Nanotechnology will take center stage at Antec 2007 as two experts, Jack Uldrich and Norman Wagner, analyze its impact on the plastics industry.
Antec, together with Plastics News' Plastics Encounter trade show, runs May 6-10 in Cincinnati. Uldrich, a global futurist and noted business author, will speak May 7.
``There will be an immense amount of change that nanotechnology will bring about to the plastics industry. In fact, the technology's impact has already taken root, and it will touch every aspect of the industry,'' Uldrich said.
Uldrich wrote the book, The Next Big Thing is Really Small: How Nanotechnology Will Change the Future of Your Business. He also is the author of Into the Unknown: Leadership Lessons from Lewis & Clark's Daring Westward Expedition. And his latest book is due out this fall: The Exponential Executive: Eight Essential Elements for Exploiting the Emerging Economy.
Wagner, the main speaker May 8, is a professor at the Center for Molecular and Engineering Thermodynamics at the University of Delaware's Department of Chemical Engineering. He developed polymer-based sheet-thickening fluids for making ballistic-resistant protective armor from nanocomposites.
Wagner has published articles in more than 90 international technical journals.
A mix of polyethylene glycol and nanobits of sand, STFs are slated for use in military or police applications. STFs are very light and work best when painted onto a fibrous body-armor material such as DuPont Co.'s Kevlar aramid fiber. STFs hold the fibers in place, almost like glue, and stiffen into a shield when hit by a hard object like a bullet or knife.
Once the blow dissipates, STFs revert to their liquid state.
The materials will be available commercially within the next year, according to Antec's sponsor, the Society of Plastics Engineers in Brookfield, Conn.
