February 16^th – Virtual Plant Tour: IC3D

Cleveland/Akron SPE Joint Event

IC3D, located in Columbus, OH, is revolutionizing the product design and manufacturing process by developing new processes using 3D printing to create tooling, jigs, and fixtures used to make high-level functional prototypes and low-volume mass production parts. With partners such as various OEM’s and Tier 1’s, IC3D is maturing these technologies to design and manufacturer products with significant cost and lead-time reductions.

IC3D’s founder and CEO, Michael Cao, is passionate about building great things. Whether it’s a 3D print for a client or 3D printing tooling of his company, IC3D, he is committed to creating next-generation solutions that can be fully utilized and enjoyed by the customer.

Michael is a forward thinker, and possesses a Mechanical Engineering degree. He developed IC3D to provide high-quality, affordable 3D printers and materials to the public and secured crowd funding resources for startup operations. In a short timeframe, he built and sold over a hundred 3D printers and built a commercial plastic extrusion operation with multiple production lines while concurrently holding a full-time R&D engineering and leadership role at Honda.

For more information, visit IC3D at www.ic3dprinters.com

Presenters:

MICHAEL CAO, FOUNDER AND CEO

LUKE DEBRUIN, FILAMENT PRODUCTION ENGINEER

To Register and Receive a meeting link, Send your contact information to : SPECleComm@gmail.com

February 24th: ”SUSTAINABILITY ROCKS”: Part One – Helping Molders Navigate the Sustainability Journey

SPE Injection Molding Division,Cleveland and Akron SPE Sections

Presenters:

“Molding-In Sustainability: Your Business. Our Industry’s Future”                 
Debbie Prenatt, Market Manager-Sustainability, M. Holland Company

Debbie’s passion is enabling manufacturers to integrate sustainable material and polymer solutions into their components to drive a more balanced product life cycle. She joined M Holland in December 2020 as an Application Development Engineer/Market Manager-Sustainability and holds a BS Degree from The Ohio State University and two master’s degrees from Colorado State University Global.

“Packaging Solutions for the Circular Economy”
Tim Ponrathnam, Director of Sustainability for Health, Hygiene and Specialties, Berry Global

Tim drives programs at Berry to include the use of recycled and sustainable materials in their products. He manages Berry’s life cycle assessment data for quantifying the Carbon footprint of Berry’s products. Tim has a PhD in Plastics Engineering from University of Massachusetts Lowell.

“Industry 4.0 Partnerships: Data Driven Sustainability Initiatives for Molders”
Gamini Mendis, Assistant Professor in Plastics Engineering Technology, Penn State Erie, The Behrend College

Gamini has a BS and PhD from Purdue University in Materials Engineering and Sustainability. He joined Penn State as a Post Doctorate Scholar in 2020 prior to his professorship appointment. He works closely with PA plastics manufacturers to implement sustainability programs in their plants.

Panel Discussion: Moderated by Alicyn Rhoades, PhD, Penn State Erie, The Behrend College: Interim Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies,  Associate Professor Plastics Engineering Technology, Director,AREC -USA (Advanced Engineering Resource Center)