MCHENRY, ILL. — The Plastics Pioneers Association has announced three new members: Dennis Paradise, a machinery sales veteran; John Perdikoulias, a veteran of blown film dies and computer-aided-engineering tools; and Dow Chemical Co. plastics extrusion expert Mark Spalding.
They will be inducted at PPA's spring meeting April 11-13 on Hilton Head Island, S.C.
Paradise graduated from Kent State University in 1976 with a bachelor's degree in business administration. He entered plastics machinery sales in 1986 when he joined McNeil Akron as sales manager. Since then he has worked in sales for Krupp Machinery, HPM, Dynisco LLC and Extrusion Dies Industries LLC. He now is senior vice president of sales and marketing for Processing Technologies International LLC in Aurora, Ill.
Perdikoulias entered the plastics industry in 1985, when he became a research and development engineer at Brampton Engineering Inc. In his 12 years at the blown film machinery maker, he designed more than 200 single-layer dies and more than 100 coextrusion dies.
One of the more significant products Perdikoulias helped commercialize is Brampton's stacked die, called the SCD, for streamlined coextrusion die.
His work helped lead to the first commercial eight- and nine-layer blown film dies.
In 1989, he co-founded Compuplast International Inc. in Williamsville, N.Y., where he is president. He has developed advanced CAE tools used by more than 200 companies worldwide for the design and optimization of polymer processing equipment.
Perdikoulias holds a doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of Waterloo in Ontario.
Active in the Society of Plastics Engineers and TAPPI, he has received several awards. He is an honored service member of SPE.
Spalding is considered an expert in single-screw extrusion and related polymer processing technologies.
He has been active with SPE throughout his career. Spalding served as technical program chairman for SPE's Antec conference from 2004-07 and in 2013. He has served as a board member of SPE's Extrusion Division since 1999. He also is a member of the Polymer Processing Society.
Spalding received the Bruce Maddock Award from the Extrusion Division in 2006, and received the Best Paper Award at six Antecs.
In April, Hanser Publications will publish a book written by Spalding and Gregory Campbell titled Analysis and Troubleshooting of Single Screw Extruders.
Spalding earned his doctorate in chemical engineering from Purdue in 1985.
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