heart of our global research, and our manufacturing sites to responsibly design and produce better-performing and greener chemistries that enable sustainable technologies—from green hydrogen and electric vehicles to heat pumps and more durable infrastructure. This collaboration allows us to implement new technologies, improve efficiency, and responsibly develop products that address the needs of our customers and society.

The Chemours Discovery Hub is our flagship, state-of-the-art research facility on the University of Delaware’s STAR Campus and it is home to 130 labs and 330 employees. From its design to its culture, it is intended to foster collaboration and innovation at every turn. This enables our experts to partner with our sites and customers in ways that drive new generations of scientific and technological innovation. Our key brands and critical applications are innovated here, from evolving alternative energy storage to enabling the development of faster, smaller, and more durable technologies.

For example, we invented the Nafion™ ion exchange materials category decades ago for the chemical processing industry. Today, we continue to transform and perfect our Nafion™ membranes to play a central role in pro ducing and deploying scalable hydrogen as a viable alternative to fossil fuels. Our membranes are used in both electrolyzer technologies to produce green hydrogen from water with no carbon emissions and fuel cells that convert hydrogen to energy to power transportation. As the opportunity for hydrogen grows—along with the need for our Nafion™ membranes—we continue to innovate to help meet the performance demands to make hydrogen energy more affordable and available for a new hydrogen economy. This requires close collaboration between our labs and our production lines, and often other partners across the public and private sectors.

Chemours regularly collaborates with academia, national labs, universities, and customers to gather insights and stay on the front edge of innovation. We’re continuously looking across the enterprise to see where we can accelerate innovation and new technologies where there is opportunity and customer demand.

As the industry evolves, so do the career opportunities presented. The resurgence of manufacturing has redefined job prospects in our sector and opened the door to exciting career opportunities across a spectrum of manufacturing roles. From skilled technicians to scientists and beyond, the sector is attracting a diverse range of professionals eager to be a part of the sustainable transformation of our state and nation-wide economy.

At Chemours, we’re committed to creating a more inclusive, diverse, and equitable workforce of future STEM professionals. That means investing in our communities, nurturing talent early on, and creating more career opportunities in communities that have historically been underserved and under-resourced. We are doing this through programs like the Chemours Future of Engineering, Science, Trades and Technology (ChemFEST) School Partnership Program. By providing greater access to the sciences early on, we can help inspire students from diverse backgrounds to see a future with a greater variety of opportunities, contributing to a pipeline of the best, brightest, and most diverse talent.

Since our founding, we’ve harnessed the power of our chemistry to advance modern society, create value for our customers, promote a culture that inspires our people, improve our communities, and set a new standard for responsible manufacturing. We’re a different kind of chemistry company, one that was born to power progress and to make a difference.

Gerardo Familiar is president of advanced performance materials at Chemours.