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Dow Corning, a global silicone leader, today organized a Science Day for children at their manufacturing plant in Ranjangaon, Pune. More than 30 students of the Abbasaheb Pachange School at Dhoksangvi village visited the Dow Corning plant, along with their teachers, to explore the fascinating world of silicones, and understand how silicones benefit almost every aspect of our lives.

The school children were given an introduction to the world of silicones via some simple experiments such as the use of silicones in foam control as well as in the waterproofing of building materials. They also participated in a session about basic silicone chemistry called “sand to silicones”, where they were able to see and handle various items made from silicones, such as personal care products, automotive parts, kitchen utensils etc.

“Dow Corning believes in building and maintaining positive relationships with the communities where we live and work, based on mutual understanding and involvement. The support that we have received from the communities around us has contributed to our growth and success in India. We hope that initiatives such as our Science Day will help us build even closer ties with these communities,” said Diane Kelly, Dow Corning’s president for India.

David Longo, Dow Corning’s manager for the Pune site said, “We have been conducting the Science Day at the Pune site for the past few years, and it is great to see the school children participating so enthusiastically. They are the inventors and scientists of the future!”

In addition, there were fun activities for the children, such as a poster competition and memory games. The children also participated in a solar car race – they had to assemble and race a toy car that ran on solar power generated by a small solar panel attached to the car. This helped the children understand the basics of solar energy and how silicones contribute to it. Prizes were awarded to the winners, and there were also giveaways for all the children.

Dow Corning’s community relations activities in India

Dow Corning in India is active in the communities where we live and work – we have constructed anganwadis in the villages of Karegaon and Karde. In Karde, we also installed a solar PV system that provides electricity to the anganwadi, an adjacent village school and a community ground. We worked with the village school in Dhoksangvi to provide them with a laboratory and a library, and also conduct Science Days regularly for local school children and their teachers.

We also participate in the Mumbai Marathon to fund an educational NGO called ATMA, and work with Habitat for Humanity to help construct low-cost housing.

In September 2011, as part of Dow Corning’s Citizen Service Corps, a group of ten Dow Corning employees traveled to Ujire (near Mangalore in India) to work with the local communities on projects such as improved methods for peeling areca nuts, sustainable energy solutions for under-served households, and enhanced processes for a garment making enterprise. They will be in Ujire for a month.

About Dow Corning

Dow Corning provides performance-enhancing solutions to serve the diverse needs of more than 25,000 customers worldwide. A global leader in silicones, silicon-based technology and innovation, Dow Corning offers more than 7,000 products and services via the company’s Dow Corning® and XIAMETER® (www.xiameter.com) brands. Dow Corning is equally owned by The Dow Chemical Company and Corning, Incorporated. More than half of Dow Corning’s annual sales are outside the United States. Dow Corning’s global operations adhere to the American Chemistry Council’s Responsible Care® initiative, a stringent set of standards designed to advance the safe and secure management of chemical products and processes.

Dow Corning is also the majority shareholder in the Hemlock Semiconductor Group (www.hscpoly.com) joint ventures, which includes Hemlock Semiconductor Corporation and Hemlock Semiconductor, L.L.C. Hemlock Semiconductor is a leading provider of polycrystalline silicon and other silicon-based products used in the manufacturing of semiconductor devices and solar cells and modules. Hemlock Semiconductor began operations in 1961 and has announced more than $4 billion of investments since 2005.

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