Event/Program Information

Helping Molders Tune In to the Circular Economy

IN- PERSON Event Sponsored by the SPE Injection Molding Division and the Cleveland and Akron SPE Sections

• Technical and Practical Presentations by Sustainability Experts
• Panel Discussions
• Networking Reception

Registration Fees:

Sponsorships:

Engage with injection molders from the tri-state area (OH, MI, PA) to highlight your company’s new technologies. Interact with decision makers
regarding materials, design, tooling, machinery, auxiliary equipment and their manufacturing related needs for the sustainable future of the
injection molding industry.

SPONSORSHIP LEVELS AVAILABLE:

• PREMIUM: $2,400 (includes exhibition table, 1⁄2 page ad, 4 passes, company logo in all event promo)
• BASIC: $1,400 (includes exhibition table, 1⁄4 page ad, 2 passes, company logo in all event promotion)
• BREAKS, BREAKFAST, LUNCH AND NETWORKING RECEPTION SPONSORS: $850 – $1,400 levels (includes one pass, signage at the event, opportunity for 10 minute company overview between presentations)

FOR REGISTRATION, SPONSORSHIP AND SPEAKER OPPORTUNITIES
Contact: SPECleComm@gmail.com

Program:

KEYNOTE: “A Resin Supplier’s Perspective on Partnerships for the Circular Economy”
Dr. Kim McLoughlin, Senior Research Engineer, Global Materials Science, Braskem

ABSTRACT: The plastics industry is experiencing a time of unprecedented change, challenge, and opportunity related to environmental sustainability.
Companies across our supply chain, from material suppliers to brand owners, have made bold public commitments to achieve ambitious Circular Economy targets. Mold the supply chain to achieve those targets.
I will discuss Circular Economy targets, implications for molders, and resources available to molders as they help drive this transition. I will focus on the ways in which pa initiatives. Finally, I will share my experience coordinating an industry-academic recycling collaboration, which is facilitated and funded by the REMADE institute.

BIO: Dr. Kim McCoughlin drives technology programs at Braskem to develop advanced polyolefins with improved recyclability and sustainability. As Principal Investigato diverse industry-academic team that is developing a process to recycle elastomers as secondary feedstock. Kim has a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Cornell. She is an for novel polyolefin technologies. Kim is on the Board of Directors of SPE’s Thermoplastic Materials & Foams Division, where she has served as Education Chair and Coun

“Recovery of High Purity Polypropylene from Mixed Plastic Waste”
Dr. Joseph Lawrence, Senior Director and Research Professor, University of Toledo

ABSTRACT: Despite being widely utilized, only about 1% of the polypropylene (PP) produced globally are recycled. A particular challenge is to recover PP from mixed pol commercial plastic waste recycling. In this talk, we present a sustainable approach to selectively dissolve and recover PP from mixed plastic waste using a biodegradable Among all the major polymers, PP alone dissolved in this Green Solvent while other plastics remain insoluble. The dissolved PP is then re-precipitated with an anti-solve demonstrated PP separation and recovery from a variety of feedstocks, including PP-PE pellets mixtures, melt blended PP and PE pellets, post-consumer polyolefin wast commercial PET recycling, discarded face masks, and multilayer flexible food packaging. Peak temperature for degradation, melting point, melt flow index (MFI), and ma This environment friendly process can recover PP from mixed plastic waste and separate PP and PE from a mixture without significant loss of polymeric material propert

BIO: Dr. Joseph Lawrence is a Research Professor and Senior Director of the Polymer Institute and the Center for Materials and Sensor Characterization at the University after working in the process industry, he has been engaged in polymers and composites research for 18+ years. In the Polymer Institute he leads research on renewably manufacturing. He is also the lead investigator of the Polyesters and Barrier Materials Research Consortium funded by industry. Dr. Lawrence has advised 20 graduate st undergraduate students. He is a peer reviewer in several journals, has authored 30+ peer-reviewed publications and serves on the board of the Injection Molding Divisio

“Design Strategies and Mechanical Properties of Thick & Recyclable Thermoplastic Foams”
Dr. Alicyn Rhoades, Associate Professor in Engineering, Plastics Engineering Technology and Polymer and Engineering Science, Penn State Erie, The Behrend College

ABSTRACT: Moxietec injection molded thick thermoplastic foams routinely challenge and exceed longstanding industrial expectations in part design and physical proper solid equivalent. This talk will describe injection molded thick foam samples of up to 9” in thickness that are realistic alternatives to rigid thermoset urethane foam syst options.

BIO: Dr. Alicyn Rhoades is an Associate Professor in Engineering in both the Plastics Engineering Technology and the Polymer Engineering & Science Departments at Pen Director for Moxietec, LLC and currently leads the Scientific Advisory Board for the company. Prior to joining Penn State, Alicyn spent 5 years in the polymer industry, m in Pittsburgh, PA. She has numerous awards including an NSF CAREER Award, and was named one of the 2018 Top 20 Under 40 Engineering Professors in the US by the

“Developing Circular Solutions in the Petrochemical Industry”
Mr.Tom Giovannetti, Technical Service Engineer, Injection and Rotational Molding and CAE, Chevron Phillips Chemical Company

ABSTRACT: Since the development of the polymers industry, plastics have become a widely accepted packaging option worldwide for good reason – these materials are extraordinary flexibility, low energy usage and low toxicity. But these same materials that offer so many societal advantages are also under increasing environmental sc required to handle post use materials.
Industry is engaged in an unprecedented effort to create and deploy sustainable circular approaches that address end of life innovations designed to reclaim valuable hy – that is, developing a circular economy.
In this seminar, we will explore the innovations that have made synthetic polymers the material of choice for so many applications, the drivers behind the growth of this development and the collaborative efforts needed to responsibly repurpose post use plastics to circular solutions that meet societal needs.

BIO: Mr. Tom Giovannetti holds a Degree in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Tulsa and for the last 26 years has worked for Chevron Phillips Chemical Com various injection molded products for the chemical industry including explosion proof plugs and receptacles, panel boards and detonation arrestors for 24 inch pipelines polyphenylene sulfide sleeve in a nylon coolant cross-over of an air intake manifold and is a Certified Plastic Technologist through the Society of Plastic Engineers. Tom s is also the past president of the local Oklahoma SPE Section, and as well serves on the SPE Injection Molding Division board.

“Circularity Through Redesign: Creating New Polymer Systems that are 100% Biobased and Recyclable”
Mr. James Sternberg, Senior Scientist and Research Assistant Professor, Department of Automotive Engineering, Clemson University

ABSTRACT: Polyurethanes rank among the 6th most produced plastic globally and carry significant risks to health and safety due to the use of isocyanates in the polyme of the least recycled materials due to their crosslinked nature precluding typical thermal processing techniques. To address these issues and enable a sustainable and ci and non-isocyanate route has been innovated that introduces chemical linkages capable of dissociation post-synthesis for chemical recycling. Lignin, as a highly abunda utilized as an alternative feedstock to create the non-isocyanate polyurethanes (NIPUs). While only a few examples of NIPU foams can be found in the scientific literatu lightweight, flexible and 100% biobased nature. As lignin is typically used in the formulation of rigid polymers and foams, the foams presented here are the first to dem commercial materials. The raw materials of the composition can be recovered after chemical recycling of the foams using a high-pressure hydrolysis technique. The rec in second generation foams enabling a circular lifecycle.

BIO: Mr. James Sternberg is a Senior Scientist at the Clemson Composites Center in Greenville, SC and a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Automotive E from a chemistry background having completed his B.S. and M.S. in chemistry before studying biobased polymers under Srikanth Pilla at Clemson. James’s work focusse and chemically recyclable. His projects have included recycling and/or redesigning polyurethane foams, nylons, composites, and 3D printing materials. He is currently t group at the Clemson Composites Center.

KEYNOTE: “The Future of Plastics Molding”
Dr. Gamini Mendis, Assistant Professor in Plastics Engineering Technology, Penn State Erie, The Behrend College

ABSTRACT: The plastics industry is changing. Consumers are more worried about sustainability and environmental challenges and the U.S. government is paying attentio on the horizon for the plastics industry and discuss a variety of upcoming technological solutions to address these challenges. These solutions include new materials syst smart and sustainable manufacturing methods, and changes to end-of-life materials management. I will also discuss how the industry can come together to adapt to a c

BIO: Dr. Gamini Mendis has a BS and PhD from Purdue University in Materials Engineering and Sustainability. He joined Penn State as a Post Doctorate Scholar in 2020 p closely with PA plastics manufacturers to implement sustainability programs in their plants.

“Enabling Circular Economy for Plastics and Composites Industry via Networked Manufacturing
Dr. Saeed Farahani, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering Department, Cleveland State University

ABSTRACT: The circular economy is an economic system that aims at reducing resource consumption and eliminating waste while promising economic development con areas of digitalization and data analytics, which are known as Industry 4.0 technologies, can provide a breeding ground for circular economy targets. In this context, the taking a slightly longer time to visibly adopt these technologies. The main reason is that plastics and composites manufacturing is more challenging than other industries inherent complexity. The extensive possible combinations of fibers, fillers, and polymers; the multi-physics nature of their manufacturing processes; their complex toolin in some sections complicate every aspect of their design and manufacture. To mitigate these complexities and address the need for modernizing the conventional produ industrial IoT and data analytics, we have worked on the concept of networked manufacturing – broadly refers to the connection of multiple manufacturing equipment individual components communicate with each other and transfer actionable data to improve their processes. In this presentation, the implementation route map of ne and its potential challenges and opportunities will be highlighted. Subsequently, several case studies will be presented to demonstrate the capabilities of such connecte process control, and predictive maintenance systems for injection molding plant.

BIO: Dr. Saeed Farahani is currently working as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Cleveland State University. He has B.S. and M.S. d University and Ph.D. in Automotive Engineering (manufacturing field) from Clemson University. His research is primarily in the field of plastics and composites manufact networked production system involving integrated analytical models, numerical simulations, statistical and machine learning methods, sensors, and industrial IoT soluti and composites. Dr. Farahani has more than 10 years of working in industry in the Design Strategies and Mechanical Properties of Thick & Recyclable Thermoplastic Foa

“Loc Check for GSM Tracking of Injection Molds”
Mr. Matt Hammernik, Northeast Account Manager, Hasco America

ABSTRACT: The HASCO Loc Check allows you to monitor the location of a tool easily and quickly at any time with your cellular device. This HASCO component also allow shipment process all the way to the press. Whether it is being shipped after the completion of the tool to their facility. Or, possibly transported to another injection mo sustainability in the mold industry by reducing waste/loss. Loss that could be your mold at the building phase or a fully assembled mold ready for trial. This component keep tabs on your valuable tools in this global market. This rechargeable device travels with your molds to make sure they end up where you need them most.

BIO: Mr. Matt Hammernik serves as Hasco America’s Northeast Area Account Manager covering the states Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. He started with Hasc started in the Injection Mold Industry roughly 10 years ago as an estimator quoting injection mold base steel, components and machining. He advanced into outside sale mold makers for about 7 years.

“MAGNET: Manufacturing Partnerships in NE OH”
Ms. Darlyn McDermott, Director of Client Engagement, MAGNET

BIO: Ms. Darlyn McDermott is a Market Leader and Director of Client Engagement responsible for the Northern and Eastern Region of MAGNET of NE Ohio. She is specia Manufacturing and Tech Services sector barriers to growth for the manufacturing community. As a Market Leader her current responsibilities include new business deve strategic partner relationships, Smart Factory implementation strategic and operations topics. MAGNET ‘s state of the art manufacturing facility is located in downtown Ohio. Darlyn holds BA and Master’s Degrees from Malone College and is a Six Sigma Green Belt.

“SUTAINABLE MANUFACTURING”
Mr. David Leff, Vice President, Team Leader,Risk Control, The Huntington Bank

BIO: Mr. David Leff holds a strong professional background helping colleagues and clients understand risk, improving safety performance, and implementing programs to create a positive safety culture. He began his career at Worthington Industries as a Plant Engineer
where he was responsible for managing all facets of engineering, maintenance, and supervision of multiple projects and different
disciplines. He went on to hold positions with Worthington Industries including Supervisor, Environmental, Health and Safety
Manager, and Corporate Manager of Environmental, Health, Safety and Security (EHSS). He has been with Huntington Insurance since 2017. David earned his Bachelors Wittenberg University in Springfield, OH and his Master’s degree in Manufacturing Engineering from Ohio State University in Columbus, OH.