Joseph DeSimone, a professor in chemical engineering at NC State, was recently named as the 22nd recipient of the prestigious Heinz Award. 

“Dr. DeSimone’s achievements as a polymer scientist and entrepreneur leading to singular breakthroughs in areas such as 3-D printing, nanomedicine and green chemistry are many, and the positive effects on how we live, create, work and treat our planet are only just beginning to be seen,” said Teresa Heinz, chair of the Heinz Family Foundation. “We honor him with the Heinz Award in Technology, the Economy and Employment not only for these accomplishments, but also for his ability to work across the traditional boundaries of scientific discipline, and for taking knowledge gained out of the laboratory and into the places where it can have a positive impact.”

Technician sat down with DeSimone to talk about his role at the university, research and the reception of the award. 

How long have you been a professor in the University of North Carolina System?

I have been a professor with University of North Carolina System since 1990. 

What is your job title and what does it entail?

I hold the chancellor’s eminent professorship of chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the William R. Kenan, Jr. distinguished professor of chemical engineering at North Carolina State University, and I am currently on leave as the co-founder and CEO of a company called Carbon, which is located in Silicon Valley.

You mentioned the company, Carbon, which you co-founded and serve as CEO for. What is Carbon?

Carbon is a company that merges hardware, software and molecular science to create and innovate parts and products across a wide range of disciplines, and recently we have started doing something new, which is moving 3-D printing into manufacturing.

What are your areas of research and study? 

My interests have been focused at the intersection of science, engineering and medicine, and currently, I am really focused on developing a capability to do 3-D manufacturing. That is basically 3-D printing on a larger scale and doing it in a lot of different industries, ranging from dentistry and medical devices, to automotive components and aerospace components, to running shoes with Adidas. 

What is the Heinz Award? 

The Heinz Foundation was established after Sen. Heinz was killed in a plane in the early ‘90s, or it may have been the 1980s, in Pennsylvania, and Teresa Heinz established the foundation in his memory for areas that were of interest to him. It’s a really nice set of values embodied in the awards ranking from public policy to environmental stewardship to the human condition, and the category that I was named was for the economy, technology and employment. 

What was the process for qualifying for and winning the award?

I don’t know the details. Someone nominated me and I think the universities played a prominent role in doing that, but the details are something that I am not familiar with. 

What are you most excited about as it pertains to being an award recipient?

This topic about the economy, technology and employment is one that is near and dear to my heart and you know, I’m a researcher at heart, and to take one’s research and translate it to the public good is something that we have been trying to do my whole career. For me, well, one of my favorite quotes is from Melinda Gates, it says “science enables our caring to matter” and it is in that sort of vein, that our interests have always been focused. To me, this really elevates the exposure for my students and my coworkers’ and our efforts to try to make our interest in research and try to do things that can really improve the economy, manufacturing, create jobs and we are very excited about it. Ultimately, the goal is to make a difference.

Anything else you would like to include? 

I am very privileged to have the support of North Carolina State University and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It’s really nice to be able to work between disciplines and between universities and I really treasure the privilege that we have got, so thank you.