ANTEC® ReCAP

The event was the second in-person ANTEC® since the pandemic forced virtual presentations of the annual gathering in 2020 and 2021. While this year’s turnout was a bit less than one-half of the pre-pandemic registration posted at ANTEC 2019 in Detroit, attendee numbers were received with enthusiasm by SPE. “We’re very happy,” said COO Sue Wojnicki.
The conference also attracted a larger number of papers for presentation than last year—285, according to Dr. Iván D. López, SPE’s new director of technical programs, who oversaw the conference sessions. Last year, López noted, just over 150 papers were received.
The sources of the papers were also more diverse. ANTEC® usually attracts most of its research-intensive papers from academia, government laboratories and other specialized sources. Organizers are working to broaden submissions from industry. This year, López said, academic papers accounted for 60 percent of the total, while those sourced from industry represented 40 percent.
SPE and López want conference content to include more R&D and applications technologies from business. The plastics industry, he has said, faces challenges in many areas, especially the use and disposal of its products. Broadening conference content to include developments that are or will soon be commercial will boost the relevance and value of ANTEC® and the information it provides to attendees.

Celebrating SPE’s 2024 Fellow of the Society Award Recipients
In early January, SPE announced the 2024 recipients of its Fellow of Society Award. The Fellow of the Society program was established in 1984 and 365 SPE members have been awarded with the Fellow title since its inception.

The Fellow of Society program honors SPE members for their outstanding contributions in the field of plastics engineering, science/technology, or in the management of such activities. Candidates must be sponsored by an SPE Section, Technical Division or Interest Group and elected by the Fellows Election Committee based on their professional record as well as written sponsorships from at least two SPE members.

The following plastics professionals received SPE’s Fellow of Society Award for 2024:

Dr. PETER FRENKEL
Vice President-Technology
Galata Chemicals

DR. WENYI HUANG
Principal Research Scientist
DuPont

DR. HARRY MAVRIDIS
Director of Product Development & Circular Design Americas
Lyondellbasell

DR. JEFF MUNRO
Senior Research Scientist
DOW Chemical Company

DR. SRIKANTH PILLA
Professor and Director,
Center for Composite Materials
University of Delaware

DR. LI-YING TAMMY YANG
Research Fellow
GAF

Celebrating SPE’s 2024 Honored Service Member Award Recipients
In January, SPE announced the 2024 recipients for its prestigious Honored Service Members Award. The SPE Honored Service Member program started in 1992 with 357 members named Honored Service Members since the program was launched.

To be elected an Honored Service Member, a candidate shall have demonstrated long-term, outstanding service to, and support of, SPE and its objectives, and shall be sponsored, in writing, by the Board of Directors of at least one Section, Division or Interest Group.

The following professionals received the SPE Honored Service Member Award for 2024:

JEFFREY S. DRUSDA
Technical Service Principal Scientist
The Chemours Company

PIERRE R. MOULINIÉ
Global Technical Marketing Head, Healthcare for Engineering Plastics
Covestro

DAVID A. OKONSKI
Engineering Manager
Iacmi-The Composites Institute

 

SPE ANTEC® 2025

Save the Date!

March 3-6, 2025
Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown
201 North 17th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103