WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Chemistry, of course! At a National Press Club Newsmaker news conference on Tuesday, June 18, research and development experts George Corbin, Ph.D., and Claude Michel, Ph.D., from chemical company Solvay will explain the science, and vision, behind the airplane Solar Impulse landing soon in Washington, D.C.
Solvay was the first and main partner of Solar Impulse, the ultra-lightweight aircraft powered only by solar energy. Also joining the panel is professional science communicator Darcy Gentleman, Ph.D., of the American Chemical Society.
After causing a UFO scare in Texas early this month and narrowly avoiding Tornado Alley in recent weeks, Solar Impulse will arrive at Dulles International Airport on the fifth leg of its “Across America” coast-to-coast flight. The plane will be parked at a temporary hangar adjoining the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va.
This National Press Club Newsmakers news conference is scheduled for 10:00AM EDT, Tuesday, June 18, 2013 in the Club’s Murrow Room on the 13th Floor of the National Press Building, 529 14th St, NW, Washington, DC, 20045.
You can also watch the news conference via live webcast at: HTTP://WWW.VISUALWEBCASTER.COM/SOLAR-AIRPLANE
Reporters are also invited to the hangar to see the plane up close and meet the pilots at an early evening event sponsored by Solvay. Dinner will be served aside the Space Shuttle Discovery, which is on display in the Udvar-Hazy Center adjacent to the Solar Impulse hangar. To register for the evening program, please contact JACKIE.GUSCOTT@SOLVAY.COM.
As an international chemical group, SOLVAY assists industry in finding and implementing ever more responsible and value-creating solutions. The Group is firmly committed to sustainable development and focused on innovation and operational excellence. Solvay serves diversified markets, generating 90% of its turnover in activities where it is one of the top three worldwide. The group is headquartered in Brussels, employs about 29,000 people in 55 countries and generated 12.4 billion euros in net sales in 2012. Solvay SA (SOLB.BE) is listed on NYSE EURONEXT in Brussels and Paris (Bloomberg: SOLB.BB - Reuters: SOLBT.BR).
THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 164,000 members, ACS is the world’s largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
