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This year's ANTEC, held in Dallas, Texas, May 6-10, reflected some of the soft economy, but the plastics professionals who did attend got some excellent information about cutting-edge issues in our field.
More than 3,000 attendees listened, saw and learned from experts in every part of the fields of plastics and polymer science. The SPE New Technology Committee sponsored four new "Fora" (that's the plural of forum, something that only Latin majors and people with too much time on their hands know).
The first forum, "Plastics Engineering in the New Millenium--From Materials to Useful Products", concentrated on the transition from material science, the traditional bias of the two synergistic parts of plastics, to engineering, with its emphasis on mechanics. Dr. Vijay Stokes, of GE R&D, moderated the session and touted a new paradigm: The "engineering process is the direction in which we should be moving," he said. He explained the paradigm as looking at the product cycle from a holistic point of view, and he encouraged teaching institutions (universities and the SPE itself) to move in that direction. To quote Glenn Beall, a noted design engineer and plastics seminar instructor, "Universities and organizations like SPE are the only entities left to … teach a rational approach to plastics product design."
The second forum was on "Emerging Application Technologies" and included an extended look at microcellular foams. Starting with the fundamentals of the technology, the session included a look at the commercialization of microcellular blow molding. An important part of the forum was entitled "Enabling Manufacturing At Internet Speed", and discussed the concept of c (for collaborative) commerce. Film Decorating (Continued on page 4)
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The Olympic Games aren't the only special things happening in the Great Salt Lake SPE area. This coming year, your Section plans to hold some out-of-the-ordinary meetings. The first of these is our Golf Outing, for everyone, even if you don't golf (more about this elsewhere in the newsletter). Rodney Haun, of Reaction Polymers Inc. is putting this event together, and it looks really good. Keep your calendar clear for Saturday, September 22.
Also planned are several facility visits: Groen Brothers Aviation, who are doing some really cutting edge work with gyroplanes (a sort of cross between an airplane and a helicopter); Hill Air Force Base to visit the composite materials center repair area. They are a primary repair facility for the Northrup B-2 Spirit stealth bomber. The Spirits cost about a Billion (with a "B") dollars each, so come and see where your tax dollars are going.
The molding and assembly facilities at Icon Health and Fitness, in Logan are planned for a visit. Icon is the largest manufacturer of home health equipment in the world, building machines with brand names like Pro-Form, Weider, Weslo, Nordic Track, HealthRider, Image and Reebok. They've got a truly top-notch facility, with a brand-new, automated material handling system, robots, and a very efficient operation with machines ranging from 1000-tons to 40 tons. It's a bit of a drive, but it'll be worth it.
We plan also to have a tour and visit in the Salt Lake Air Route Traffic Control Center, located at SLC airport. If you've never seen an ARTCC, it's truly fascinating, and if you want to do some fun homework, rent the movie Pushing Tin, with John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton. Those member who went on the tour of the aerial refueling squadron and their airplanes last year found it to be "a real gas", (Continued on page 4)
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