The Southwest Catalysis Society (SWCS) Award for Excellence in Applied Catalysis will be presented at its Spring Symposium (April 25) to Dr. Heiko Weiner, Principal R&D Chemist, Celanese. Heiko’s important work on the hydrogenation of acetic acid to ethanol and ethyl acetate has been applied commercially in 2012 and a second commercial plant is expected online soon. Heiko’s work was completed at the Celanese Clear Lake, Texas office in the SWCS region, and followed the catalyst discovery and development process from high throughput screening, optimization, scale-up and all the way through to commercialization. The award includes a $1500 cash prize as well as an invitation to present a keynote address at the 2015 SWCS Spring Symposium.