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Dr. Amy Heintz, a research leader at Columbus, OH-based Battelle and a noted chemist and materials scientist, has been promoted to the newly created Technical Fellow position in the organization. Battelle is the world’s largest, independent research and development organization and has a rich history of scientific innovation for nearly 90 years.
The Technical Fellow is a senior-level technical position for scientists who are recognized as influential leaders, both within and outside the organization, and is reserved for a very limited number of people. As a Technical Fellow, Heintz will collaborate across industry, academia and within Battelle to advance the company’s material science-based offerings in ways that transform government and commercial industries.
Heintz, who has worked at Battelle for 15 years, has been honored for her significant innovative contributions to many fields including aerospace, biopharma, medical products, consumer and industrial products, and electronics.
She has 15 issued U.S. patents and more than 15 patents pending and was named Battelle’s first female Inventor of the Year in 2016.
“We are very pleased to promote Amy to lead scientific advancement and application of our advanced materials offerings,” said Matt Vaughan, senior vice president for Battelle’s Contract Research, an $800 million enterprise. “Amy exhibits a superior degree of ingenuity, creativity, resourcefulness and customer perspective in the development of advanced materials application. This is instrumental in driving innovation in alignment with Battelle’s business strategy, which in turn impacts the pace of growth and provides great value to our customers.”
At Battelle, Heintz’s research focuses on incredibly complex areas of science such as dissimilar interfaces, organizing materials to tune adhesion, adsorption and electron, phonon, or gas transport. In the real world, her research is applied to solve proprietary challenges for commercial customers—like creating a novel package for a major beverage manufacturer. She has collaborated with many academic institutions, government laboratories and start-up companies.
She has helped lead two different strategic initiatives for Battelle with both efforts resulting in successful maturation of technologies from early discovery to product. One, HeatCoat™, is a new anti-icing platform for aircraft using a novel carbon nanotube heater which has reached increasing levels of successful in-flight demonstrations. The other was an Engineered Drug Delivery Initiative, which developed approaches for delivering challenging biologic medicines.
She serves on the Board of Governors and Science and Technology Committee for UT-Battelle, which manages the Oak Ridge National Laboratory; the Science and Technology Steering Committee at Brookhaven National Laboratory, and on the Finance Committee for ASM International.
“I am honored to begin this new role providing technical leadership, strategic direction and deep expertise in expanding Battelle’s business and in advancing its mission,” Heintz said. “It is a privilege to work at an organization like Battelle where I have the opportunity to apply fundamental science to solve problems and have an impact in so many different areas.”
A graduate of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, she received a B.S. in Chemistry with Highest Honors and Highest Distinction. She also has a Ph.D. in Polymer Science and Engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Heintz is a Dublin, Ohio, resident and is a native of Farmington Hills, Michigan.
Source: Battelle
