Page 25 - CEMS News Summer 2020
P. 25

                                          ALUMNI NEWS
       building monitoring systems. Not only is the work timely due to the recent bushfires in Australia, but I can leverage my background in polyurethanes, which began with my PhD thesis at the University of Minnesota.
Despite the challenges of our new environment, both of us continue our pursuit of new and exciting opportunities in Australia.”
walls there is updated protocol for social distancing, personal hygiene, personal health monitoring, face coverings/masks and workspace cleaning. Beyond this, there is consideration for how to support 3M employees in managing personal aspects which often impact how one comes to the workplace – care for at-risk family members and need for childcare being prominent examples.
Beyond defining and training on new protocols, I have a deep appreciation for how critically important communication is around such topics. It has been a privilege working with our legal, HR, EHS, R&D, and Corporate Affairs teams to facilitate safe return of 3M employees to laboratory work and travel.”
Embracing Change
Dan Hickman (PhD ChE
’92), Senior R&D Fellow at Dow, adapted to changing operations at the multinational chemical corporation rather seamlessly. Based in Michigan, Hickman began his working- from-home journey in mid- March and continues doing so today.
Local Leadership
  Cordell Hardy
The new year brought many changes for Cordell Hardy (PhD ChE ’04) at 3M, based in Minnesota.
“In January of this year I was honored to be appointed as Vice President, Corporate R&D Operations, reporting to 3M’s Chief Technology Officer. 3M recently transitioned its organization structure to
drive strategic planning and prioritization through four global operating units, and
my newly created organization has responsibility for providing technical capabilities shared by those business units globally. Examples include regulatory compliance, customer engagement facilities, materials analysis labs, pilot plants, and project management offices.
When I was appointed to this role in Q4 2019, I had no appreciation of the impact COVID-19 would eventually have. In early February, I bypassed China during a multi- country trip to Asia, and in early March I truncated a visit in Europe in view of rapidly increasing cases in Germany and elsewhere. Since then, operations at 3M’s headquarters have largely reflected many around the nation, with most working remotely except for business-critical activity
such as supporting manufacture of respirator and safety equipment for protecting healthcare workers and first responders.
Now, with government restrictions lifting, I have point responsibility to lead the planning for 3M’s technical employees to return to the workplace. It is difficult to overstate the intensity of focus and caution going into the myriad decisions associated with returning employees to in-person, hands-on technical work. Within the building
“My current role is very
different from my early career
with Dow as an individual
contributor conducting
experiments while developing kinetic and reactor models to support process development projects. Now, I provide technical leadership, organizational leadership, coaching, and mentoring. When I moved to my home office, my role and my daily tasks remained the same. My daily interactions with colleagues continued, except that all of those interactions became virtual, and all of us continued to make research progress, adapting our work and effectively using technology.
My primary adjustment since the pandemic began is that
I no longer travel regularly. Despite the lack of travel, my interactions with remote colleagues have been effective because of our infrastructure and established practices. In fact, we plan to apply our technology and experience in our upcoming campus recruiting effort at Minnesota.
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Dan Hickman
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