User:Sweenydavid/sandbox

Wilfred (Fred) Sweeny was born April 22, 1926 in Glasgow, Scotland to Albert, a publican, and Ellen Sweeny. He obtained his primary education at St. Peter’s (Partick) and his secondary education at St. Gerard’s (Govan), where he graduated the dux of the school. Fred obtained the B.SC. degree with first class honors in applied chemistry from Glasgow University in the remarkably short period of three years and in doing so became the first pupil from St. Gerard’s to graduate from Glasgow University. He continued at Glasgow University and earned his Ph.D. in chemistry (1950). His thesis was entitled “Studies in pyrazine chemistry”. He was hired by T. and H. Smith, Ltd. (now part of MacFarlan Smith), where he received his first patent for a new synthesis of tropanone. Dr. Sweeny and his wife (Helen), moved to Wilmington, Delaware in 1952 after he was recruited for a position in the Textile Engineering Lab at the DuPont Experimental Station. His early work was on a polymer scouting program, where the aim was to develop crystalline, high-melting polymer fibers. Dr. Sweeny succeed in finding a process that could produce a high molecular weight fiber that had outstanding thermal properties (U.S. Patent 3,287,324: Poly-meta-phenylene isophthalamides). His work, combined with the help of others like Dr. Wayne Sorenson, lead to the commercialization of the lifesaving meta-polyaramid fiber Nomex. Nomex was introduced in 1967 and is still widely used in flame-resistant garments for fire fighters, race car drivers and military personnel. Additional uses include Nomex paper for electrical insulation, and Nomex honeycomb cores in aircraft for weight saving properties. Dr. Sweeny retired from DuPont in 1991. During his time at DuPont he was issued 23 U.S. patents. He was the recipient of the George G. Snively Award from the Sports Car Club of America in 1990 for his invention of Nomex. In 2020, he was awarded the Lavoisier Medal of Achievement, the highest award for scientific and technical excellence from DuPont. He was the author of many publications and was co-editor of the second and third editions of the textbook “Preparative Methods of Polymer Chemistry”. Dr. Sweeny passed away in 2011 at the age of 85.