REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION
July 22, 2024
Special Report by Jordan Vitick
Alice Albrinck
Technical Associate,
Teknor Apex Co.
Alice Albrinck's start in the plastics industry was an internship at General Cable Technologies Corp., now Prysmian, working in the analytical lab. She was responsible for customer complaint investigation, manufacturing issue resolution and competitive analysis.
"I began to learn more about the polymers and ingredients used in the wire and cable industry and how they brought unique properties which were needed for a variety of applications," she said. "I was specifically interested in PVC and how to develop highly flame-retardant compounds."
With a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Indiana, Albrinck also worked as a chemical applications engineer and lead development engineer at the company, as well as a senior materials development engineer at Belden Inc. and senior scientist of polymers at Omya. She holds several patents, including a "hybrid high-frequency separator with parametric control ratios of conductive components" and "compositions for riser and plenum cables."
Now, as a vinyl technical service associate for Teknor Apex Co., Albrinck assists current and future customers with selection and optimization of the correct compound for their applications; contributes to cable design or industry standards when applicable; troubleshoots issues to determine root causes and solutions; and develops new PVC and HFFR (halogen-free, flame-retardant) compounds to meet customer needs. She also works closely with the electrical and electronics market manager to "stay on top of current trends and developments in the wire and cable industry and assisting our manufacturing facilities with any formulation- or ingredient-related questions or issues."
"Flame retardants have always been of interest to me," she said. "My husband is a retired firefighter, so the intersection of developing high-performance, flame-retardant polymers as well as keeping people like him safe has always been a goal for me."
Albrinck is involved with the National Fire Protection Association and the U.S. Green Building Council, among others.
Albrinck said her greatest professional achievement has been being recruited to join the Teknor Apex team, with all of her "other career experiences and networking have built the foundation of knowledge and skills that I need to be successful in this position."
"Technical women in the wire and cable segment of the plastics industry are still rare, especially those with decades of experience," she said. "I pride myself in being able to work with anyone to solve problems and help our customers find the success they are looking for."
Lisa Mailänder
Product Development Manager, Engineering Thermoplastics,
Teknor Apex (Germany)
Lisa Mailänder earned her bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in chemistry from Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg in Germany. She started at Goodyear Dunlop as a staff engineer working on tire compound development.
"I thought it was very interesting to be part of the development of a product which everyone of us uses almost every day," she said. "On the surface, a tire is a round and black thing, but on the inside, it is a high-tech product with many layers and responsible for the safety of people as it is the only contact point of a car to the road. I enjoyed [being] part of cross-functional teams which made the tire development possible."
Mailänder is now the product development manager for engineering thermoplastics at Teknor Apex in Germany. Her team develops and optimizes new products in the field of ETP, hard-soft combinations and new technologies.
"We use mostly polyamide as base resin but [are] enlarging our portfolio also to others such as PBT [polybutylene terephthalate], PP and blends," she said. "We develop these materials on lab scale and then transfer these products to production scale in cooperation with our production team."
She also evaluates new raw materials and optimizes compound properties and processing.
"To investigate the properties of the compounds, I analyze test results from physical and chemical test methods," she said. "While my direct colleagues are currently working more on projects for customers, I am mainly working on more fundamental projects that should lead to completely new, innovative products and with which we want to open up new markets."
Mailänder said she enjoys her job in research and development: "It brings new technical challenges every day, which we try to solve. It never gets boring and keeps the mind fresh."
Mailänder holds several patents and has 10 published articles in academic papers. She was named the chemistry faculty award winner for best Ph.D. thesis in 2016.
When she was a member of a research training group during her doctorate, one of the supervising professors gave Mailänder's team this advice: "Ask questions. In my opinion, it is important to learn to ask the right questions in a technical environment."
Mailänder said she agrees with that advice.
"It takes practice and effort to do this. But since then, I always make up my mind to ask if something is unclear to me or if I want to know more about something," she said. "It helps me to deepen my understanding and often helps others who may not dare to ask the same question at that moment."
Reprinted with permission from Plastics News. © 2024 Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved.
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