Rising Stars: Engineering the Next Century of Innovation at Kuraray - Richard Jackson
Honoring our Kuraray Centennial milestone, we focus forward with 🌟#RisingStars🌟 series celebrating the generation building on our next 100 year-legacy and shaping Kuraray America, Inc.'s future. Fittingly, we launch the series during #EngineersWeek, highlighting an engineer whose impact reflects both progress and possibility.
A virtual reality model of a chemical plant. An ethylene recovery system that recovers and uses ‘waste’ material. These are not future concepts. They are active projects led by Richard Jackson, Project Engineering Manager at Kuraray America, Inc.’s (KAI) EVAL site. Richard’s story, highlights what happens when curiosity meets the freedom to explore and build.
⚡The Spark⚡
When Richard arrived at Mississippi State, he was not enrolled in engineering classes. With encouragement from his parents, he took an introductory engineering class.
“That one class changed everything,” Richard says. The road wasn’t effortless. “Physics 1 and Calculus 3 really tested me,” he admits, “but in the long run, being an engineer is what I was supposed to do.”
⚙️ Engineering in Action ⚙️
During his 11 years at KAI, Richard has grown from an entry-level engineer into the leader responsible for capital projects related to our EVAL and PLANTIC operations. Today, his scope spans targeted equipment upgrades, turnarounds and even full-scale plant builds “We could install a toilet or build an entire plant,” he says.
He has spent time supporting EVAL Europe N.V., gaining global perspective that now shapes how he approaches projects across regions.
Currently, Richard is leading a first-of-its-kind virtual reality digital twin of the KAI EVAL plant. “Few are exploring what we are doing,” he says. “This is going to change the turnaround world.”
🌱 Why It Matters 🌱
At the KAI EVAL site, he is part of a team supporting an ethylene recovery initiative implemented following the 2024 turnaround. The project recovers material once lost in waste streams and returns it to the process, boosting efficiency and reducing CO₂ emissions.
That work directly supports Kuraray’s Medium-Term Management Plan “PASSION 2026”, which includes a target of a 63% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2035.
🔭 ➔ Looking Ahead 🔭 ➔
Richard views digitalization and AI as accelerators of progress. “AI isn’t just coming, it’s here. The real advantage is learning how to harness it in ways that make our teams more efficient, our decisions sharper, and our work more impactful.”
What’s kept him at Kuraray for over a decade? Freedom to build.
“At Kuraray America, I get to grow and develop personally and professionally, doing the things I enjoy doing.”
As part of Kuraray’s 100-year milestone, Richard represents what comes next, a Rising Star helping turn bold ideas into real-world impact and helping shape the next century of innovation at Kuraray.
#100YearsOfKuraray #KurarayAmerica #RisingStar #NationalEngineersWeek #TransformYourFuture
Feb. 25, 2026