Research Team Breaks New Ground

Bio-Material Research Team
(Photo: Ford Motor Co.)Incorporating the best from Mother Nature For more than two years, the team has worked with soybeans, hemp, switch grass and a host of other natural products, or "biomaterials," in an effort to develop biodegradable and environmentally friendly substitutes for the petroleum-based plastics and foams now in cars and trucks. Their work, they point out, is part of the overall strategy by Ford to foster and promote environmental consciousness. 

One of their successes is a small block of yellow foam that emits a sweet odor, not unlike the smell of freshly cut flowers. The polyurethane square, made from processed soybean oil, can be used as padding in car seats and headrests and is among the latest triumphs the team has made in developing natural materials for use in vehicles. 

But it hasn't always been simple. Flanigan says that, while the team had early success manufacturing and molding the soy foam, she and her colleagues weren't able to reduce the attendant smell with earlier formulations. "The odor has been a problem," said Flanigan. "The foam smells like vegetable oil, which is also made 100 percent from soybean oil. It's not necessarily a bad smell, but people get in their cars and are not used to smelling vegetable oil. But recently, with the soy foams, with the new formulation, we've been able to pass the odor requirements." 

Flanigan explained that the foam is easy to make and relatively cheap to produce. She says that a switch to the soy-based polyurethane would lessen dependence on petroleum: "As we see an increase in crude oil prices, there is potential for petroleum prices to keep going up, and we might get a better cost advantage with the renewable resource materials," she says. "The second advantage is using a product that grows agriculturally - a sustainable material that is renewable. It supports the local crops." 

Processed soybean foam padding.
(Photo: Ford Motor Co.)

Along with the foams, the other focus of the team's work has been the development of natural fibers as a replacement for the fiberglass now used as reinforcement material in sheet molding compounds. These compounds are used in body panels, grill openings and other components. 

Mielewski, the technical leader of the team, explains that natural fiber composites offer numerous advantages over their glass counterparts. "The natural fibers are certainly less expensive than glass fibers," said Mielewski. "So we expect the cost reduction. We hope that the materials will cost less, and we use a lower mass of materials because it's lighter weight material." 

She added that the fibers also offer advantages to workers who have to deal with the glass. "Glass is difficult to handle, and people suffer respiratory issues when they handle glass," said Mielewski. "So we're hoping that, in the plant, the natural fibers will provide advantages for health." Lee added that natural fibers would also be less troublesome for the machinery. "Glass is very abrasive," she said, "And so we expect the maintenance costs for tooling to go down when we switch to natural fibers." 

But more far-reaching is the potential impact these biomaterials could have on the future. Said Mielewski, "These technologies are the right thing to do for the planet, for the company and for the customer. And for your children." 

Mielewski said, "In this building, [a team of all women] is totally unheard of. The usual is for maybe one woman to be in the group. For all of us to be in the same spot is just really odd." 

Perry has spent nearly three decades toiling in corporate labs, but she's never seen chemistry quite like the sort she's enjoying now. "In my 28 years experience in industry, I have never seen this many women together at one time - ever," she said, who came to Ford six years ago after 22 years at BASF. "Usually, it's maybe one out of a whole department full of people."

The women say they often work closely together, though they aren't sure if gender is the reason for the synergy. They know simply that they enjoy collaborating. "We all help each other completely with anything that anybody needs," said Perry. "And we give all the information. Everybody is there to back you up and help you in your project." 

Given that five of the six women are married and that four of them have children, members of the team also pick up the slack for one another when personal problems arise, according to Mielewski. "I think we're all in similar places in our lives," she added. "The complexity of life we understand. So if somebody has a sick kid, somebody else is willing to step in because they know next week it's going to happen to them." 

Along with their research at Ford, the women also work together to promote science to children, schoolgirls in particular. They lecture, perform experiments and teach young women that, as Lee says, "science is cool." Flanigan added, "The outreach demystifies science and engineering. Our work shows there are a lot of really neat things, and you can do it, too."