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Plastics EngineeringJANUARY 2015

■ Academic-IndustryPartnerships: ThreeExamples

■ You Want a Raise?■ PET Bottle and Film

Recycling■ Polymer Degradation:

What Can Go Wrong■ Join SPE’s “Race” at

NPE2015

Global Resin Trends 2015: An Expert Roundtable

PE

PE

PE/PP

PE/PP

00 Cover_Layout 1 12/16/14 6:57 AM Page cvr1

14 | PLASTICS ENGINEERING | JANUARY 2015 | www.4spe.org | www.plasticsengineering.org

Academic-Industry Partnerships: Preparing Tomorrow’s Plastics ProfessionalsThree examples in the USA show how collaboration can bestepping-stones into the industry for new generations of students

By Nancy D. Lamontagne

Preparing tomorrow’s plastics professionals startstoday. Collaborations between academic institutionsand the plastics industry are helping to give plastics

engineering students the real-world experience they’ll needto be future innovators and problem solvers. Whether com-panies donate equipment or participate in researchcollaborations, industry partners gain brand exposure withfuture purchasers or employees, and benefit from freshideas coming from the lab.

“Partnerships with industry are critical for plastics engi-

neering programs,” says Robert Malloy, chairman of theUniversity of Massachusetts–Lowell (UMass Lowell) PlasticsEngineering Department. “We could not survive or be aseffective without strong industry connections.”

Keeping Education RelevantThe UMass Lowell Plastics Engineering Dept. depends uponindustry leaders to provide the advice and guidance thatkeeps the program relevant to industry needs. Many man-

UMass Lowell student Azadeh Farahanchi is pursuing her doctorate degree in Plastics Engineering under the mentorship ofProf. Robert Malloy, the department’s chair (photo by Joson Images for UMass Lowell).

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ufacturing, hardware, and software companies sponsor labsand donate or consign equipment for labs, providing state-of-the-art equipment for student training. Corporate partnersestablished some of the department’s more than 50 endowedscholarships, which help ensure talented engineering stu-dents can complete their education program.

“Our job as plastics educators is to ensure that the plasticsindustry has an adequate supply of trained plastics engi-neers,” says Malloy. “We could not do this effectively withoutthe great industry support we receive.”

About 95% of the UMass Lowell plastics engineering stu-dents complete one or more co-ops as an undergraduate.“Students get a better feel for the aspects of the industry theylike, and it helps them with their career path,” says Malloy.“We also feel the employers benefit, as the students bring agood skill set with them.”

Meanwhile, UMass Lowell has had a partnership withMoldflow simulation software since even before Autodeskacquired the company in 2008. Moldflow established anendowed scholarship, funded the renovation of the Moldflowcomputer lab, and provided simulation software for thelab. Since then, Autodesk upgraded the lab and contributedsupplying additional funds to the scholarship endowment.The newly renovated lab provides students with access to thefull suite of Autodesk software

Technovel, a Japanese-based, multi-screw extruder man-ufacturer, placed both twin- and quad-screw compoundinglines in UMass Lowell’s new Mark and Elisia Saab EmergingTechnologies and Innovation Center. The state-of-the-art,ultra-high speed compounding extruders operate at screwspeeds as high as 4,500 rpm. “This investment by Technov-el is very significant and gives our students the opportunityto work with equipment that is as sophisticated as anyequipment they will encounter in industry,” says Malloy.

One of the newest collaborations for UMass Lowell involvesa new Plastics Sustainability Research Lab sponsored by SPI:The Plastics Industry Trade Association. The lab will have a vari-ety of equipment for mechanically recycling plastic materials,which SPI is procuring from its member companies. Afterbeing displayed in the “Zero Waste Zone” at NPE2015 inOrlando, Florida, the equipment will be shipped to UMassLowell, where students will learn how to use it.

“We hope that this lab will help our students and graduateshave a much better understanding of recycling processes andhopefully will work to enhance recycling rates for plastics,”says Malloy. “This lab will also give us an additional plasticsrecycling research capability that we have not really had inthe past.”

Malloy sees a bright future for industry partnerships. “Irepeatedly hear from employers that they are concernedabout their aging workforce and are seeking new and youngplastics engineering talent. Having a presence on campus isbecoming almost a requirement if companies want the bestand brightest graduates.”

“We Learn, and They Learn”The University of Akron in Ohio partners with industry inmany ways. For example, its National Polymer InnovationCenter offers a place for companies to work with the uni-versity on a smaller scale to develop new processes. Thisexchange also gives the students who work in the centerimportant insight into product development.

“Companies come to us sometimes because of our expert-ise, sometimes because of our equipment, or they might havean idea of what they want and just need to work with some-one on it,” says Eric Amis, dean of the College of PolymerScience and Polymer Engineering. “We learn, and they learn.”

The Center’s unique equipment includes a very advancedroll-to-roll film processing line. Companies can try out prod-ucts on the line with the idea that they might build a similarline, for example. “A lot of new products are tied to changesin processing characteristics, and this equipment allowscompanies to try out a lot of formulations or processingparameters,” says Robert Weiss, chair of the Department ofPolymer Engineering. “That is a big advantage.”

www.plasticsengineering.org | www.4spe.org | JANUARY 2015 | PLASTICS ENGINEERING | 15

Graduate students at the University of Akron use an electro-magnetic processing line in the school’s National PolymerInnovation Center. It can orient nanoparticles and polymerphases to produce functional films with enhanced propertiesin the thickness (“z”) direction for capacitors, fuel cell mem-branes, and ultra-high density information storage devices.

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Amis says the College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engi-neering’s educational foundation is in synthesis, processing,measuring, and modeling, but the specific topics that it focus-es on are of immediate importance. Right now, hot topicsinclude functional materials as well as biomaterials.

For example, Prof. Matthew Becker at Akron was recentlyawarded $3 million from the Ohio Third Frontier initiative to col-laborate with PolyOne, Lubrizol Corp., SNS NanoFiber, ViscusBiologics, and Austen BioInnovation Institute to accelerate thedevelopment of biomaterials and get them out of the lab andinto real-world applications. The collaborators will contributematching funds and will focus on the development of novel poly-mers, X-ray shielding materials, protective coatings for medicaldevices and catheters, and antimicrobial materials for woundhealing. Ohio Third Frontier provides funding to Ohio compa-nies and institutions to create new technology-based products,companies, industries, and jobs.

Like many academic institutions, the University of Akronplaces a lot of emphasis on developing intellectual property thatcan be licensed or used to launch spin-off companies. “Akronhas been doing well with this, and the students are an impor-tant part of the teams who talk to the industry partners abouthow to implement technology,” says Coleen Pugh, chair of thePolymer Science Department.

Companies also come to Akron to increase their technologyportfolio. For example, Premix, which is now owned by theComposites Group, came for help in expanding their sustainablematerials. “We developed a joint IP agreement with the com-pany,” explains Pugh. “The students worked on projects that willincrease their sustainable materials offerings, including scalingup materials.”

Internships are another way that students get a chance tolearn what it’s like to work in industry. This experience canhelp them decide on an academic or industry career path.Some of the University’s graduate students work for two daysper week for one year, and students have also had internshipsat PolyOne and Omnova Solutions Inc.

Gaining Industry ExperienceFor students in the Plastics Engineering Technology and Rub-

ber Engineering Technology programs at Ferris State Universityin Michigan, internships play a central part of their education.They’re required to take part in an internship, typically duringthe summers after their freshman and junior years. Companiesproviding these internships have included Nike, Ford Motor Co.,General Motors, Chrysler, and many Tier One automotive sup-pliers as well as major material suppliers.

“For the freshmen, our goal is for them to gain exposure tothe industry and get an understanding of what goes on there,as well as what their interests are in terms of a technical career,”explains Robert Speirs, professor and program coordinator ofthe Plastics Engineering Program. “Many companies put theminto a project environment where they are guaranteed success,and often a mentoring system is used to ensure the studentshave someone with them a majority of the time.”

When the students enter their second internship, they tendto drive projects such as cost-savings exercises, implementationprojects, or quality or materials control programs, and they oftensave the company some significant money towards the end oftheir tenure. Companies frequently view this second internshipas an extended interview, and thus many of the students leavewith a career opportunity. Fifty to sixty percent of Ferris Statestudents in the program receive a job offer in this way.

Speirs says that recent improvements in the economy aremaking companies more aggressive in recruiting students forinternships. “Many are including housing as part of their recruit-ing package, even though the internships are paid,” says Speirs.One reason for this change is that hiring has been low since2008-2009, so companies are dealing with an aging workforce.They need to hire talented young employees who can move upinto leadership positions over the next 10 to 15 years.

16 | PLASTICS ENGINEERING | JANUARY 2015 | www.4spe.org | www.plasticsengineering.org

Academic-Industry Partnerships________________________________

Prof. Robert Speirs of Ferris State University teaches stu-dents how to operate a vacuum tank for tube extrusion.

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The Plastics and Rubber Engineering Technology pro-grams are relatively expensive to run, and thus they rely onindustry assistance in the form of materials and machinedonations. “Industry assistance is very important to keepingus in operation and helps keep us modern,” explains Speirs.“The students learn to use this equipment, and when theygraduate and… get the opportunity to specify instruments,

they will lean towards manufacturers they know.”For example, Bekum America Corp., KraussMaffei, Maplan

Rubber Machinery, and AEC all provide equipment to the Fer-ris State programs, and a variety of materials suppliers providematerials that students use in the laboratories. Companiesalso provide important insight into today’s trends throughguest lecturers and other interactions with students.

www.plasticsengineering.org | www.4spe.org | JANUARY 2015 | PLASTICS ENGINEERING | 17

The University of Akron’s mul-tipurpose hybrid roll-to-rollfilm manufacturing line canproduce transparent conduc-tive films by depositing con-ductive nanofibers onto castpolymer liquid, which subse-quently solidifies.

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