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MBA from Solvay Business School
Meng in Aeronautical Engineering from Imperial College
Flore started her career in the aerospace industry, where she worked on large development projects with multiple stakeholders. Since joining Greenfish, she adapted those project and risk management skills to the agile environment of consulting. She has advised multiple clients on strategic topics ranging from company reorganisation, market penetration, and development of new business lines, all-the-while taking into account the challenges resulting from increased pressure for sustainable growth. Flore recently finished her MBA, which allowed her to fine-tune her leadership and strategy skills, and bring adapted and tested tools to her clients.
François DE BUYL received his PhD in Organometallic Chemistry from University of Brussels, Belgium (1991) and an MSc in Advanced Material Sciences from University of Surrey, UK (2003). He joined Dow Corning Europe in 1991 and worked on various silicone-based materials development and applications, such as, silicone sealant & adhesives, organosilanes, thermoplastics and rubbers reinforcements, and coatings, before joining the Dow Silicones Belgium Silicone Elastomers TS&D team back in 2011, helping for instance customers in LED lighting fixtures using optical LSR in their LED lamps and luminaires designs. Since a couple of years, François expanded his responsibilities to support new business opportunities in the field of mobility & transportation, such as, RTV elastomers for self-sealing-tires, which he will cover during his talk on “Silicone Sealant for Extended Tire mobility” at this conference event.
Bachelor and Master studies in mechanical engineering at the university of Kassel -since 2015 scientific at UNIpace -phd studies in progess with focus on PC/LSR composites and UVC pretreatement
Axel Schmidt is the Head of WACKER’s Hybrids and Sealants Team in Europe, Latin America, Middle East and Africa. His role is to market GENIOSIL® STP-E’s, Silicone Polymers to Compounders of Adhesives and Sealants as well as finished ELASTOSIL® products in Bulk and especially in Cartridges under the WACKER brand as well as PRIVATE Label.
Axel began his career with WACKER in 1994 as a management trainee, progressing in the year 2000 to his first of three overseas assignments in the United States as Business Line Manager Sealants in Adrian, MI before moving to California as President of Precision Silicones, Inc. (SILMIX®). Returning to Germany in 2006, he was Director for Distribution Management and Managing Director of WACKER SCHOTT Solar GmbH as well as Director Rubber Solutions. Before his appointment as Head of the Business Team he was Head of our ACEO® Start-Up, Chief Digital Officer and before that he was responsible for WACKER’s silicones business in North and Central as Vice President from 2012 to 2017. So he has held multiple responsible sales and management positions within WACKER.
Mr. Schmidt holds a Master’s Degree in Economics (Marketing, Logistics and Political Science) from Ludwig-Maximillian-Universtät Munich and was a visiting lecturer at University of Applied Science in Jena and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Hannes was born 04.02.1994 in Linz, Austria. He obtained a Master's degree in Polymer Engineering and has 7 years' experience in plastics industry – 3,5 years at ELMET
Researcher within the Sustainable Transport area at Leartiker. PhD on Materials Science and Technology by the University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU in 2020. Before, she carried out Physics and Electronics Engineering Bachelor’s degrees and New Materials’ Master’s degree in the University of the Basque Country. During the last 7 years she has focused on the characterization, modelling and simulation of elastomeric materials and components, mainly for the automotive sector. She has also participated and led several research projects and published several scientific papers at high standard international journals. Currently at Leartiker, her research activities are mainly focused on the study of the dynamic mechanical behaviour and durability of elastomer materials (rubber and TPEs), not only in terms of characterization bat also in modelling or digitalization strategies.
Dr. Pierre Furtwengler joined Renault engineering team in 2018 and is in charge of polymer material development and prescription for under bonnet applications. He is know technical polymer specialist for Renault Group. He obtained his PhD at ECPM (Strasbourg) in the BioTeam in renewable polyol synthesis from sorbitol and PU foams formulation. He received the 2018 best PhD award from French Plastic Engineer Society (SFIP).
Angela’s primary focus is Material science for Imagineering R&D. Her projects involve next generation audio animatronics, rockwork, and finding global materials that meet flammability and durability requirements while focusing on creative intent.
Master of Engineering, Architectural Design & Construction Techniques from UGhent
Stéphanie has over 8 years of experience in integrating sustainability into business strategies, with a focus on waste and circularity, supporting C-suite and top management achieve their sustainability objectives thanks to her unique combination of a solution oriented mindset with an engineering background.
She has spent the last years developing the waste & circularity solution of Greenfish, deep-diving into at the European plastic market: chemical recycling solutions, international transportation and storage regulations, waste management and market shares, Extended Producer Responsibility schemes.
Education/Study (2009 to 2016)
Michael Drach studied mechanical engineering at the RWTH Aachen University with focus on plastics technology (Bachelor and Master). He wrote his master thesis on simulation and process development of a variothermal cold runner system for elastomer injection moulding.
Career (2016 until now)
Between July 2016 and Dezember 2020, he worked as a research assistant at the Institute of Plastics Processing at the RWTH Aachen University. There he was employed in the department of Extrusion and Rubber Technology, where he was involved in topics of rubber extrusion and rubber injection moulding.
Since the beginning of 2021, Michael Drach has been Head of the Development Department at Gerlach Maschinenbau GmbH. He and his team focus on the development of energy- and resource-efficient vulcanization strategies.
Dietmar Juchmes is the Vice President of Business Development & Sales at Cold Jet based in Weinsheim, Germany. He has 30 year’s experience in the molding industry, with over 20 years’ experience in dry ice cleaning applications. He holds a mechanical engineering & economics/finance degree from Cologne, Germany and began his career with Andreas Stihl AG Magnesium & Aluminum Die Casting in Germany as a toolmaker. After college he went to work for Diehl Elastomertechnik in Blankensheim, Germany molding automotive rubber parts. He also spent several year with Husky Injection Molding technical sales in Dudelange, Luxembourg. He is married with two children and is fluent in both German and English.
Stefan Betz is currently the Product Manager for the Heat Technology products manufactured by Weiss Technik GmbH. He is in the industry for more than 30 years starting his career at Heraeus Industrietechnik GmbH. Followed by management positions at ThermoFisher's automated incubator product line Cytomat he is now responsible for the industrial oven business "vötschoven" including microwave and infrared technology. Next to the product management aspect he also manages the heat technology application center at the Reiskirchen site of Weiss.
Dr. André Hebel has more than 19 years of experience in the thermoplastic elastomers and copolymer industry. In different positions like in manufacturing, R&D and application development he gained broad experiences in thermoplastic copolymers and in thermoplastic elastomers.
In 1999, he graduated from the Marburg University in Germany. In 2003, he received a PhD in polymer science on hyperbranched polymers at the University of Freiburg, Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry.
In 2021, he joined Dow as a TS&D Scientist for automotive interior and exterior applications as well as he is part of the Dow Mobility Science Team.
Lennaert Klerk obtained a MSc in both Physics and Chemistry and a PhD in Analytical Chemistry from Utrecht University. Following this he made the move to Industry, first working at the resins business of DSM, then moving to AkzoNobel, where he had several roles first in the corporate analytical department, and later in a corporate open innovation role. In 2019 he joined Kraton as the European technical manager for Specialty polymers and since 2022 he is the regional technical manager for all Kraton Polymer activities in Europe. activities in Europe.
Jason Treharne joined Dow (Dow Corning) in Barry, UK in 2006. Through various roles in Supply Chain across the European region and Silicone Value Chain, Jason gained an understanding of material flow from silicon metal, siloxane and polymers to sealants, adhesives, and silicone elastomers.
Having learned the silicones world ‘inside out’, he took the opportunity to learn the silicone world ‘outside in’ and joined the Marketing function in 2018. Initially focusing on the product specific end markets of High Consistency Rubber (HCR) and Fluorosilcione Rubber (FSR), appreciating the value of these materials in the transportation, consumer, electrical and industrial segments, he has more recently focused on the automotive, electrical and industrial rubber end markets, and has gained market aligned responsibility as opposed to that of individual product, giving him oversight of Liquid Silicone Rubber (LSR), High Consistency Rubber (HCR), Fluorosilcione Rubber (FSR) and Fluoro Liquid Silicone Rubber (F-LSR). As of H2 2022 Jason has Global Market Segment Leadership for Dow Silicones Industrial and Electrical Si Elastomers.
Jason holds a Business Administration degree from the University of Wales in 2004.
• Bachelor in applied chemistry at Reutlingen University and Master of plastics engineering (M.Eng) at Schmalkalden University.
• Professional career start at B.Braun Melsungen AG in the Material Science Department
• Senior materials expert, development of PVC and TPE formulations for medical tubing and components
• Foundation of the consultancy company Polyneers GmbH that is focused on medical polymers and its applications, trends and characterization techniques.
• Member of the VDI-committee for the upcoming guideline 2023 for process validation in the medical industry.
• From 2016 until 2020 he contributed to part 18 of DIN EN ISO 10993 – the standard for biocompatibility of medical devices within a risk management.
2003: Diploma in Chemistry at the University of Hamburg
2007: PhD in Chemistry at the University of Hamburg
2007-2011: Development of coatings for plastics at KRD Coatings GmbH, Geesthacht, Germany
Since 2011: Development of silicone products at Elantas Europe GmbH, German
Oliver spent the last eight years in various functions in the elastomer and TPV business. At ExxonMobil he was account manager for automotive customers in Europe before moving into a technical role supporting the EPDM and TPV industry. He then oversaw sales planning for elastomers in Europe and Americas before moving into his current role where he is focusing on new application developments and on sustainability with Santoprene® TPV in Europe. Oliver holds Master degrees in mechanical engineering and sales engineering and is based in Germany.
- In the company of B.Braun since 2008, started with an apprenticeship in mechatronics
- Studies in mechanical engineering started in 2011 at the University of Kassel, Germany
- Phd candidate at B.Braun since 2018 in cooperation with the University of Kassel, Institute of material science
- PhD thesis: designing silicone components with FEM simulation considering mechanical and chemical material properties
Vanessa Frekers studied Technical Communications at RWTH Aachen, Germany, with a specialization in plastics technology. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 2012. Afterwards she started working at SIGMA Engineering GmbH in the fields of engineering and marketing. Since 2015 she is responsible for the marketing throughout Europe, while also continuing her work in engineering.
Jose Manuel Moises Gonzalez, ReNeuvo Group Inc. President & CEO. Jose Gonzales graduated with a Degree in Engineering, Master’s Degree in Communications and B.Sc. with Honors in Microwave Telecommunications from the University of Budapest. Participated in the creation of six companies, three of which are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Also has developed and implemented market research strategies to support new product distribution channels in Canada, Europe and Latin America.
Andreas Schäfert joined the Wilhelm Weber GmbH in Esslingen in 2018.
He holds a Diploma in Applied Physics of TU Munich as well as a MBA of Collège des Ingénieurs in Paris. Earlier steps in his professional career were at USHIO Group, GE Healthcare and EVONIK Industries. As Director Business Development Medical Devices he is in charge for innovative solutions and applications in the field of injection molding in the medical sector, publishing also about recent technology developments.
Olu is a consultant at NexantECA with 9 years of experience across the oil and gas value chain. He has experience in assessing production economics, supply-demand fundamentals as well as preparing price forecasts spanning the petrochemical industry value chain. He is a part of NexantECA's subscriptions analysis of profitability and pricing across the global petrochemical industry.
Ryohei Akatsuka joined Asahi Kasei Corporation in 2008. As a manager of Sales and Marketing of hydrogenated styrenic thermoplastic elastomer, he is taking charge of developing new applications in Europe and Middle East region. He received his master’s degree in Molecular Physiology from Waseda University, Japan in 2008.
Thibaud is an industrial engineer with 8 years of experience in product development and industrialization in the automotive and aeronautical industries. He joined Pollen AM two years ago and is responsible for accompanying and supporting Pollen AM’s customers in their 3D printing projects and for the integration of Pam systems into the industrial apparatus.
Oliver studied Mechanical Engineering and Plastics Technology at RWTH Aachen / IKV in Germany and received his diploma in 1990. He started his professional career at Dätwyler / Switzerland as a project leader for rubber precision parts for the Automotive Industry. In 1996, Oliver joined DuPont-Dow Elastomers as Market Development Manager for Automotive. Between 2001 and 2003 he was the commercial director at Omnexus in Europe. In 2004 he joined Momentive Performance Materials in Automotive Marketing for Elastomers and became the Global Marketing Leader of this segment. Since 2020 he supports Sigma Engineering in Strategic Marketing.
Leopold Pühringer received his Master in automotive engineering from Universtiy of Applied Sciences Upper Austria in 2005. After working several years in the heavy steel industry in Austria he joined Starlim Spritzguß GmbH and dedicated his work to silicones and silicone product development for now nearly 2 decades. As part of the RnD department her played a mayor role in developing and introducing new methods for virtual silicone product development as well as finding new applications for silicone elastomers for several years. Since 10 years he is having the lead of the RnD Department in the headquater of Starlim in Marchtrenk trying to steer, together with his team of specialists, the development of new silicone products for a broad range of customers in nearly every end application.
Since this nearly “20 years of silicone’s”, finding new ways of using silicone elastomers as well as understanding the basic behaviour and the environmental impact played a mayor role for this RnD work.
This motivation of understanding silicone’s beyond technical datasheets did develop also new methods of improving the properties of silicone products where SCD is one of such new technologies evolving from the always upcoming question: how can a silicone product perform even better?
Jobs:
10/2020 – until today: Director Technical Service Center at MOCOM Compounds GmbH & Co. KG in Hamburg
05/2020 – 10/2020: Director Technical Service Center at ALBIS PLASTIC GmbH in Hamburg
11/2016 – 04/2020: Product specialist TPE at ALBIS PLASTIC GmbH in Hamburg
04/2013 – 10/2016: Group manager at Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety, and Energy Technology UMSICHT in Oberhausen
01/2009 – 03/2013: Research assistant at Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety, and Energy Technology UMSICHT in Oberhausen
Education:
06/2009 – 11/2015: PhD Thesis with topic “Investigations on plasticizing and foaming of thermoplastic cellulose esters” at Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg
10/2001 – 12/2008: Study of business engineering with focus on plastics engineering and technology at Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg
Liliana Joosten received her masters degree at Maastricht University in Biobased Materials in 2020, working on the synthesis and processing of UHMW PA. Since October 2020 she is part of the VITRIMAT consortium, funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant agreement No 860911, at University Claude Bernard Lyon and is doing research in the area of processing of vitrimers.
Advancing pipe, profile and tubing and elastomer technology is the focus of Justin McKenna’s work at Davis-Standard. As product manager, he advances technology by identifying potential products, conducting market research, generating product requirements, determining specifications, production timetables, pricing and integrated plans for market introduction. This includes developing marketing strategies and assisting regional sales managers in product promotion. He has been in the industry for 15 years; 14 of those years with Davis-Standard.
Bio to follow
Daisuke Koda received his Master Degree in Bio-engineering chemistry from Kyushu University, Japan in 2009. He immediately joined Kuraray Co.,Ltd. and had been developing bio-based elastomer products and functionalized polymers.
After his career on market development of elastomer products in 2020-2021, he joined Elastomer Business Unit in Kuraray Europe GmbH as a manager of technical service and market development.
Dr. Richard J. Spontak is a Distinguished Professor of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Professor of Materials Science & Engineering and Alumni Distinguished Graduate and Undergraduate Professor at NC State University. He received his B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering (with honors/high distinction) from Penn State University in 1983 and was awarded his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from UC Berkeley in 1988. He then pursued post-doctoral research in Materials Science & Metallurgy at the University of Cambridge (U.K.) and Condensed Matter Physics at the Institute for Energy Technology (Norway) before joining the Corporate Research Division of the Procter & Gamble Company in 1990. In 1992, he accepted a faculty position at NC State University, where he supervises the Macromolecular Materials & Morphology Group. Since that time, Spontak has published over 300 peer-reviewed journal papers and over 35 scholarly works as book chapters and invited monographs, and his work has been featured on 31 journal covers and cited over 14,000 times according to Google Scholar. Although active in a diverse range of disciplines, his primary research interests relate to the phase behavior and morphology/property development of nanostructured polymers, polymer nanocomposites and coatings, electron microscopy, and stimuli-responsive soft materials.
Nick White is Vice President of Business Development, Process Oils at Ergon, Inc., and has 20 years of experience providing technical and commercial solutions to the polymer and process oil industries. Starting his career as a technical salesperson for Process Oils Inc., Nick has helped customers to incorporate process oils into various process oil applications over the years. Nick has been particularly active in the past 10 years, helping process oil customers find a fit for plant-based and recycled molecules.
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