The Grandfather Of Pampers: A Chemical Engineer
Saturday, September 08, 2007
It was 1956, and Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) scientist Victor Mills was a new grandfather.
With the girl's birth, he learned the realities of baby care, including the unpleasant task of changing and laundering diapers.
His granddaughter, just like all infants, went through her share of diapers, and Mills was getting frustrated with it. "I just thought it was a mess," he told the Cincinnati Enquirer after he retired.
The bottom line was this: Mothers in the U.S. were using cloth diapers and plastic pants on their babies. They washed the diapers or used a diaper laundry service. Disposable diapers were on the market, but mothers used them on their babies only while traveling because they didn't work particularly well. They leaked and were uncomfortable.
Mills (1896-1997) also had a professional challenge. He was director of exploratory development for Procter & Gamble, and the company had just bought a large paper mill. One of his assignments was to come up with new products to produce using the paper mill's technology.
He got to thinking and, as Procter & Gamble knew, that often helped the company's bottom line and changed the way people lived.
The way Mills figured, wouldn't it be great if one of these new products could be a disposable diaper that mothers would be willing to have their babies wear all the time?
A Long Road
By the time Mills geared his team to develop Pampers diapers, he was in the home stretch of a 35-year career at P&G, which began in 1926 when he was 30 and ended in 1961.http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/newstex/
Other story about Victor Mills
http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=2662
http://www.washington.edu/alumni/columns/june97/mills.html
http://www.enquirer.com/editions/1997/11/07/bus_mills.html
Labels: Chemical Engineer, Learning Curve
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I’m Zaki. I used to be a project, process and chemical engineer. Few years ago I successfully became a Chartered Engineer (IChemE) and Professional Engineer (BEM). I'm now employed as a chemical engineering educator/researcher/consultant. Hope you like reading my blog. I welcome any feedback from you. My email: zaki.yz[alias]gmail.com. TQ!
