Dr. Richard Varijan Joins AIC LABS
10.08.07

Emeryville, CA...AIC Labs, Inc., announces the appointment of Dr. Richard D. Varjian to the position of vice president, research. Varjian is a recognized leader in electrochemical engineering, having spent 30 years with the Dow Chemical Company, where he rose to the position of technical leader. Throughout his career, he led many Dow resear]h projects and contributed to others as Dow’s expert in electrochemistry and chemical process development.

Rich worked in several Dow plants throughout the US, both in their corporate research laboratories, as well as in licensing and new business ventures departments. He was also responsible for collaborating with national laboratories, the U.S. D.O.E. and many commercial partners.  In these capacities, Rich became an expert liaison between the Dow scientific staff and business teams who develop and market Dow products.

Rich has always maintained that collaboration and open communication with all stakeholders are the keys to maximizing technical productivity. While at Dow, Rich led an engineering development team that advanced a laboratory discovery into an improved process for making epichlorohydrin from glycerin, a material that is derived from animal fats and plant oils. (Epichlorohydrin is a key component of epoxy resins.) Previously, epichlorohydrin was produced only from natural gas and petroleum.  Earlier this year, Dow announced its plans to build a plant in China that will incorporate this new technology. 

With over 100 company and external publications and more than 10 US and international patents to his name, Rich served, from 1990 to 2000, as Chair of the Guidance and Evaluation Board for Advanced Industrial Materials Program in the Office of Industrial Technologies for the U.S. Dept of Energy.  

Additionally, he was a past division officer and local chair of The Electrochemical Society; a member of AIChE and a contributor to professional journals specializing in electrochemistry.  At Dow, Rich was the recipient of several scientific awards including the Dow Technology Center Implementation Award and their distinguished Inventor of the Year Award.

A native of New Jersey, Rich graduated cum laude from Rutgers University with a degree in chemical engineering, and received his masters and Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois.

At AIC, Rich expects to contribute his expertise in electrochemical engineering to the development of technology for resource recovery, energy storage and water purification. Varjian will report to Robert Clarke, chief technology officer, and a founder of AIC Labs.

Commenting on Rich Varjian’s appointment, Robert Clarke, CTO of AIC Labs, said:

“AIC is very fortunate to have recruited Dr. Richard Varjian. I have known Richard as an outstanding leader in industrial electrochemistry with an excellent academic background coupled to solid industrial experience. He is creative and very skilled as an inventor, engineer and innovator. I expect great things from him in his career with us.  He will help to lead a high-quality team of professional scientists and engineers and bring the mature and steadying hand of a seasoned master.”

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Applied Intellectual Capital funds, develops, patents and commercializes electrochemical and advanced separations technologies in clean energy, electricity storage, water treatment, metals recovery and other emerging markets.

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