Winkler has been with Dow Plastics for 11 years. In her position as medical industry manager for the company's engineered plastics business, she is involved with original equipment manufacturers and medical-device development teams in material selection and evaluation, product and component design, and process selection and troubleshooting.
She is a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a degree in biomedical engineering and a minor in plastics engineering.
Winkler earned the Medical Design Excellence Award in 1998 jointly with Dow customer Ethicon Endo-Surgery for the Endoscopic Vein Harvester, a device used for harvesting the vein needed as graft material in bypass surgery.
As a longtime member of the Society of Plastics Engineers she serves as a board member of SPE's Medical Plastics Division and has been the division secretary since 1998. She has served as a representative to SPE's International Council and was elected to serve as vice president on SPE's executive committee in June.
Dow has a range of materials specifically aimed at medical applications. Dow Chemical's Web site is www.dow.com. Dow Plastics' Web site is www.indexinterpolymers.com.