February 2022 Letter From the President

​Greetings Section Members,

I hope this note finds you and your loved ones well.  Our board is doing everything we can to bring inspiring educational and social value to the section members. I had wanted to kick off the year with a social event to get acquainted with the members.  Then that nasty little bug reared its head, need I say more. Do not fear, we still have much planned for this year. The board’s event calendar https://www.spechicago.org/events.html is starting to fill in for 2022 and we have the following events in various stages of planning.

March 28-31 – PT XPO, Rosemont Convention Center Booth Number 2728 SPE Chicago, SPE Milwaukee, PD3 & Plastivan will all be there to ask questions that will inspire you.

May 24 & 25 – John Bozzelli – Scientific Molding, Holiday Inn Chicago North, Gurnee, IL. John is a nationally recognized expert in injection molding. He holds ten patents and has written more than 200 papers and industry articles on plastics & processing. This educational seminar is intended for those with daily responsibilities in keeping a molding plant running at peak efficiency. As John states, “Let's keep plastic piece-part manufacturing strong. Manufacturing is critical to a nation's economy.”
We will also be hosting a Supplier Exhibition during this event. More information can be found here 

June 27 – SPE Golf Outing at Seven Bridges, Woodridge, IL – Get your foursome(s) in order and plan on a day of fun at this beautiful and challenging suburban course. Matt Johnson and the SPE Chicago Golf Committee put on a great outing which in the past has provided novelties such as the golf ball cannon (you can’t out drive the cannon), Beat the Pro, and you know second place always wins a set of Steak Knives (Glengarry Glen Ross reference – “First place wins a Cadillac El Dorado, second place….steak knives”).

September 20 & 21 – Mike Sepe – Polymer Science, Holiday Inn Chicago North, Gurnee, IL.  Michael Sepe is an independent materials and processing consultant with clients throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. He has more than 35 years of experience in the plastics industry and assists clients with material selection, designing for manufacturability, process optimization, troubleshooting, and failure analysis. Mike guides us through the process of material selection and the key elements to be considered when selecting from the large palette of materials available today.

Hopefully, we will see you and your colleagues at some of these events. The board is committed to bringing back technical dinners, facility tours, and social events to the members of the Chicago Section. All of these events we’ve come to enjoy require a lot of coordination and planning, and therefore I’m asking our members to consider becoming a board member to aid in facilitating these events. We meet the second Monday of the month, and usually at Shelby Campbell’s on Busse in Elk Grove Village. If you have any questions please call or email me (contact info below). We are thankful to have several new(er) board members join us this recently; Guarav Nagalia – Engineering Systems Inc., Kinda Abu Hawash – Peacock Colors, Adrian Hogg – M Holland, Jakub Lison – ICL Group, Anne Boudreaux – Americas Styrenics. It’s a pleasure having many new faces which bring new ideas to the board for improved ways of bringing inspiring ideas to our community.

I’d like to leave you with this last thought that came up in our last board meeting. “Why are you a member of SPE?” My initial thought was for the networking, which for two years has been minimal. Upon further reflection, being a member keeps me abreast of industry breakthroughs, technology that might enhance my companies’, or a client’s business. The plastic industry has dominated my career, and there is no better way to be immersed in one of the world’s largest industries than being a member of the Chicago Section of SPE. Best of all, it’s the people you get to associate with at these events, who all have the same challenges in their professional lives. We look forward to seeing you this year and please consider being a member of the board so we can bring more value to the section.

All the best,
​
Paul Calhoon
President
SPE Chicago Section

313.418.0197
[email protected]