Market globalization and social awareness

Faced with market globalization, accelerating partnerships and demands for innovation, knowing which products and processes will be competitive in today's globalized economy is the prime requirement for research and innovation in chemical engineering and, more generally, in process engineering. Indeed, while in the early 1970s, the half-life of product innovation (time to market) was around 10 years, today one year is often considered a long time, as a result of the increasing competition on the markets. What's more, over 14 million chemical compounds can be synthesized, 100,000 can be found on the market, but only a few percent of these are found in nature, so most have to be deliberately designed, formulated, synthesized and manufactured to meet a human need, to test an idea, or to satisfy our thirst for knowledge. Thus, many of the demands of the 21st century concern :