Cristina Urdaneta Thomas is an accomplished leader with over 35 years of experience in R&D across the oil, chemical, and materials industries. Holding a PhD in chemical engineering from UMass Amherst, she has excelled in high-performance computing, polymer science, product development, and organizational leadership. Cristina has driven innovation at MARAVEN, IBM, and 3M, where she commercialized cutting-edge solutions for industries ranging from traffic safety to workers safety, and earned more than 28 patents. At 3M, she held leadership roles in strategy, commercialization, and materials modeling.
A recipient of prestigious awards like the 2023 American Chemical Society’s (ACS) Stanley C. Israel Award and the 2019 AIChE Industry Leadership Award, she is also a Fellow of AIChE as well as ACS and its Polymeric Materials Science and Engineering Div. She is also a member of the National Academy of Engineering. Passionate about STEM and diversity, Cristina serves on multiple nonprofit boards. She enjoys traveling and cherishing moments with her family and dog.