Rubber Expo in PA a Success

Rubber Expo^TM & 176th Technical Meeting in Pittsburgh, PA a Success

Akron, OH - 10/23/09 - The Rubber Division, ACS hosted 3,200 attendees for the Rubber Expo^TM and 176th Technical Meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 13-15, 2009. With 220 exhibitors as well as the number of attendees, this year's exposition was very successful during this difficult economic strain on the rubber industry. The Division recognized two long-time Rubber Division members for their countless hours of dedication serving in numerous leadership roles and committee positions. Dr. Syed Mowdood received the Arnold Smith Special Service Award and Dr. Robert Pett received the Distinguished Service Award. On a sad, but special note, our late Expo & Future Sites Manager Sue Barr was recognized through a special memorial plaque to be displayed in Rubber Division headquarters. Her husband and two sons were present to receive special awards for her years of dedicated service to the Rubber Division, the Rubber Expo and the rubber industry.

176th Technical Meeting

This year's Technical Meeting was kicked off with a keynote presentation from Bob Handlos, vice president, product development from Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations. A total of 143 papers were presented at the 176th Technical Meeting. Forty-three of those papers were presented by international attendees representing 18 different countries. Individual meeting papers as well as a complete set of conference proceedings on a USB flash drive are available for purchase by contacting the Rubber Division's Library Services. For more information, contact Science Librarian Chris Laursen at laursen@uakron.edu or 330-972-7197.

Centennial Anniversary

2009 Chair Gary Horning led the Division in a final tribute to our 100th Anniversary with a gala Centennial Birthday Reception. Author Hank Inman was also present to sign the Division's Centennial historical book, The Rubber Mirror: Reflections of the Rubber Division's First 100 Years. The Rubber Division also announced the top 100 innovations and people in the Rubber Industry in the Show Daily publication at the Rubber Expo.

Several companies provided extra support to the Rubber Division for their centennial celebrations. Centennial Elite Sponsors include Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs, The Dow Chemical Company, ExxonMobil Chemical Company, LORD Corporation, Polymer Valley Chemical, Rhein Chemie Corporation, Struktol Company of America, Sunoco, Inc and The University of Akron. Additional companies providing support for the 100th Birthday Bash were: Birthday Bash Friends - Harwick Standard Distribution Corporation and CEPoloway & Associates; Birthday Bash Supporters - Sartomer Company, Inc. and Cancarb; and Cake Sponsor - GoldKey Processing Inc.

Sponsors

Rubber Expo Sponsors included: 5K Walk/Run - H.M. Royal, Inc; Lanyards - Nynas USA Inc; Key Card - Holly Refining & Marketing; Tote Bags - PMC Biogenix & PMC Crystal; and USB Flash Drives - Chevron Global Base Oil.

2009 Silver annual sponsors are ChemRep, Inc. and Sartomer Company, Inc. 2009 Bronze annual sponsors are Akrochem Corporation, Huron Technologies Inc., R. E. Carroll Inc, Rubber Sheet Roll, Stemaco and Thomas Industrial Network

Workforce Recruitment & Development

A Student Colloquium and Poster Sessions were held with a combination of graduate and undergraduate paper presentations. The keynote presentation was given by William V. Mars from Cooper Tire & Rubber Company.

The Rubber Division congratulates the two Student Colloquium & Poster Session scholarship winners who were awarded a $1000 scholarship to aid in their studies:

• Best Poster - Nuthathai Warasitthinon, University of Massachusetts-Lowell
• Best Paper - Alesia Salberg, The University of Akron

The Rubber Division Undergraduate Scholarship winners for the 2009-2010 school years are:

• SSG Matthew Carper, University of Nebraska- Lincoln, Mechanical Engineering, Senior
• Cory Simon, The University of Akron, Chemical Engineering, Senior
• Rachel Weyland, The University of Akron, Mechanical Engineering, Senior
• Patrick Fagerman, Ferris State University, Rubber & Plastics Engineering, Junior

The Rubber Division Rubber Technology Training Award winners for 2009 are:

• Lisa Gardner, Paulstra CRC, West Michigan Rubber Group
• Mark Blough, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Ohio Rubber & Plastics Group

Education and Training

The Rubber Division held one technical and one business course that totaled 29 course participants. The Division is partnering with Trostel Ltd. to develop a new Robert Gamache Memorial Educational Symposium. Bob was a continuous supporter of the Rubber Division and our educational mission. In his memory, Trostel agreed to fund development and future offerings of this program, working with the Education & Publications Committee.

The Division and Smithers RAPRA are also building on their partnering efforts with a new initiative on REACH courses. Rubber Within REACH is being offered October 27 & 28, 2009 in Atlanta, GA. For more information please visit: www.rapratraining.com. The Rubber Division is also looking at partnering with other organizations to offer a wider array of webinars and on site courses starting in 2010.

The Rubber Division has archived its first three webinars: Introduction to Design of Experiments, Introduction to Rubber Technology for Non- Technologists, and Managing an Effective Job Search. They will be available for purchase online by January 2010.