Editorial pubs.acs.org/IECR
A Tribute to Richard Baker: A Life in Membranes
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t is our great pleasure to offer this preface for the I&EC Research festschrift honoring our friend and mentor Richard Baker. Between us, we have known Richard for almost 70 years, and to quote the old song, “it ain’t been a day too much”. Despite this long acquaintance, our task is not easy, because Richard’s contributions to membrane science and technology have been so many and so varied. Richard studied transport phenomena and membranes under Professor R. M. Barrer at Imperial College, London. In 1966, a newly minted Ph.D., he headed west to join Amicon Corporation (Lexington, MA, USA). Here, his first research report prompted the boss, Alan Michaels, to ask: “Is English your native language?” Despite this inauspicious beginning, Richard’s time at Amicon was fruitful, including key contributions to the Diaflow series of ultrafiltration membranes, and his early work in ultrafiltration remains much cited to this day. To explore the possibilities of the academic life, Richard left Amicon for a two-year stint as a postdoc at Brooklyn Polytechnic. Here, he continued his ultrafiltration studies, specifically as applied to the deashing of liquefied coal. But Alan Michaels, who by now had moved on to Alza Corporation (Palo Alto, CA), must have seen more in his young former employee than his struggles with the written word, because he offered Richard a place in his group, which Richard accepted in 1971. At Alza, Richard worked on sustained release drug delivery systems, including the Ocusert, a membrane-based delivery device for use under the eyelid. His quantitative analysis of the device performance was the first mathematical treatment of drug delivery to be published in a medical journal, © 2013 American Chemical Society
and he helped to establish controlled-release drug delivery as a valid pharmaceutical methodology. In 1974, hit by the entrepreneurial itch, Richard left Alza to cofound Bend Research, Inc., of Bend, OR. While at Bend, he continued to work on controlled release systems for pharmaceutical and agricultural use. At the same time, he began to develop his interests in other areas of membrane technology, including coupled transport and the nascent field of gas separation. In 1982, Richard left Bend Research and founded his second company, Membrane Technology and Research, Inc. (MTR). From the beginning, gas separation was a special focus area for MTR. Membrane-based industrial gas separation was then barely off the ground; Monsanto had introduced Prism membranes for hydrogen separation from ammonia plant purge gas two years earlier, and Dow had just announced the first Generon systems for oxygen/nitrogen separation. Richard’s unique insight was that separation of organic vapors from gases using polymeric membranes might also be possible, and that this would require rubbery rather than glassy polymers as the selective membrane material. A few months after its founding, MTR received funding from the Department of Energy to support research on recovery of solvent vapors from industrial air streams. Under that program and others, Richard led MTR Special Issue: Baker Festschrift Received: December 4, 2012 Accepted: December 6, 2012 Published: January 23, 2013 991
dx.doi.org/10.1021/ie3033476 | Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2013, 52, 991−992
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research
Editorial
a newcomer with English, teaching report writing skills (yes, he got those figured out eventually) or supplying a reference for a graduate school application, he consistently makes himself available to assist others to achieve their goals. Under his tenure, MTR sent nine employees back to graduate school in some of the most prestigious Ph.D. programs in the country, as well as counting seven university professors among its alumni. In short, Richard has created a new field of membrane technology, made important developments in others, written a membrane best-seller, founded two successful companies, and inspired and fostered the next generation of membrane leaders. Richard, on behalf of the greater membrane community, we thank and honor you. We count ourselves fortunate to have benefited from your leadership, friendship, and indefatigable enthusiasm for membrane technology, and we hope to continue the journey with you for many years to come.
to develop composite membranes that exploit differences in solubility as the controlling transport mechanism, thereby providing selectivity in favor of organic vapors over air or other gases. This was followed by the development of techniques to manufacture the membranes on the industrial scale, of spiralwound modules to package them, and of innovative process designs for their utilization. Although many polymers have intrinsic gas-separation capability, few have been incorporated into useful membranes, and there are only a handful of gas-separation membrane types in industrial use today. All but one originated in large, wellfunded corporations. MTR succeeded in developing organic vapor separation by membranes into a commercial business, and MTR succeeded in growing that business to become a multimillion dollar global industry leader. For a new field of membrane technology to be conceived and brought to fruition by a small company is a remarkable tribute to Richard’s vision, skill, and stamina. Under Richard’s leadership, MTR became, and remains, a center of excellence for membrane research, with an eye always to useful real-world applications. The uncommon breadth of Richard’s own intellectual interests has provided a broad base that has underpinned the success of MTR, both as a research center and in developing and commercializing new technologies. Specifically, MTR has introduced new products and processes in the natural gas treatment and petroleum refining industries, and work started by Richard continues to provide a pipeline of next-generation technology. In 2007, Richard stepped aside as MTR president. Rather than resting on his laurels, however, he took the position of Principal Scientist, in which role he is leading development and commercialization of another product line―innovative ethanol purification processes for the emerging biofuels market. Richard’s work is reflected in more than 200 papers and patents, representing most facets of membrane technology. He has been recognized by many awards, including the International Controlled Release Society (ICRS) Founders’ Award, the North American Membrane Society (NAMS) Alan S. Michaels Award, and on behalf of MTR, the Chemical Engineering Magazine Kirkpatrick award. However, impressive as these achievements are, they in no way represent the entirety of Richard’s contribution to membrane technology. He has been unsparing in his services to our community over the years. He was a founding member of both the Controlled Release Society and the North American Membrane Society, and served as President of CRS from 1981 to 1982, and on the governing board of NAMS from 1986 to 1989. He is on the editorial board of The Journal of Membrane Science, and was previously on the editorial boards of Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, The Journal of Controlled Release, and Separation and Purif ication Technology. He has written two textbooks that have achieved recognition as standard source books: Controlled Release of Biologically Active Agents (John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY (1987)); and Membrane Technology and Applications, now in its third edition (John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Chichester, U.K. (2012)). He continues to give workshops, plenary lectures, and presentations at meetings all over the world. But perhaps, next to creation of the VaporSep technology, Richard’s paramount gift to the membrane world has been his mentorship of young scientists. He has always been outstandingly generous with his time and ideas. He sees the potential in others and goes out of his way to encourage it. Whether helping
Janet Farrant Tim Merkel Hans Wijmans*
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Membrane Technology and Research, Inc., Newark, California 94560
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Corresponding Author
*E-mail:
[email protected].
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dx.doi.org/10.1021/ie3033476 | Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2013, 52, 991−992
