Plastics Pioneers names four new members

McHenry, Ill. — The Plastics Pioneers Association has named four new members: Walt Bassett, Robert S. Brookman, Eric Carlson and Jorge Guzman.

PPA, which was founded in 1944, is a non-profit organization with more than 160 members. All members have at least 20 years of experience in the plastics industry. The group's main work is to award scholarships to students seeking a career in plastics, provide grants to educational programs and preserve the industry's history.

Walt Bassett earned his bachelor's degree in chemistry/chemical engineering from Northeastern University in Boston and his master's in polymer science and engineering at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He did post-graduate studies at Harvard & Babson College.

He began his career at GE Plastics in 1984, moving to Weiss-Aug in 2000 as vice president of operations and engineering, then to Cooley Group in 2003 as vice president of operations. In 2004, Bassett moved to Novartis/Ciba Vision as global head of research and development. He joined Millipore in 2008 as director of R&D, then went to Perkin Elmer in 2011 in the same role.

Bassett currently is director of product engineering at SunTech medical, driving innovation in life science products.

Bassett has been a member of the American Chemical Society for more than 35 years and a member of the Society of Plastics Engineers since 1986. He has received several awards for developing innovative products and published 25 papers for industry journals. He holds nine patents, and managed teams that have been issued more than 50 patents.

Bassett also serves as chairman of the board for the Polymer Center of Excellence in Charlotte, N.C.

Robert S. Brookman earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the City College of New York and a doctorate's degree in polymer science from New York University. His industry experience included 14 years as director of R&D at Firestone Plastics, 10 years as vice president of technology and a board member of Pantasote Inc., five years as vice president of Franklin Plastics, 12 years as president of Colorite Plastics and 17 years at Teknor Apex Co., where he currently is senior vice president of business development.

Brookman serves on several industry organizations, including the Plastics Industry Association, the Society of Plastics Engineers, the Vinyl Institute, the Bioplastic Council's Phthalate Panel and the American Chemical Society (as an emeritus member). He was named Vinyl Industry Man of the Year, and is a fellow of SPE.

Brookman, who holds several patents, has published articles in industry journals and presented technical papers at SPE Antecs and Retecs, and the Brighton Conference.

Eric Carlson earned an associate and bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering technology at Wentworth Institute of Technology, and got his professional engineering license in mechanical engineering. He later earned an MBA from Bryant University.

Carlson's industry experience began at Baker Brothers/Systems Engineering as a mechanical engineer in the design group, designing equipment for the plating and wet process industries. Currently, he is director of engineering at Toray Plastics America, a major producer of biaxially oriented polyester and polypropylene film.

He is a member of the Industrial Advisory Board of the Department of Mechanical, Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Rhode Island.

Jorge Guzman completed a bachelor's degree in civil engineering at Clemson University and earned a professional engineering license in structural engineering to work at nuclear power plants.

His plastics career began in 1983 with Luwa Corp. designing gear pumps, control systems and gravimetric metering systems. Guzman joined Maag Automatik in 1992, currently serving as Maag's sales manager for the Southwestern United States, Central and South America and the Caribbean.

Guzman is a member of the National Society of Professional Engineers, the American Society of Civil Engineers, SPE and the National Association of Sales Executives. He has made technical presentations at industry meetings and SPE conferences in the United States, Europe and South America.