At age 16, while at Overbrook High School in West Philadelphia, he won a Mayor's Scholarship to attend the University of Pennsylvania.

[14] : xvi  He also worked in a placement at M. W. Kellogg Company, helping to design petroleum refining plants in the summer of 1939.

[16][17][18][19] During World War II, M. W. Kellogg created a subsidiary company, Kellex Corporation, for work on the Manhattan Project.

[20] In 1943 Landau was invited to transfer to Kellogg's subsidiary, Kellex Corporation, to become head of the chemical department at the Manhattan Project's K-25 production plant at Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

[1][3] Landau designed equipment to produce fluorine, a highly reactive substance used to make the uranium hexafluoride for the gaseous diffusion process.

He also oversaw the production of the fluorinated compounds used to protect surfaces in contact with uranium hexafluoride,[14] : xvii [21][22] such as the perfluorocarbons perfluoroheptane and perfluoroxylene.

[24][25] Rehnberg was a construction engineer at Kellex, involved in building the fluorine unit Landau had designed.

Scientific Design and other companies worked with clients to develop and pilot new chemical manufacturing processes, then patented and licensed those technologies for wider sales.

[28] After completing an initial contract with Stauffer Chemical, Scientific Design bought a laboratory near 32nd St and Park Avenue in New York City.

Landau saw the opportunity to develop a simpler process, using less expensive oxidants, to meet the needs of an expanding market.

Scientific Design developed an economically competitive process by using a less expensive oxidant, air, and a more effective catalyst, silver.

Studying transformations of para-substituted aromatic compounds for use in the Witten Process, Landau's group experimented with a broad range of metal catalysts, solvent media, and oxidation initiators under varying temperatures and pressures.

Again, Landau's team had discovered a unique oxidation catalyst which enabled them to simplify the processes involved, reduce costs, and produce a high-grade yield.

[36] It is a precursor to unsaturated polyester resins, used to make fiberglass composites for boats, cars, wind turbine blades and other products.

It is used in the manufacture of copolymers to bind wood fibers into plastic, inhibity corrosion, create protective coatings, and repel water in sunscreens.

[14]: xxii Scientific Design found a new method for producing isoprene based on the dimerization of propylene, working with Goodyear Tire and Rubber.

In the new process, hydroperoxides serve as a source of oxygen atoms, which are transferred to the olefin by metal catalysts.

Five subsidiaries were created:[14]: xxiii By 1965, Landau had publicly announced the company's intention to commercialize its new process.

[38] In 1967, Halcon partnered with Atlantic Richfield Co. (Arco) to form Oxirane, to produce propylene oxide, styrene, and tert-Butyl alcohol.

[14] : xxiii  By 1979 the Oxirane Corporation was operating eight plants in locations around the world, with sales exceeding $1 billion a year.

[14]: xxiv  Unexpected corrosion problems, the energy crisis of the 70's, and high inflation and interest rates led to shut down.

[26] He saw himself as providing a bridge between academic economists, industrial and business leaders, and scientists and engineers developing new technology.

[26] In 1984 he was appointed a fellow of the faculty at the Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, where he co-directed the Program on Technology and Economic Policy.

He has been a trustee of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a director of Alcoa, and Chairman of the American Section of the Society of Chemical Industry.

In particular, he has supported the chemical engineering program and the creation of an endowment for its Practice School, which enables students to gain field experience working in industry.

[2] Dr. Landau sat on the Board of Overseers for the School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS), and served as its chair from 1979–1985.