Michael Brady : Engineering Hall of Fame - 2013

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Michael
Brady
Award Year
2013
Graduation Year
1969
Department
Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering
Biography

Senior Engineering Associate (Retired) Corning, Inc. Corning, New York 

A man of humble beginnings, Michael Brady grew up in Iowa and primarily put himself through Iowa State University earning a B.S. in chemical engineering. He worked as a technician at the Atomic Energy Commission’s Ames Laboratory and completed internships at General Motors and Ethyl Corporation. He was awarded a National Science Foundation traineeship and headed to Corvallis for his doctoral studies.Brady speaks fondly of his days at Oregon State and especially for two men who made a significant impact on his life: Charles Wicks and Robert Mrazek. “Their acts of kindness and concern for me as a student and instructor made a great difference in my success in my doctoral program,” says Brady.

Brady’s career with 3M Corporation spanned more than 30 years. All of the Scotch tape made by 3M since 1972 is made with the water-based process Brady invented, and the process remains a trade secret to this day. “When I first started at 3M, they did not have a chemistry engineer with my type of background in pure chemistry, so I was able to make an outsized impact because no one had yet done that type of research or technical application,” says Brady. “It was at the cusp of the time when 3M was going from solvent-based to water-based adhesive systems.”Brady was actively pursued by Corning Inc. and joined the company in 1999 to establish a technology center for the microreplication process and product development for use in the optical fiber and photonic materials for the communications business.

He went on to establish the Center for Advanced Process Research, the Corning Patent Liaison System and courses in clear technical writing for scientists and engineers.Throughout his career, Brady has authored 15 patent applications and more than 25 internal and external publications. He holds four U.S. patents and more than 20 international patents.“What an honor it has been to work with OSU — with all the impact it has made in tsunami research, the biological sciences and engineering technologies,” says Brady. “It’s been a lifelong, wonderful experience — living there, traveling there, running across other graduates and being able to say I am associated with Oregon State University.”

The teachings of the Bible were the foundation for Brady’s determination at a young age, and he is still a religious man who is involved in several ministries in his retirement. “Life’s journey is all about learning to serve God and learning to use your gifts,” says Brady. “I learned long ago that if you have desire and the capacity to work, success will be yours."

Degrees

  • Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, 1969