The 2024 Herman Pines Award Recipient is Dr. Beata Kilos

Herman Pines was an outstanding research scientist in both industry and academia, and his work revolutionized the general understanding of organic chemistry, particularly the chemistry of hydrocarbons interacting with strong acids. The Award in his honor is co-sponsored by UOP, where Herman Pines began his industrial career in 1930 and amassed 145 US patents, and by the Catalysis Club of Chicago, of which Herman Pines was a founding member while at Northwestern University.

Dr. Beata Kilos is a technical leader and a Senior Research Scientist in Chemical Science, Core R&D, at Dow. Beata began her career at Dow in 2008 in Midland, MI. Throughout her career, Beata has defined, led, and contributed to diverse R&D projects spanning multiple Dow businesses with a focus on heterogeneous catalysis and materials science (e.g., paraffin dehydrogenation, olefin epoxidation, methanol-to-olefins, ethanol, and ethylene carbonylation, cellulose functionalization).

However, like Pines, Dr. Kilos has also made impactful contributions to the wider catalysis community in positions in the Catalysis Society at local and national levels, as an advisory board member at Reaction Chemistry & Engineering Journal and Journal of Catalysis, and in her work as the first industrial topic editor (and currently as an associate editor) of the Journal of ACS Catalysis. She is also a notable mentor and DEI advocate.

Biography

Dr. Beata Kilos is a technical leader and a Senior Research Scientist in Chemical Science, Core R&D, at Dow. Beata began her career at Dow Core R&D in 2008 in Midland, MI. Throughout her career, Beata has defined, led, and contributed to diverse R&D projects spanning multiple Dow businesses with a focus on heterogeneous catalysis and materials science (e.g., paraffin dehydrogenation, olefin epoxidation, methanol-to-olefins, ethanol, and ethylene carbonylation, cellulose functionalization). Beata’s technical contributions and leadership have enabled numerous R&D projects and technology advancements throughout her career at Dow.

                In recognition of her scientific achievements, Beata was recognized with the 2023 AIChE CRE Practice Award for contributions to the discovery of novel catalysts and pathways for sustainable synthesis of classic and specialty chemicals, the 2023 Guiseppe Parravano Award for Excellence in Catalysis Research and Development, 2018 ACS Early Career Fellow of the Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Division, and 2017 ACS Rising Star award recipient. She is also a recipient of a 2017 Dow Chemical Engaged for Impact Award, the 2017 WIN Champion Award, and the 2019 ACS WCC Encouraging Women in the Chemical Sciences Award.

                Before joining Dow, Beata graduated from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland, with a M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Chemistry. As one of a handful of scholars selected from across Europe for the prestigious Marie Curie Fellowship, Beata completed work toward her Ph.D. at the Institut de Recherches sur la Catalyse et l’Environnement de Lyon in Villeurbanne, France. Beata followed this with a joint appointment at the University of California Berkeley’s Chemical Engineering Department and at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Beata has 27 patents/patent applications and over 80 external publications and presentations. She is actively involved in mentoring, diversity, and inclusion in the chemical and engineering community, founding initiatives within Dow and externally, and frequently serving as a featured speaker and organizer of diversity and inclusion events. Beata serves as treasurer of the North American Catalysis Society, director and diversity and inclusion task force vice-chair of the AIChE CRE division, sits on the advisory boards of the Reaction Chemistry & Engineering Journal and the Journal of Catalysis, and is the first industrial associate editor for the ACS Catalysis Journal.