Anaheim, Calif. — The Society of Plastics Engineers' annual technical conference, Antec, drew about 1,500 people to Anaheim on May 8-10.
They heard more than 550 technical presentations, toured a trade show, and attended two co-located events: a Plasticity Forum that focused on sustainability issues and an Industry 4.0 conference that addressed the interconnected factory and internet-of-things. Both forums attracted an additional 150 people.
Several other special events took place at Antec 2017, which marked the 75th anniversary of SPE. The Plastics Race drew 115 participants; 86 students had “speed interviews”; and a Women's Networking Breakfast drew 120 participants.
At Antec, Raed Al Zubi became SPE president for the 2017-2018 year. Under his leadership, SPE's new governance structure launched a renewed executive board. Vice presidents of the society will now have functional roles and more authority. This will make SPE more agile and allow them to better serve the plastics professionals and the industry, according to SPE.
SPE leaders said the change also will help the leaders to adapt faster to changing plastics industry conditions.
“With the extensive investments in new digital resources in SPE's recent history and the addition of more focused and diversified events, coupled with this year's strong financial performance and a comfortable cash reserve, SPE is well positioned, now more than in its history for greater success in the future,” Al Zubi said.