础滨颁丑贰鈥檚 Industrial Progress Award is given for early-career accomplishments and contributions to industrial practice by an individual working in industries served by chemical engineers.
This year, the Industrial Progress Award is being presented to Dr. Maria Wang, Director of Product Management for Traffic Solutions at PPG in Alison Park, Pennsylvania. Wang is being cited for 鈥渟ignificant contributions to the coatings industry, namely the development and commercialization of more than 40 products for PPG鈥檚 Architectural Coatings business, including the breakthrough Clean-Surface Technology.鈥�
Dr. Wang and the other Institute and Board of Directors鈥� Award honorees will receive their prizes at the 2023 AIChE Annual Meeting, November 5鈥�10 in Orlando, Florida.
About Maria Wang and her work
At PPG 鈥� a supplier of paints, coatings, optical products, and specialty materials 鈥� Maria Wang leads strategy and innovation for pavement marking products.
She began her career in 2015 at the PPG Coatings Innovation Center, where she was a formulator on the Automotive Refinish team, focused on developing low VOC (volatile organic compound) coatings. She soon became project leader for PPG鈥檚 Architectural Coatings R&D team, where she was one of the inventors of the company鈥檚 proprietary Clean Surface Technology and UltraLast Interior paint and primer products.
These developments earned an R&D 100 Award in 2020 because the work integrated automotive and industrial coatings technologies to impart superior stain resistance and washability to architectural coatings, and set a new standard for premium paints in that market segment.
In addition to her technical leadership, Wang trainer junior scientists in formulation as she worked with them on the Clean-Surface Technology project. Later, as technical manager for PPG鈥檚 USCA Architectural Coatings wood-care division, Wang led the development and launch of more than 40 products 鈥� among them, next-generation OLYMPIC ELITE exterior stains and a new line of OLYMPIC interior stains and clear coats. She was next promoted as Senior Group Leader of PPG鈥檚 Architectural Coatings Innovation Center.
The versatility of a chemical engineering education . . . has empowered me to make a meaningful impact across various domains and industries.
In 2022, Maria Wang was named Director of Product Management for PPG鈥檚 Traffic Solutions business, where she is accountable for the lifecycle and profitability of the company鈥檚 paint, epoxy, and methyl methacrylate product lines.
In discussing the Industrial Progress honor from AIChE, Dr. Wang says 鈥淎 common thread throughout my work experience has been a continuous application of problem-solving skills and the development of learning agility, which has prepared me to adapt to rapidly changing business needs.鈥� She attributes much of her success to the foundation and versatility provided by her education in chemical engineering. 鈥淭his well-rounded foundation has empowered me to make a meaningful impact across various domains and industries,鈥� she adds.
Before joining the coatings industry, Wang was Associate Director at Stanford University鈥檚 Center for Probing the Nanoscale, and Technology Manager at Energy and Environmental Resources Group. She earned her BS in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and her PhD in chemical engineering from Stanford.
This fall, ChEnected is presenting profiles of all the 2023 Institute and Board of Directors鈥� Award recipients. Visit ChEnected regularly to meet the honorees.