Kickstart: A collaboration in plastics education

Plastics education and employment came together for 11 students at the University of Wisconsin-Stout to create, research and present projects using recycled plastics at molder Evco Plastics.

Students who developed a proposal to use post-consumer materials in highway sound barriers also designed and manufactured a small-scale version they could use to pitch the concept.

"Millions of tons of plastic are not being reused, and we wanted to find a way to put this to use," Bradley Sarauer, a student from Bloomer, Wis., said.

While the students gained more exposure in a professional setting, Anna Bartz, a director at Evco of DeForest, Wis., said the industry as a whole can benefit by working with schools.

"Advancements in plastics processing happen when industry and higher education collaborate," Bartz said in a news release. "We were incredibly impressed with every capstone project that was presented by UW-Stout plastics engineering students and we're grateful to support these projects throughout the school year."

How impressed was the company? Well, Evco has already hired Sarauer and fellow UW-Stout student Reis Stingle.

I think the plastics industry needs its own version of "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon," the game where you try to link different actors through one specific (and very prolific) actor. Only in this case, it's the entrepreneur and molder Terry McDermott. And rather than movies, he's a central connection to the worlds of sports, music and plastics.

Let's start with his life before plastics when he was an apprentice barber and a competitive speed skater who competed in the 1960, 1964 and 1968 Winter Olympics. In 1964, he won the U.S.'s only gold medal when he won the 500-meter race.

You can find highlights of the 1964 race here. Skip to the two-minute mark to the speed skating.

Shortly after winning, McDermott was invited to make an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, skipping the closing ceremony to make it to the show, NBC Sports writes. Oh, and that show just happened to be the U.S. debut of the Beatles. (Sullivan staged a PR photo with the barber "trying to cut" Paul McCartney's hair. Yes, there's a photo if you click through.)

McDermott eventually changed careers to become a sales rep before launching Champion Plastics of Auburn Hills, Mich., in 1980. McDermott died May 20, and I'm sorry I just heard of him now. I'm pretty sure he had some amazing stories to share.

Companies in suburban Detroit may be able to get their hands on a 3D printer for free or at a reduced cost.

Oakland County officials have set aside $15 million toward the purchase of 250 printers for Project Diamond, a program using funds from the federal American Rescue Plan Act, our sister paper Crain's Detroit Business writes.

"The Project Diamond program has been one of Oakland County's most successful endeavors to help local manufacturers use advanced technology to become more adaptable, efficient and realize significant cost savings," Oakland County Executive David Couter said in a news release.

More information is available at the Project Diamond website.