Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Resin pricing news
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • K Show
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Processor of the Year
    • Best Places to Work
    • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Rising Stars
    • Diversity
    • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • K Show Livestream
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Resin Prices
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
May 21, 2015 02:00 AM

SPE sees jump in student members

Bill Bregar
Senior Staff Reporter
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    SPE
    Broome

    AKRON, OHIO — Russell Broome laid out plans by the Society of Plastics Engineers to attract more young people to plastics during the SPE Akron Section's annual awards night.

    “One of my strong areas of focus is re-energizing not only the student demographic but young professionals,” said Broome, who was named SPE's managing director last year.

    Broome had a good venue to outline SPE's efforts to gain both younger members, and also involve more original equipment manufacturers in society events. At the banquet, held May 18 at Firestone Country Club, the Akron Section gave out four scholarships to college students, named the high school winners of an essay contest, and honored two industry veterans for longstanding service to SPE.

    Broome joined SPE as a student member while in college at North Carolina State University in 1992. He served as SPE president for the 2011-2012 year.

    SPE has beefed up its social media presence, through its site The Chain — for polymer chain — on the SPE website. The Chain includes a moderated discussion platform called Tech Talk, a career area matching people with jobs and a chat room called the SPE Cafe.

    “We're trying to get the message out the way they are communicating today,” Broome said.

    And now, instead of $31 a year, student membership to SPE is free, thanks to a partnership between SPE and the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc. Student membership dues are waived, as SPI and SPE share the membership costs. The offer applies to students who are U.S. citizens with primary residency in the United States.

    Broome said that SPE ran a trial free-membership in the fourth quarter of 2014, and SPE's student population more than doubled, from about 1,100 to 2,500. That led SPE to find a way to subsidize student membership fees.

    In his Akron talk, Broome also said SPE wants to attract more OEMs to society activities. That can help students make important connections, he said.

    “I'm very focused on trying engage our academic demographic with the corporate, industrial side of our industry. You'll see us trying to partner with folks like Apple, Stihl and Tupperware to bring them into our functions, our events, our Topcons,” he said.

    Bill Bregar

    Zender-Sakach

    SPE also is looking for corporate sponsors to help underwrite events, which can lower the cost to attend. “We can get more attendees at our events, and if we have twice as many attendees at an Antec or a Topcon, that makes it even more attractive to a corporate sponsor,” Broome said.

    Before the evening banquet, Broome visited the University of Akron, known for its polymer science and engineering programs. It was part of the 2015 SPE U Tour, sponsored by Autodesk Inc., which makes Moldflow simulation software for plastics.

    The SPE Foundation offers scholarships to college students enrolled in plastics programs. Broome said SPE needs to do more for high school students, to promote the industry. SPE is working with universities to offer scholarships to high school seniors.

    “Where we're missing the game is getting those kids from high school into a college plastics program,” he said.

    Broome said the Plastivan program, which brings a traveling educational exhibit to local schools, is a great way to promote the industry. He encouraged local SPE sections and companies to help raise the $1,500 it costs for one full day of at a school.

    The Akron Section of SPE gave out two awards.

    Missi Zender-Sakach, a longtime educator, joined the Plastics Hall of Honor. Her portrait will be added to the hall at the University of Akron's polymer building.

    Zender-Sakach is an educational consultant at the Sciences and Education Service Center in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, where she promotes polymers to students in a wide regional area.

    “I'm so honored and privileged,” Zender-Sakach said, noting that the local SPE section has supplied a large number of hands-on plastics educational kits over the years.

    Akron Section secretary David Schultz introduced her. “Missi's a very energetic person. She's enthusiastic,” he said. Zender-Sakach helps lead the Akron Council of Engineering and Scientific Societies to develop STEM educational programs (science, technology, engineering and math).

    Bill Bregar

    Jennifer Digiantonio with Robert Wegelin. Digiantonio received the William C. Zekan Memorial Service Award.

    The William C. Zekan Memorial Service Award went to Jennifer Digiantonio for her years of service to the Akron Section. She created the section's first emailed newsletter in 2003, improving communication and helping the local group get nine awards from the national SPE.

    The e-newsletter saved the Akron Section $20,000 a year, replacing a newsletter that had been printed and sent through the mail, according to Robert Wegelin, who heads the section's scholarship foundation and introduced Digiantonio.

    “I'm humble,” she said. “I really enjoy working with this group.”

    Digiantonio will retire in a few weeks from her job as quality systems administrator at ExxonMobil Chemical Corp.

    The Akron Section also awarded scholarships:

    • Daniel Truax, in his second year at Case Western Reserve University, earned the Special Merit Scholarship.

    • Joshua Dambik, at the University of Akron, picked up the Goodyear Scholarship.

    • The Rubbermaid Scholarship went to Matthew McGarry, who will attend Shawnee State University.

    • Jonathan Mileski, who will attend Ohio State University, got the Jim Steiner Memorial Scholarship.

    • Connor O'Brien will use the Kenneth L. Sharp Memorial Scholarship for his studies at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

    Two students at Rocky River High School won the Wonders of Plastics Essay Contest. Hannah Hetman and Mallory Krajcek wrote “Who Dat? Who Dat? P-L-A-S-T-I-C”. Their teacher is Joseph Toner.

    Also at the dinner meeting, Vivian Malpass handed the reins of Akron Section president to Keith Pelfrey, principal engineer at Akron-based GOJO Industries Inc. Pelfrey works in skin care science and new technology.

    Updated May 22: A previous version of this story misidentified the increase in student participation in SPE.

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Illinois AG sues 14 firms over PFAS contamination
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    Top-dollar deals, repeat buyers highlight 2022 M&A
    2
    This is the year the reality of plastics EPR arrives in the US
    3
    Prices on the rise for PP, PVC
    4
    Auto supplier Seoyon E-Hwa to invest $76M, add 740 jobs in Georgia
    5
    Illinois AG sues 14 firms over PFAS contamination
    SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Tire Business
    • Urethanes Technology
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • K Show
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • Resin pricing news
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • K Show Livestream
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Resin Prices
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified