Foams 2018
 

Keynote speakers

1st Keynote: A half-century in thermoplastic foams

Jim Throne
Founder and owner, Sherwood Technologies Consulting, Dunedin, FL, USA
2018 Outstanding Achievement Award — SPE TPM&F division

Jim Throne is the owner of Sherwood Technologies, a consulting company providing service on advanced plastics processing technologies. Before founding Sherwood Technologies, Dr Throne was employed by BF Goodrich and was a professor in Akron U. He holds Master and PhD degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of Delaware.

Dr. Throne has published ten books in polymer processing, including four in thermoforming and two in thermoplastic foam processing. He was elected a Fellow of SPE, Fellow of IoM3 (England), and received the SPE Thermoformer of the Year award in 2000. He received the first Lifetime Achievement Award from the SPE European Thermoforming Division in 2004 for his technical contributions to the international thermoforming industry. In 2004, he was inducted into the Plastic Pioneers Association.

2nd Keynote: From 10 bubbles to 10,000 bubbles across a human hair: Transparent Foams in Polyetherimid

Vipin Kumar
Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

Prof. Vipin Kumar leads the Microcellular Plastics Laboratory and is the Graduate Program Coordinator at the U. Washington. His professional interests lie in the areas of design and manufacturing, including product and process design. His research program focuses on microcellular and nanocellular polymers, a family of novel cellular materials expected to be used in a variety of applications in the decades to come.

Prof. Kumar has a special interest in innovation and technology transfer. He holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and a M.B.A. form the U. of Rhode Island. He is a Fellow of the Society of plastics Engineers, and received several awards, including the U.W. Presidential Entrepreneurial Faculty Fellowship, the ASME Thomas Edison Patent Award and the DuPont Packaging Innovation Award.

3rd Keynote: Challenges and solutions in the recycling of polystyrene foams

Mario Grenier
V.P. & General Manager, Dyne-a-Pak Inc, Laval QC, Canada

M. Grenier holds degrees in Chemical Engineering and Business Management. He has worked in the petrochemical and plastic industry for over 31 years and, for the last 20 years, as General Manager of 2 Canadian plastic processors Wedco and Dyne-a-Pak.

Dyne-a-Pak is, since over 40 years, a leading producer of polystyrene foam food trays in Canada. Its customer base includes major grocery chains and food packaging distributors across North-America. The company uses post-consumer and post-industrial recycled polystyrene in its products. In addition to conventional polystyrene foam packaging, Dyne-a-Pak has also developed a line of PLA foam food trays, which are Compostable in Municipal and Industrial facilities. Dyne-A-Pak is actively involved in foam polystyrene recycling efforts across North America.