InformexUSA announces networking roundtables

• Leading consultants from Scientific Update to outline a framework for advancing chemicals manufacturing with continuous processing methodology, better process R&D and better control of scale-up

PRINCETON, NJ, Nov. 21, 2007 -- Informex has announced its schedule of Networking Roundtables for R&D Professionals and Engineers in search of new technologies and processes that support more innovative and efficient methods of chemical manufacturing. Hosted by Scientific Update, LLP, a provider of educational meetings to the pharmaceutical, fine and specialty chemical industries, four presentations establish the framework for adopting best manufacturing practices. All of the presentations offer makers of higher value chemicals an opportunity to consider advanced manufacturing programs as a strategy for competitive advantage. Registered attendees may join the Networking Roundtables free of charge, on Tuesday, January 29, at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside.

According to Jennifer Jessup, Event Director, the Networking Roundtable is an invaluable program for Informex attendees who come to the Exhibition in search of better ways to capitalize on the world's best technologies and manufacturing processes. "With Scientific Update at the head of the table, we have set the stage for an exchange of ideas that can change the way chemical manufacturers look at process technologies as a tool for marketplace success," she said. "Innovator companies in particular face a number of challenges in validating the economics of complex molecules produced on a commercial scale, and yet they have fewer resources and less time to accomplish this major project goal than in the past. Dr. Trevor Laird, Dr. John Knight and Dr. Will Watson from Scientific Update will address the challenges of higher value chemical producers and put a handle on what's needed for Manufacturing Excellence," she added.

Addressing Chemical Manufacturing Challenges
Four brief presentations cover critical technical, commercial and sustainability goals. Dr. Trevor Laird, founder of Scientific Update, will look at recent efforts to combine the cost and efficiency advantages of continuous processes with the flexibility and speed of scale-up of batch processes. The presentation, called 'Novel Technologies for Future Manufacturing in Fine Chemicals,' centers on microreactors and the progress made in the equipment and in their application. On the subject of R&D, Dr. John Knight will look at the technologies designed to improve upon chemical process research. Questions remain as to how to best utilize today's advanced technologies on the shop floor. In the presentation called 'Increasing Efficiency in Chemical Process R&D,' Dr. Knight will respond to today's challenges, such as how to balance quality and quantity in an R&D environment and how to decide when or whether to invest in new route process research.

Scale-up is a subject never far from the minds of commercial manufacturers. In the presentation called 'Scale-up -- What Went Wrong?' Dr. Will Watson looks at scenarios that lead to yield and quality issues. By use of case studies from the published and unpublished literature, Dr. Watson points out the lessons that can be learned from previous missteps (= mistakes?) and the parameters that can be adopted to improve the success of scale-up in the future. Rounding out the roundtables is a special session on Green Chemistry. Commercial organizations in the chemical industry now place a priority on sustainability. Dr Trevor Laird will discuss the green chemistry principles, technologies and tools available to facilitate the achievement of environmental and sustainability goals, using case studies to illustrate how significant reductions in environmental impact can be achieved through chemical process design. The largely untapped potential for renewable sources of chemical building blocks will also be highlighted.

Scientific Update, LLP, is a leading provider of organic chemistry focused conferences, training courses, consultancy and expert witness services to the pharmaceutical, fine chemical and related industries.

InformexUSA is a leading meeting place for buyers and sellers of high-value chemistry for a broad range of applications. As the largest and oldest chemical industry tradeshow in the United States, InformexUSA has been a marketplace for networking and doing business in the fine, custom and specialty chemical manufacturing industry for more than 20 years.

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