Max McDaniel
Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. LLC
Inducted 2018
Dr. Max McDaniel (1947 – ) is a Senior Fellow Scientist at Chevron Phillips Chemical Company, where he has been responsible for significant advances in catalyst technologies for the polymerization and trimerization of ethylene to produce high-performance polyethylene and 1-hexene.
Leading a small group of researchers for 40 years, he invented and commercialized numerous new chromium and metallocene-based catalyst technologies, which have been adopted by dozens of polyethylene manufacturing plants worldwide. For example, he was the first scientist to investigate the ability of chromium catalysts to impart long-chain branching (LCB) in polyethylene and the important role that the catalyst’s physical structure plays in that process.
He devised catalysts to simultaneously produce comonomer and copolymer. LCB controls nearly every aspect of polymer processing and molding behavior. His discoveries led to the manipulation and development of many diverse polyethylene grades with improved properties and processability.
Max has received numerous awards and worldwide recognition for his scientific discoveries, including several from the American Chemical Society, the National Inventors Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Bar Association, and R&D Magazine’s Most Innovative New Products Award. He also authored approximately 400 issued U.S. Patents and Applications and more than 140 peer-reviewed journal publications.