Last May, 11 IME professors, graduate assistants, and students joined up to 5,000 plastics enthusiasts from all over the world at the Annual Technical Conference (ANTEC) sponsored by the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) and held in Charlotte, NC.
Described on the SPE Web site as “the leading technical forum for providing cutting-edge technological issues and information pertinent to the needs of the plastics industry,” ANTEC annually offers peer-reviewed technical papers providing plastics professionals “unique inside access to proprietary research and findings.”
IME Chair Dr. Paul Engelmann called ANTEC “the major technical event for plastics.” He said that more than 600 papers were presented in 25 concurrent sessions that ran from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. for three days and for most of a fourth. “The Society’s best international papers for the year are presented at this set of meetings,” he said.
Accompanying Engelmann were IE Ph.D. graduate assistants Kurt Hayden and Jason Trahan; Jay Shoemaker, adjunct assistant professor from Moldflow; and Brian Sather, a master’s candidate graduate assistant in the plastics manufacturing program.
The six undergraduate students who attended – Brian Cervin (MFT), Andrew Dowdy (EGR), Greg Giudici (EGR), John Graver (MFT), Eric Korbecki (EGR), and Ryan Miller (MFT) – served as ushers at technical sessions in lieu of registration fees. The undergraduate students’ travel arrangements were made by Hayden, who also mentored the students throughout the conference.
Funds to send the students to the conference were provided by a grant from the Alcoa Foundation, through EPC/Alcoa in Mattawan. The grant supports the professional development and global awareness of students in engineering technology programs. The students wrote formal proposals for travel support to the conference as well as trip reports on their ANTEC activities and professional development upon their return.
IME Assistant Professor Dr. Betsy Aller is principal investigator of the grant and Professor Dr. Larry Mallak is co-PI. Aller has applied for another EPC/Alcoa grant for the same purpose; it is currently in the process of being approved at the national level.
Trahan presented a paper titled "Why troubleshoot when you can prevent? A Bayesian network approach," which he described as his ”biggest event” of the conference. “I had good turnout for the presentation and good conversations afterwards on the topic,” he said.
In addition to the papers, the event also included a series of special international panels and vendor displays.
The attendees were particularly impressed by the panel discussions, especially one titled “The Plastics Industry in India: The Next Frontier.” Engelmann said, “It furthered my understanding of the maturity of that industry in India as compared to in the US.” Engelmann was also impressed by presentations on nanotechnology, which could revolutionize the way that reinforcing elements are used in plastics.
Attending ANTEC: (FRONT L-R) Brian Cervin, Andrew Dowdy, Jay Shoemaker, Brian Sather, Kurt Hayden, and Dr. Paul Engelmann. (BACK L-R) Greg Giudici, Eric Korbecki, Jason Trahan, John Graver, and Ryan Miller.
The IME students attending ANTEC cited presentations on globalization in the plastics industry and an interactive session on injection molding as among the most interesting and useful sessions. They also noted that many sessions helped them see the relevance of and connections between materials they’d learned in classes.
Several attendees mentioned “Student Recognition Night,” sponsored by several companies including Moldflow, as a fun social activity. Students played arcade games, networked with professionals and attendees from other universities, and received free SolidWorks software.
In their trip reports, students said that the opportunity to travel and interact with IME professors and graduate students was excellent, as was networking with other students and professionals at ANTEC. “After participating in the ANTEC conference, I see that there are so many different directions that the plastics industry has to offer,” Cervin said. “Only at a convention of this magnitude can you appreciate [all these aspects].”
Several students stated they were inspired to present a professional paper at a future ANTEC conference. And all echoed Dowdy’s “Thank you for the continued support and development of engineering students!”
With support from the new EPC/Alcoa grant, IME plans to send several undergraduate students to ANTEC 2007, with the goal of presenting at least one technical paper.
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