The Plastics Hall of Fame will grow by eight members tonight in Chicago, after the first day of NPE 2006. New inductees are:
* Peter Bemis of Bemis Manufacturing Co.
* Pak-Wing ``Steve'' Chum, chief scientist of plastics research and development at Dow Chemical Co.
* Dieter Freitag, who developed polycarbonate for CDs at Bayer AG.
* Jack Koenig, a pioneer in spectroscopy.
* Gottfried Mehnert, the German blow molding expert who co-founded Bekum Maschinenfabriken GmbH.
* Georg Menges, longtime leader of the IKV Institute for Plastics Processing in Aachen, Germany.
* Robert Schad, who founded injection press maker Husky Injection Molding Systems Ltd.
* Jack Welch, who started out in plastics at General Electric Co. and later became a management superstar when he ran the whole company.
The Plastics Hall of Fame celebration is set for tonight, June 19, at the Grand Ballroom of the Chicago Hilton and Towers, beginning with a reception at 6:30 p.m., followed by dinner and the induction.
Single tickets are $300. Sponsor tables of 10 cost $5,000. If you're in Chicago, you can buy tickets in McCormick Place at a separate stand in the main registration area for NPE.