The Plastics Hall of Fame has selected 17 new members for its class of 2024 who will be inducted in a ceremony in May.
Established in 1972, the organization has grown to 236 members representing 10 countries, including five Nobel Prize winners in chemistry. Inductees into the Plastics Hall of Fame are chosen based strictly on their accomplishments, and its members represent all aspects of the plastics industry.
The members of the Class of 2024 are:
- Rainer Armbruster, Foboha GmbH, Germany, innovator of injection cube molds
- Luigi Bandera, Costruzioni Meccaniche Luigi Bandera SpA, Italy, founder and pioneer in extrusion equipment
- Dr. Joseph Biesenberger, Polymer Processing Institute, U.S., co-founder of PPI and expert in devolatilization of polymers
- Dr. Jacque Brandenberger, La Cellophane SA and DuPont, France, patented viscose (aka rayon) and invented cellophane
- Michael Cude, Coeur Inc. and ITW Medical, U.S., innovator in medical plastics replacing stainless steel
- Dr. Arthur Eichengrun, Cellon-Werke, Germany, developed the processes for manufacturing cellulose acetate
- Joseph Gerber, Gerber Scientific Inc., U.S., commercialization of automation systems, for example eyeglass lenses
- Arthur Haag, PureChem and Neutrex, U.S., innovator in the manufacture of purity titanium catalysts
- Wendy Hoenig, Dow, and H&H Business Development, U.S., executive leader: VP of R&D Dow Coating Solutions
- Dr. Walter Kaminsky, University of Hamburg, Germany, tailoring the microstructure of polyolefins by employing MAO
- Dr. Chihiro Kanagawa, Shintech and Shin-Etsu, Japan, chairman of Shin-Etsu Chemical and Vinyl Environment Council
- Dr. Cato Laurencin, University of Connecticut, U.S., polymeric nanofiber technology for tissue regeneration
- Wolfgang Meyer, Plastics Business Consultants LLC, U.S., expert in extrusion blow molding
- Dr. Chris Rauwendaal, Rauwendaal Extrusion Engineering Inc., U.S., extrusion expert and consultant
- Dr. G. Victor Sammet Sr., founded Northern Industrial Chemical Co., U.S., funded the start of the Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI)
- Dr. Nick Schott, University of Massachusetts-Lowell, U.S., led the university's plastics program to international recognition
- Kurt Swogger, Dow Chemical and Molecular Rebar Design Inc., U.S., polyolefin R&D Director for Dow – INSITE.
The induction ceremony is scheduled for May 5 in the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla., prior to the opening of NPE 2024. For more information, visit www.plasticshof.org.
