Joseph Sant’Angelo

Joseph Sant'Angelo (BS 54) is an inventor, researcher and product developer whose career spanned more than five decades in chemical engineering and advanced materials. His pioneering talent was evident even as a student, when his experiments in high-speed photography of heat transfer led to an American Institute of Chemical Engineers' award for best student research paper. That paper was later published in Chemical Engineering Progress and Scientific American. During his professional career, he held leadership and research positions with Celanese, the Atomic Energy Commission, Air Products and Chemicals, and PAC Polymers. His work contributed to technologies ranging from reactors for the USS Enterprise, the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, to flame-resistant PBI fibers used in aerospace and firefighting applications. Throughout his career, Sant'Angelo's heart was always in research and development, and his lifelong innovations in technologies like liquid bandages and breathable fire-suppression systems resulted in more than 35 patents, many of which were commercialized.