Plastics Hall of Fame to Posthumously Induct Six New Members

The Plastics Academy announced that it will induct six new members posthumously into the Plastics Hall of Fame at a recognition dinner scheduled for the evening of March 24, 2020 at the Fairmont Hotel in Washington, D.C. The ceremony will be part of the Spring National Board Meeting of the Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS).

“These new posthumous inductees proudly represent the length and breadth of our great industry, with a wealth of accomplishments in polymer science, engineering, manufacturing, equipment design and business management,” said Plastics Academy President Jay Gardiner. “Each individual has been elected by the living members of the Hall of Fame after a lengthy screening process.”

The Plastics Hall of Fame, Posthumous Class of 2020, is as follows:

Howard Irvin: The developer of Cycolac ABS, Irwin received an honorary doctorate from the Rose Hulman Institute of Technology, as well as a degree from the prestigious Harvard School of Business. He was the executive vice-president and technical director of Marbon Chemical, then the Plastics Division of Borg-Warner Chemical. Today Cycolac ABS (now produced by SABIC) is still one of the industry standard brands in ABS resins.

Ronald Saxton: With a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois, Saxton joined the DuPont Chemical Co. in Wilmington, Del. in 1953, as part of their polymer processing group. There, he worked on the mechanisms and mathematical modeling of single and twin-screw extrusion processing.

 

Saxton also developed technologies in viscous mixing, heat transfer, process scaleup and reactive extrusion. His Saxton Mixer is still used in the commercial production of ionomer resins.

 

 

 

Walt Schrenk : Schrenk joined the Dow Chemical Company in 1954 and rose to the position of Senior Research Fellow.

Schrenk was a prolific inventor, with over 67 patents, and is known as the “father of coextrusion using feedblock technology.”

This technology is still used today in many commercial processes including cast film and sheet, blown film and blow molding.

 

 

Charles Sears: A pioneer in the auxiliary equipment industry, Sears developed the two-bed and four-bed dessicant dryer system, one of the most energy efficient systems in the plastics industry today.

He established Dri-Air Industries, a leader in compressed air and dessicant dryer technology.

Sears was also active in the industry, serving on the PLASTICS Board for many years, as well as the PLASTICS Equipment Council.

Bill Stoesser: An early leader in the field of injection molding, Stoesser established himself in both moldmaking and custom processing. He built his own plastic molding machine in 1947, and founded Stoesser Industries, one of the premier processing companies on the west coast of the U.S. The company also included a fully equipped machining facility for in-house production of small metal parts. Today, Stoesser Industries is part of SMC Ltd.

Dennis Tully: A graduate of the UMass Lowell Polymer Engineering program, Tully joined Miniature Tool & Die, a tooling company founded by his father. He later purchased the company and over the next several years rebranded it as MTD Micro Molding, increasing its size over 400% in a 10-year span. In 2019, MTD Micro Molding was named Processor of the Year by Plastics News.

 

Nominations are now open for the Hall of Fame Class of 2021, which will be inducted at the Gala at NPE2021. Nominations can be entered online at www.plasticshof.org. Nominations for the 2021 Class will close on October 15, 2020.

To register for the 2020 Posthumous Hall of Fame Dinner, click here.