Conference on thermoplastic elastomers starts this week at Akron Hilton

The Akron Section of the Society of Plastics Engineers and its thermoplastic elastomer, or TPE, special interest group, hosts a conference starting Tuesday on thermoplastic elastomers at the Akron Hilton hotel in Fairlawn.
The conference, “Stretching the Performance with TPEs”, runs through Thursday and features presentations on bio-renewable materials, 3D printing, wearable technology, and materials, modifications and development.
Tuesday’s opening program is a TPE “primer” from 1 to 4 p.m. with the full conference taking place Wednesday and Thursday.
The conference sessions will highlight the latest technology and attributes that thermoplastic elastomers, coupled with nanotechnology, have to offer the market.
The conference will feature two keynote addresses:
• Wednesday at 12:30 p.m., Deborah Douglas of The Douglas Group, will talk on mergers and acquisitions in the thermoplastic elastomers industry. She will share information about what makes companies desirable in today’s marketplace, and what the selling process is likely to bring. The talk is geared for business owners and executives.
• Thursday at 12:30 p.m., Matthew Fielder of 3D Inc. will talk about the 3D manufacturing process including his firm’s hardware, software, and material science. 3D Inc. got its start through the crowdfunding site Kickstarter.
For program information, go to www.4spe.org/tpe2016.
Akron-area companies involved in making and using thermoplastic elastomers include A. Schulman Inc., Americhem, and PolyOne.