Dr. Robert G. Duan joins Chem Quest as a Vice President
The Chem Quest Group has announced the addition of Dr. Robert G. Duan as a Vice President. For the last four years, Dr. Duan had worked at Sherwin Williams first as Sr. Global Technical Director and then Vice President of Research and Development.
Dr. Duan joins Chem Quest with over 25 years of experience, both domestically and internationally, across coatings, polymers, research & development, M&A, technology management, and manufacturing efficiency. He has held senior R&D leadership positions in Dow Chemical, Valspar and Sherwin Williams. Across these roles, Dr. Duan has demonstrated his strength in business partnership by increasing the efficiency of portfolio management, improving gross margins, and enhancing collaboration. He has shown expertise in R&D by leading diverse technical teams, managing innovation, driving technology strategies and developing new products. In addition to Dr. Duan’s leadership and management skills, he is a talented scientist and holds over 35 granted patents.
From Sherwin Williams to Chem Quest
Over the last four years, Dr. Duan has worked at Sherwin Williams first as Sr. Global Technical Director and then Vice President of Research and Development. During his time there, among many responsibilities, he was in charge of the global R&D organisation, and led Sherwin and Valspar integration in wood coating products, technology portfolio and organisation in Asia-Pacific. Dr. Duan contemporised the R&D organisation by introducing six sigma, statistical design, and data analytics, and established global application technology centers to accelerate the industrial market transformation from solvent to green coating technologies.
While his role as VP of R&D was based in the U.S., Dr. Duan lived in Europe for a year and has a decade of experience working across Asia-Pacific at both Dow Chemical and Sherwin Williams. His knowledge and connection to China/Asian-Pacific markets along with his extensive skills synergise perfectly with Chem Quest’s expanding global influence and laboratory capabilities through both Chem Quest Technical Institute (CQTI) and ChemQuest Powder Coating Research (CQPCR).
