Innovative Product Development Means Success for 3M Division Scientist

Jayshree Seth '91, '93

Jayshree Seth '91, '93

In her 12-year career at 3M, Jayshree Seth '91 (MS, ChE), '93 (PhD, ChE) has distinguished herself as a prolific research scientist and innovative product developer in the Personal Care & Related Products Division.

She launched her successful career with 3M when she parlayed a graduate school summer internship into a full-time position as a Senior Product Development Engineer in 1993. Two years later she was promoted to the position of specialist, and in 2000 was named senior specialist. In June of this year, Jayshree was promoted to the rank of division scientist, which is one level below corporate scientist, 3M's highest technical assignation.

That makes her one of only five women Division Scientists and among the youngest at 3M to receive this honor. Her product development experience spans the range of personal care products, including components like fasteners for disposable soft goods, such as diapers, and substrates for face wipes. Along the way she has applied for 35 patents. In her current assignment, she is overseeing the development and application of a Six Sigma methodology to the New Product Introduction Process. This project draws on her technical and management skills.

Jayshree attributes much of her professional success to the serendipity of finding a company that valued her specific skills, talents and interests. "There is a strong culture of innovation at 3M," she says. "I have a creative thought process and that is useful and appreciated here. The company is quite diversified, so technology you develop or desire for one area may be applied in a number of other areas — such as health care, electronics, aerospace materials, abrasives and adhesives. This makes it a truly fun place for a product developer."

She also credits her graduate education at Clarkson with providing a solid foundation for her work in industry. "I prefer the practical, applied side of things to the theoretical. I completed my master's thesis with Clarkson Distinguished Professor William Wilcox and my doctoral dissertation under S. V. Babu, CAMP director and Distinguished University Professor. Dr. Babu had a very industry-oriented approach so at Clarkson I received great training for 3M where practical applications of technology are essential.

"Dr. Babu also encouraged me and my fellow students to publish our work. This helped us build essential skills in planning, executing, analyzing and communicating our work, which are critical in a corporate environment." (Jayshree published more than 20 articles in peer-review journals and conference proceedings while at Clarkson.)

Her arrival at Clarkson also marked her first trip to the United States . Jayshree started her schooling in Manchester (UK) where her father completed his Ph.D. She grew up in Roorkee, a small university town in northern India where her father was a civil engineering (hydrology) professor at the University of Roorkee . "Everyone I knew was an engineer," she recalls. "It was always in my future." She received her undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from RECT (Regional Engineering College Trichy) in 1989.

"Clarkson was among four U.S. institutions I applied to for graduate school. I knew about Clarkson because other RECT graduates had gone there. When I was accepted into the M.S. program I decided to come, and then later I continued on for a Ph.D."

Jayshree also met her husband at Clarkson, fellow graduate student Raghunath Padiyath '90 (MS, ChE), '94 (PhD, CE), who also works at 3M as a senior specialist in the Building Safety Solutions Division. The couple has two children and lives outside St. Paul , Minn.

"I have very fond memories of Clarkson," she says. "The Clarkson Golden Knights hockey games and the move from Peyton Hall to the CAMP building. In fact, several pictures I took through a microscope of failure modes of diamond-like carbon films still adorn the walls of the CAMP building entryway. It pleases me to know that a part of my work still remains there."