Former Mitsui Chemicals Executive Officer OGAWA Shinji Wins Polymer Science Award

Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. (Tokyo: 4183; President & CEO: HASHIMOTO Osamu) is pleased to announce that former Managing Executive Officer OGAWA Shinji has been named among the fiscal 2020 recipients of the Award of the Society of Polymer Science, Japan (SPSJ).

The Award of the SPSJ was established to promote the advancement of basic and applied polymer science in Japan by recognizing the outstanding achievements of members in the field over many years and assisting in raising the standard of polymer science and public awareness thereof. In receiving this award, Dr. Ogawa was highly praised both for his professional achievements during his time at Mitsui Chemicals – specifically, the industrialization of functional polyolefins and the development of technology for the polymerization of polylactic acid – and for his contribution as vice president of the SPSJ. The products developed as a result of the functional polyolefins he industrialized are mainstays of the Mobility and Food & Packaging business sectors, two growth domains for Mitsui Chemicals.

Tremendously honored to see Dr. Ogawa bestowed with this award, Mitsui Chemicals will continue striving in its contributions to this field.

"The achievements cited as the grounds for my receiving the Award of the Society of Polymer Science, Japan, are the result of many of us from business, research, production and assorted other divisions working together to carry the torch of our predecessors in development and industrialization efforts," said Dr. Ogawa. "This award recognizes the efforts of Mitsui Chemicals, and it’s my sheer good fortune that I was blessed with the opportunity to be a member of this company. So I sincerely thank everyone involved."

Career profile of OGAWA Shinji at Mitsui Chemicals

Dr. Ogawa led the development of applications for polylactic acid and supercritical fluids as media for chemical reactions, and also spearheaded pioneering technology development. In the field of polylactic acid development in particular, he led the development of technology aimed at the construction of semicommercial plants from the initial stage of development.

In the area of RC and quality assurance, Dr. Ogawa devoted his energies to the dynamic exploration of internal safety evaluation systems, where he introduced the latest in calorimetric instruments and established internal systems.

Focusing on technologies for safe environments, he set up a safety engineering team and promoted various other efforts to put in place systems for the dynamic exploration of operational safety technology.

During his time at the Process Technology Laboratory, Dr. Ogawa went ahead with the installation of benchtop engineering testing equipment to enable data for scaling up to be obtained swiftly and accurately, thereby helping to bolster the laboratory’s key functions.

He also valued collaboration between industry, academia and government, most notably promoting various cutting-edge joint research programs between Mitsui Chemicals and partners including universities and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), and forging ahead with participation in national government projects.

After retiring from Mitsui Chemicals in July 2020, Dr. Ogawa’s scholarly achievements led to his being appointed to his current post as Invited Professor at Osaka University.

Overview of the award

Award of the Society of Polymer Science, Japan