The T. T. Chao Symposium on Innovation explores, celebrates, and encourages innovation and sustainability in the chemical sciences.
This event brings together established and emerging leaders in the technical, entrepreneurial, healthcare, and policy arenas to share innovative ideas that address society’s needs in the 21st century.
2022 virtual symposium
This year’s event was held November 15. The event featured opening remarks by Albert Y. Chao, president and CEO of Westlake Chemical, and David Cole, president and CEO of the Science History Institute, who moderated a panel discussion by green chemistry and sustainability experts. This year’s panelists were the American Chemical Society’s David Constable, Indiana University’s David Konisky, Penn State’s Sam Mason, and Yale’s Julie Zimmerman.
2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, the nation’s landmark legislation aimed at reducing water pollution and improving water quality. The symposium used this milestone to reflect on the past, present, and future of water quality in the United States and globally.
2021 Symposium: Innovations in Sustainable Chemistry
The 2021 virtual symposium featured opening remarks by Albert Y. Chao, president and CEO of Westlake Chemical, and David Cole, president and CEO of the Science History Institute, who moderated a panel discussion by green chemistry and sustainability experts, including:
- Daryl Boudreaux
Founding Director, Office of Technology Transfer, Rice University (retired) - James D. Batteas
D. Wayne Goodman Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Texas A&M University - Naomi Halas
Professor, Rice University and Co-Founder, Syzygy Plasmonics - Trevor Best
Co-Founder and CEO, Syzygy Plasmonics - Eric Schelter
Director, NSF Center for Sustainable Separations of Metals and Professor of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania
Infrastructures for Innovation Series
The three-year Infrastructures for Innovation series within the Chao Symposium on Innovation examined and drew attention to the systems needed to support innovation and innovation-based industries and the ways in which historical industries continue to shape the future of innovation.
Aligning Policy and Practice
November 12, 2020
Making Space for Innovation in the 21st Century
April 16, 2019
Financing Innovation in Houston Today for Tomorrow
May 1, 2018
The T. T. Chao Symposium is made possible through the generosity of the Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Foundation.