Plastics News will recognize the Rising Stars of our industry in our May 15, 2023, issue. View the 2023 class here.
We’re looking for people 35 and under who are on the path to becoming plastics industry leaders — or who are already there.
We’re using this survey to help us find candidates to be included in the special report or visit www.plasticsnews.com/risingstars. Nominators, please limit your submissions to two (2) candidates.
Scroll below to see previous honorees. The 2022 class can be found here.
Rising Stars
Johnson is responsible for providing insights from the American Chemistry Council's Resin Report to include in M. Holland's strategic vision and plan.
Leng also was the president of the Society of Plastics Engineers at OU and organized several events with guest speakers to discuss plastics and sustainability.
Schoen would work four-hour shifts at Aroplax Corp. during the summer, increasing his workload every following summer and "performing every job related to production throughout middle and high school," he said.
At the silicone manufacturer, Kay has worked from technical service and development representative to sales associate to sales representative. Her jobs have taken her from New Jersey to South Carolina to California.
Cucco said he continues to put effort in building new industry relationships and maintaining relationships with mentors.
Staats has been the maintenance engineer for polycarbonate manufacturing in Mount Vernon, Ind., for the last four years and is in the process of switching roles to operations engineering in the same polycarbonate facility with a focus on specialty plastics manufacturing.
At Gates, a Colorado manufacturer of fluid power and power transmission solutions, Zhang is working on "polyurethane development for our belt products, as well as material development for our plastic sprocket for mobility application."
Barton's previous positions also include research chemist and senior analyst for Americas sustainability strategy in corporate sustainability.
Rosalyn Kent earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Xavier University of Louisiana as well as a master's degree in chemistry and doctorate in materials chemistry from the University of Michigan. Her first industry role was with Dow Specialty Plastics.
Smolenski officially joined Steinwall Inc. in 2012, but he's been at the company "unofficially" since 1989.
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