Four named to Plastics Pioneers

McHenry, Ill. — The Plastics Pioneers Association has named four new members: Aline Alroy, John Jungjohann, Kenneth Pawlak and Maureen Steinwall.

The non-profit PPA, based in McHenry, has more than 200 members, all of whom have at least 25 years of experience in the plastics industry. The group's main purposes are to award scholarships to students seeking a career in plastics, and to preserving the history of the industry.

The new members were announced at the group's spring meeting in Florida.

Aline Alroy is vice president of sales at High-Technology Corp., a Hackensack, N.J.-based manufacturer of polymer filtration systems. Alroy, who has a bachelor's degree from Princeton University and an MBA from Rutgers University, joined the company in 1986.

Alroy has served on the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc.'s Equipment Council, as well the NPE 2012 and 2015 operations committee. She is co-founder and secretary/treasurer of the Princeton Alumni Viewpoints, a not-for-profit that helps sponsor a student-run magazine, brings outside lecturers to campus and supports the Witherspoon Society.

John Jungjohann is vice president of commercial strategy at Chicago-based PRP Recycling LLC. He has held a series of executive roles in the resin and distribution sector, including stints at Huntsman Chemical Corp., Hinds Co., Entec Resins, M. Holland Co., Nexus Resin Group, Flow Polymers LLC and PolyOne Corp.

Jungjohann has a bachelor's degree from the Rochester Institute of Technology. He has served on committees for the Association of Plastic Recyclers, the National Association of PET Container Resources, SPI and the Society of Plastics Engineers.

Kenneth Pawlak is plastics and mechanical engineering manager at Pleasanton, Calif.-based Natus Medical Inc. He started his career at Baxter International Inc., and he had his own consulting company from 2002-2010, advising clients in plastics, medical, commercial and industrial product design, development and root cause failure analysis.

Pawlak holds 23 patents, with three pending, and he has been recognized by R&D Magazine and Injection Molding Magazine. Pawlak has chaired SPE's Product Design & Development and Rotational Molding divisions. He has a bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago and an MBA from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management.

Maureen Steinwall is a member of the Plastics Hall of Fame, and owner and president of Steinwall Inc., a Coon Rapids, Minn.-based injection molder.

She serves on the boards of Fabri-Kal Corp., Mercy Unity Hospital Foundation and SPI. She is also active on the boards of 23 other schools, universities, local business and chambers of commerce. She also is a member of the Minnesota Women Business Owners Hall of Fame, and Steinwall Inc. was a Plastics News Processor of the Year.

Steinwall has bachelor's degrees from Iowa State University and the University of Minnesota, an MBA from Minnesota, she completed the owner/president management program at Harvard Business School and she has a PhD from Capella University.