n this interview, Dr. Mark Davis, the author of "Zeolite and molecular sieve synthesis," (Chem. Mater. 4[4]: 756-68, July-August 1992), talks about his highly cited paper and the work he does in the Chemical Engineering Department at the California Institute of Technology. This particular paper has been cited 292 times to date, ranking it among the 15 most-cited papers in the field of Materials Science for the past decade. Dr. Davis’s work is well represented in ISI Essential Science Indicators  Web based product ,with 2,598 citations in the field of Chemistry, 994 in the field of Materials Science, and 310 in the field of Computer Science. Dr. Davis holds the positions of Warren and Katherine Schlinger Professor of Chemical Engineering and Executive Officer for Chemical Engineering, and his research group at Caltech explores the core questions of the biological and physical sciences using the practical applications of synthetic chemistry and analytical engineering.   Read incite's Journal feature of Chemistry of Materials, the #1 ranked journal in Materials Science.

  When did you first know you wanted to be a scientist and did any particular experience, event, or person influence your decision to become a scientist?

In high school I became very interested in math and chemistry. The idea of having general concepts and proofs from math and the ability to create new materials from chemistry has guided my research for the past 20 years.

  What, in your opinion, is the significance of your work for the field?

Our work in zeolites has attempted to understand general concepts in how these materials are formed and to exploit this understanding to the creation of new classes of structures with significantly different properties than were available previously.

  What unexpected or serendipitous events arose in the course of your research?

There are always unexpected results in synthesis—that is what makes it so exciting. Numerous new materials and concepts developed in our lab have come from serendipitous results that we have exploited.

  What were the greatest challenges in performing and presenting your work?

Some of the greatest challenges in performing our type of work are to maintain a high-quality lab that is concentrated on significant problems. Really creative and innovative work is the most difficult to obtain funding for because the chances of failure are high.

  What lessons would you draw from your work to pass on to the next generation of researchers?

I think that one of the most important lessons is to not be afraid to fail. The successful solution to significant problems always involves failure. I would rather fail on a significant problem than succeed on a trivial one.

Dr. Mark E. Davis
Chemical Engineering Department
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, CA, USA

  Read incite's Journal feature of Chemistry of Materials, the #1 ranked journal in Materials Science.