Koos Mencke, René Steeman and Jean Beugels of DSM N.V. in Heerlen, the Netherlands, will be recognized Sunday, 18 August, by the world’s largest scientific society for developing better processes and new applications for a super-strong fiber used in lightweight personal and vehicle armor. The DSM team will be honored as Heroes of Chemistry at the American Chemical Society’s 224th national meeting in Boston, along with chemists and chemical engineers from DuPont and Solutia Inc.

“These chemical innovators have significantly contributed to the protection and security of our world with commercial technologies that detect, prevent, alleviate or remediate threats to our health and safety,” said Eli Pearce, president of the American Chemical Society. “The chemical advances made by these men serve as testimonials to the valuable role chemists and chemical engineers play in improving our lives. It is with pride that the Society recognizes them as Heroes of Chemistry.”

Jan Zuidam, Deputy Chairman of DSM’s Board of Directors, says: “We learned with pride that our Dyneema team is honored as Heroes of Chemistry. Chemistry plays a prominent role in the development of mankind, it’s important for health, nutrition, housing, transportation, communications etc. The spectacular breakthrough in the production of super strong fiber for ballistic protection is an other example of the contribution of chemical engineering.”

Personal and vehicle armor must provide maximum protection at minimal weight. Traditionally, lightweight armor was modeled on woven fabrics, but in the late 1980’s,DSM learned that material made from its super-strong polyethylene fiber, called Dyneema®, is better at stopping bullets when the fibers are laid in one direction and each layer of fibers is stacked in an opposite direction. The fibers and layers are bonded together with resins.

Protective gear — including armored cockpit doors, lightweight vehicle armor panels, bullet-resistant vests and military helmets — made with Dyneema fibers can stop, deform and dissipate energy from high-velocity bullets. The material also resists abrasion and withstands moisture, UV radiation and many chemicals. Dyneema is the world’s strongest fiber and is fifteen times stronger than steel on a weight-for-weight basis, DSM claims.

According to DSM, Dyneema fibers provide the best lightweight protection against the Kalashnikov, an East European military rifle widely used by terrorists. The French army used helmets made with Dyneema during its UN peacekeeping mission in Bosnia. Dyneema fiber is also used in helmets, safety gloves, medical products, mooring and towing ropes, and sports equipment, including fish tackle lines, sails, yachting ropes, kite lines, canoes and fencing suits.

The Heroes of Chemistry program, started in 1996, honors industrial chemists and chemical engineers who create commercially successful products that improve the quality of life. The theme of the awards changes annually; this year, the program recognizes technologies that protect and secure our world.

About the award winners
Jean Beugels is an application engineer, vehicle armoring, at DSM High Performance Fibers in Heerlen, the Netherlands. He received a bachelor’s degree in analytical chemistry from ZLS Sittard, the Netherlands, in 1981 and a bachelor’s degree in chemical technology from HTS Heerlen, the Netherlands, in 1988. He resides in Landgraaf, the Netherlands.

Koos Mencke is the technology manager at DSM High Performance Fibers in Heerlen, the Netherlands. He received a master’s degree in chemical engineering from Groningen University, the Netherlands, in 1985. He resides in Maastricht, the Netherlands.

René Steeman is the plant development manager at DSM High Performance Fibers in Heerlen, the Netherlands. He received a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from HTS Heerlen, the Netherlands, in 1980 and a master’s degree in process engineering from the Technical University Twente, the Netherlands, in 1989. He resides in Elsloo, the Netherlands.

American Chemical Society (ACS)
A nonprofit organization with a membership of more than 163,000 chemists and chemical engineers. The American Chemical Society publishes scientific journals and databases, convenes major research conferences, and provides educational, science policy and career programs in chemistry. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C. and Columbus, Ohio.

DSM
DSM is active worldwide in life science products, performance materials and industrial chemicals. The group has annual sales of close to EUR 6 billion and employs about 20,000 people at more than 200 sites across the world.
DSM ranks among the global leaders in many of its fields. The company’s strategic aim is to grow its sales – partly through acquisitions – to a level of approx. EUR 10 billion by 2005. By that time at least 80% of sales should be generated by specialties, i.e. advanced chemical and biotechnological products for the life science industry and performance materials. This strategy represents a continuation of the company’s ongoing transformation and concentration on global leadership positions in high-added-value activities characterized by high growth and more stable profit levels.