SPE – Chicago Section, Letter from the Vice President
Greetings & Peace from the Chicago Section of SPE,
We recognize, but will not celebrate the one-year anniversary of the virus’s grip on our society. We hope all reading this note know the Board misses you and is working to bring value to our members in everyway possible. We also grieve with the loss so many have experienced during the past year.
The Chicago Section has continued to meet, in-person when permitted or through the technology of the internet. It has been challenging. At first there was a “wait and see” attitude toward planning annual events. As summer 2020 moved forward, golf courses were opened and on short notice the Golf Committee launched a 2020 outing.
Golf was played October 7th and was a “no-frills,” socially distanced, all outdoor Golf Outing to support the SPE-CS college scholarship fund & Plasti-Van sponsorships. Despite much concern about turnout and obligations, 40+ golfers joined. An experienced Golf Committee combined with the crew at Seven Bridges C.C. put together a fantastic outing with a successful outcome. The weather that day was blue sky sunny and 70 degrees. It was a shotgun start promptly at 9:30 with an outdoor lunch at the turn. The winners received prizes and everyone polled had a great afternoon.
Mark your calendar, this year’s outing is scheduled for Monday June 21st at Seven Bridges in Woodridge, IL. We are hopeful it will be a celebration, so please start to get your foursome together and consider being a sponsor for our single largest fund raiser for college scholarships.
It also brings us great pleasure to announce two new scholarships introduced this year. The Glenn Beall Scholarship and the Kimberly Rush Scholarship. Both of these individuals have done so much to facilitate and promote the further advancement of polymer science at the collegiate level. Our mission strives to support further education of polymer science and these scholarships are earmarked for Illinois students attending Penn Technical College in State College, PA and Ferris State University in Big Rapids, MI.
As we march through 2021, we need more active board members to the Chapter. The board meets once a month on the second Monday of the month at 4:30 pm. Meetings usually are an hour and half and take place in Elk Grove Village. This is a great group of people deeply committed to the plastics industry. Today’s culture has negatively labeled plastics as a raw material, and our mission is to be better stewards of these resources. Countless items, procedures and processes could not transpire without the advancement of polymers, and our mission is to educate. Please consider contributing your time to this worthy cause.
As we move forward we are planning monthly virtual technical meetings. These “Lunch & Learn” seminars are a way to stay apprised of new, mature, unique or esoteric topics of the day. In February, iD Additives graciously provided an in-depth presentation of their newest cooling line cleaning technology. The March presentation is (was) provided by Dr. Thomas Koeppl from Hexpol in Germany on his latest breakthrough in high melt TPE’s. It is unlikely we would have flown Thomas to Chicago in the past to learn of this breakthrough, but today through the wonders of technology he will was able to present to the section.
If you or someone in your company would like to present, please consider this an open invitation and email your contact information to me to we can discuss. These are intended to be technical and informative in nature and not intended to be a “sales” presentation. Thank you for understanding.
In closing, we look forward to seeing all you in person this year. Please consider joining the board, offering to make a presentation, or attending the SPE-CS events this year either in person or virtually. Stay safe and healthy as you go forward in your daily life.
Kindest Regards,
Paul Calhoon
Vice President / Chair Elect
Chicago Section - Society of Plastics Engineers
Greetings & Peace from the Chicago Section of SPE,
We recognize, but will not celebrate the one-year anniversary of the virus’s grip on our society. We hope all reading this note know the Board misses you and is working to bring value to our members in everyway possible. We also grieve with the loss so many have experienced during the past year.
The Chicago Section has continued to meet, in-person when permitted or through the technology of the internet. It has been challenging. At first there was a “wait and see” attitude toward planning annual events. As summer 2020 moved forward, golf courses were opened and on short notice the Golf Committee launched a 2020 outing.
Golf was played October 7th and was a “no-frills,” socially distanced, all outdoor Golf Outing to support the SPE-CS college scholarship fund & Plasti-Van sponsorships. Despite much concern about turnout and obligations, 40+ golfers joined. An experienced Golf Committee combined with the crew at Seven Bridges C.C. put together a fantastic outing with a successful outcome. The weather that day was blue sky sunny and 70 degrees. It was a shotgun start promptly at 9:30 with an outdoor lunch at the turn. The winners received prizes and everyone polled had a great afternoon.
Mark your calendar, this year’s outing is scheduled for Monday June 21st at Seven Bridges in Woodridge, IL. We are hopeful it will be a celebration, so please start to get your foursome together and consider being a sponsor for our single largest fund raiser for college scholarships.
It also brings us great pleasure to announce two new scholarships introduced this year. The Glenn Beall Scholarship and the Kimberly Rush Scholarship. Both of these individuals have done so much to facilitate and promote the further advancement of polymer science at the collegiate level. Our mission strives to support further education of polymer science and these scholarships are earmarked for Illinois students attending Penn Technical College in State College, PA and Ferris State University in Big Rapids, MI.
As we march through 2021, we need more active board members to the Chapter. The board meets once a month on the second Monday of the month at 4:30 pm. Meetings usually are an hour and half and take place in Elk Grove Village. This is a great group of people deeply committed to the plastics industry. Today’s culture has negatively labeled plastics as a raw material, and our mission is to be better stewards of these resources. Countless items, procedures and processes could not transpire without the advancement of polymers, and our mission is to educate. Please consider contributing your time to this worthy cause.
As we move forward we are planning monthly virtual technical meetings. These “Lunch & Learn” seminars are a way to stay apprised of new, mature, unique or esoteric topics of the day. In February, iD Additives graciously provided an in-depth presentation of their newest cooling line cleaning technology. The March presentation is (was) provided by Dr. Thomas Koeppl from Hexpol in Germany on his latest breakthrough in high melt TPE’s. It is unlikely we would have flown Thomas to Chicago in the past to learn of this breakthrough, but today through the wonders of technology he will was able to present to the section.
If you or someone in your company would like to present, please consider this an open invitation and email your contact information to me to we can discuss. These are intended to be technical and informative in nature and not intended to be a “sales” presentation. Thank you for understanding.
In closing, we look forward to seeing all you in person this year. Please consider joining the board, offering to make a presentation, or attending the SPE-CS events this year either in person or virtually. Stay safe and healthy as you go forward in your daily life.
Kindest Regards,
Paul Calhoon
Vice President / Chair Elect
Chicago Section - Society of Plastics Engineers