Podcasts about polymer science

PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Geoff Foster, CEO and President of Core Technology. They discuss how he founded his own plastics injection molding company, what's fueling their 300% growth since Covid, critical skills for engineering students, the importance of building diversity and inclusion into all levels of the company, the value of internships, considering potential employees from different industries, and the nonprofit Molding Kids for Success, which strives to educate youth in science, technology, engineering and mathematics by combining classroom experiments with real-world applications on the manufacturing floor. Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals and the Plastics Industry Association. Look for new episodes on the first Friday of every month.

PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Pia Fischer, Research Assistant and PhD Candidate, Institute for Plastics Processing in Industry and Craft (IKV) at RWTH Aachen University. They discuss the development of her interest in plastics, injection molding, skill building for success in the PhD program, the benefits of mentoring, processes for sustainability and recycling, addressing challenges in post-consumer waste recycling, seasonal variations in recycling batch streams, shifting from academia into industrial work, sustainability regulations, evaluating sustainability claims, and advice for young engineers.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals and the Plastics Industry Association. Look for new episodes on the first Friday of every month.

Highlights from the second of two fall graduation ceremonies that include the College of Engineering & Polymer Science and the College of Health & Human Sciences and feature speeches from University of Akron President R.J. Nemer, student responder Aidan Winkhart, and others. You can also watch the commencement in its entirety.

PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host the Plastics Industry Association, featuring Matt Seaholm, President & CEO, and Pat Farrey, Executive VP & Chief Integration Officer. They discuss the merger of the Plastics Industry Association and SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals to combine resources that offer members greater opportunities and amplify the plastic industry's voice. Topics include developing a shared long-term strategy to better serve the plastics industry, ensuring transparency to engage stakeholders in shaping the future, creating synergies that add member value while preserving existing benefits, addressing younger professionals' needs, and building a platform for experts to educate the current and future plastics workforce.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals and the Plastics Industry Association. Look for new episodes on the first Friday of every month.

PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host David Routsis, President, and Hannah Donnellan, Sales and Marketing Associate, Routsis Training, LLC. They discussed identifying training needs in the plastics industry, addressing the challenges of capturing specific staff manufacturing knowledge before they retire, producing training content in six languages, keeping training current, visiting plants to identify training needs, using training to help everyone speak the same language and get on the same page with manufacturing processes, the power of certifications, bridging the gap from other areas into plastics engineering, and contact lenses for chickens.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes on the first Friday of every month.

PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Tuan TranPham, "the most-followed person in 3D printing," and President of the Americas and Asia Pacific at Anisoprint. They discuss the evolution of his career in 3D printing and the plastics industry, his desire to educate and inspire about the reality and potential of 3D printing, the benefits of sharing what you know to build collective knowledge in the industry, combining 3D printing with traditional manufacturing techniques, how the convergence of different technologies leads to innovation, how 3D printing may achieve its peak in 2032, the micro-factory of the future, the cloudification and localization of manufacturing, using AI to unleash and democratize the creation of content that could be 3D printed in the cloud, and evaluating the potential success of a 3D printing industry company.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes on the first Friday of every month.

Biodegradable water-soluble films. Recycling that reuses molecules over and over. AI that can develop more sustainable polymers. In this conversation, Sustainably Speaking host Mia Quinn sits down with Anne Kolton, Chief Sustainability Officer at SK Capital Partners, to explore the next wave of innovation in manufacturing and materials. Anne shares how her team invests in companies developing breakthrough products, how U.S. manufacturing can launch smarter, more efficient processes, and why engineering and AI will transform the materials we all use every day. 

On this special PlastChicks Scholarship episode, PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri receive an on-air surprise! Eve Vitale, Gina Grady, and Brian Grady announce a new endowed PlastChicks Scholarship Fund to award scholarships forever to deserving plastics students. Thanks to Gina and Brian Grady for their generous support!Next Lynzie and Mercedes host their Third Annual PlastChicks Scholarship Award Winner, Claire Marble, a sophomore at University of Wisconsin-Stout. Claire discusses how she became interested in plastics and manufacturing engineering, her early experience at an injection mold base shop, approaching problems from an engineering perspective, community building and teamwork, the value of service and volunteering, injection molding, and 3D printing.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes on the first Friday of every month.

PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Sean Petterson, CEO of Supersede.They discussed the founding of Supersede, marine and construction material manufacturing, the process for using recycled plastics, logistics management, the challenges of green solutions and carbon-reduction initiatives, designing cost-competitive systems to outperform alternatives and be profitable with a positive environmental impact, the impact of plastics-related regulations and legislation, upcoming initiatives, boat material safety, and building materials for skateparks.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes on the first Friday of every month.

PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Kohei Shinohara, Senior Vice President at Sodick, live from the Innovation and Emerging Plastics Technologies Conference at PennState Behrend, June 11-12, 2025.They discussed injection molding machine design, medical and precision micro-molding, use of the V-Line® two-stage plunger injection system, selecting technologies to showcase at industry events, challenges around micro-molding and feedback systems, automation, industry career advice for young people, the next great areas of advancement in injection molding, and developing the company's role as a networker of high value-added product and services.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes on the first Friday of every month.

PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Lisa van der Vorst, Senior Sales Director-North America at Mold-Masters Ltd., live from the Innovation and Emerging Plastics Technologies Conference at PennState Behrend, June 11-12, 2025.They discussed the state of the industry and future of hot runners, her career journey leading to injection molding, lessons learned from living in different countries, the importance of emotional intelligence, career advice for engineering students, mentoring a Net Impact Circular Plastics Challenge finalist team, local and global challenges with recycling and waste management, advances in circular recycling, and career risks that led to greater opportunities.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes on the first Friday of every month.

PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Dr. Shilpa Manjure, Global Technical Leader at Northern Technologies International Corporation/Natur-Tec and SPE's Bioplastics and Renewable Technologies Division Chair. They discussed how her interest in plastics and biopolymers developed, the global approach to find solutions for plastics pollution, the definition of bio-based and compostable materials, developing an empathetic leadership style that helps bring the best out of everyone, sustainable alternatives, developing bio-based and compostable materials that can run on current plastics manufacturing lines, the mission of SPE's Bioplastics and Renewable Technologies Division, and igniting the spark of interest in the next generation of students to explore the difference they can make in the world in STEM fields and manufacturing. Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes on the first Friday of every month.

PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Dr. Jennifer Hoffman, Director of Project Management for Eurofins | EAG Laboratories. They discuss her journey in materials science, her role as a "technical therapist," determining the best approach to address varying client needs, most common issues in plastics, deformulation/reverse engineering of materials, helping companies make smart business decisions based on scientific data, trends in plastics, sustainable materials, favorite tools, her role with SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals, student mentorship and activities, and advice to new scientists entering the field.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes the first Friday of every month.

PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host April Brown, Applications Engineer at Moldex3D. They discuss her professional journey to a plastics industry career, injection molding simulation projects, reducing manufacturing cost and optimizing processes while reducing waste and considering sustainability, being more inventive and efficient in the workplace, creating a sustainable future for everyone in the plastics industry, using AI to compile years of simulation data to help optimize a new part design, using simulation to predict defects before production and reduce necessary trials and tooling modifications, Moldex3D's Moldiverse cloud ecosystem, and future predictions for simulation and AI in plastics manufacturing. Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes the first Friday of every month.

PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Dr. Andy Francis, Vice President of Marketing at Q-Lab Corporation. They discuss the big forces of plastics weathering, the arch nemeses of plastics, the difficulty of service life prediction, techniques and equipment for testing the effects of weathering on plastics, common misconceptions about plastics durability, plastics failure methods due to weathering, and the future of materials testing.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes the first Friday of every month.

PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host the Kenders, siblings with careers in plastics: Laura Kender, Polymer Process Engineer at Corning Life Sciences; Elizabeth Kender, Senior Product Developer at New Balance; and Stephen Kender, Senior Design Engineer at UPPAbaby. They discuss how their interest in plastics developed, their teamwork in college, their career journey in plastics, networking, injection molding, sustainability, the future of plastics, and designing for plastics strength, lightweighting and performance.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes the first Friday of every month.

PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Andy Kamholz, CEO, Edge Precision Manufacturing. They discuss compression molding micro features on a macro part, micropore filters, hiring strategies for success, building a thriving corporate culture, the challenges in launching a new enterprise, and upcoming plastics innovations.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes the first Friday of every month.

In this podcast, Rameshwor Adhikari, a renowned expert in polymer science, dives deep into the world of plastics, from their history to cutting-edge innovations. We explore the invention of plastics, their evolution, and their impact on fields like medicine, cosmetics, and 3D printing technology. Discover the difference between natural vs synthetic plastics and the correct plastic disposal methods to reduce environmental harm. One of the highlights of this discussion is the rise of microplastics, their effects on the environment, and the innovations aimed at tackling this issue. Rameshwor also discusses revolutionary technologies like self-healing plastics and their applications in color-changing cars. Learn how plastic implants are transforming medical treatments and why plastics are an integral part of firefighter gear, cosmetic products, and everyday life. We further explore the scope of polymer technology, the role of recycled plastics, and how gas byproducts contribute to plastic production. With a focus on the future of sustainable plastic solutions, this podcast uncovers how polymers are shaping modern technology and innovation. Whether you are curious about nanostructures, fascinated by plastics in medicine, or interested in Nepal's technological advancements, this podcast provides valuable insights into the world of plastics and polymers.

PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Lytia Watson, Vice President of Human Resources, Deceuninck North America. They discuss her educational journey, approaching impediments with curiosity, finding the best employees for your company, removing bias in hiring decisions, building collaboration skills for success, planning your personal career growth, and navigating the future and challenges of AI in the plastics industry for employers and staff.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes the first Friday of every month.

PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Tanisha Francis, 2024 PlastChicks Scholarship Winner, Computer Engineering Senior at Kettering University, and President of the Kettering University SPE Student Chapter. They discuss the development of her interest in the plastics industry, her desire to use hardware and software solutions to reduce waste and streamline plastics production, mentoring and coaching high school students, service projects, work with her SPE Student Chapter, and advice for students interested in the plastics industry.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes the first Friday of every month.

Listen in as Erin Parker Tillery, Ph.D. Student and Graduate Research and Teaching Assistant at North Carolina State University's Wilson College of Textiles, interviews Prateeti Ugale, Ph.D. Student in Fiber and Polymer Science at North Carolina State University. Prateeti discusses her current research of working on integrating technology into textile structures with a particular emphasis on wearable applications. She also discusses why she chose electronic textiles (e-textiles) and how it is an interdisciplinary field that involves a research and intersection of textiles, electronics, material science, design, and product development.  

Live from NPE2024! PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Emily Bowser, Process and Tooling Engineering Manager at Biomerics. They discussed improving processes to reduce scrap, the impact of mentorship on professional growth, 3-D printing, advice for aspiring engineers, emerging trends in plastics manufacturing, and leaving a legacy for the plastics industry.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes the first Friday of every month.

Live from NPE2024! PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Leslie Sonne, Senior Business Development Manager at Star Thermoplastics, a Hexpol TPE company. They discussed her career journey at Star Thermoplastics, working with clients to determine the best TPE formulations to meet their needs, the variety of TPE applications and cross-market designs, and addressing challenges in recyclability and sustainability. Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes the first Friday of every month.

Live from NPE2024! PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Bailey Robin, Co-Founder and CEO, Matium. They discuss the journey that led him to found Matium and his future plans. Matium combines sustainable market and material science perspectives to create a comprehensive, interactive, digital supply chain network infrastructure supporting the plastics market and its services in a globally competitive marketplace with an emphasis on ease of use and efficiency.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes the first Friday of every month.

PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Jay Shoemaker, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Western Michigan University and owner of HL&S Consulting. They discussed mold design, his work with Moldflow and iMFLUX, plastics education, mold design publications, and his participation in SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes the first Friday of every month.

Bonus Episode! PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Jess Rodriguez, Sustainability Project Manager at Berry Global, Inc. They discussed her journey in the plastics industry and working with designers and customers to improve sustainability and recyclability in healthcare packaging through circular content, recycling technology, and process optimization. This episode was recorded live at NPE2024.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes the first Friday of every month.

PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Jake Kelly-Walley, an R&D Engineer at Matrix Polymers and PhD Student at Queen's University Belfast. They discussed UN Sustainable Development Goals, responsible consumption of materials, introducing post-consumer recycling into rotational molding processes, banana fiber, deciding which applications can use less virgin materials while maintaining performance requirements, advances in rotational molding processes, and getting students interested in rotational molding.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes the first Friday of every month.

PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Wendy Hoenig, CEO at H & H Business Development, 2024 inductee into the Plastics Hall of Fame, and 2018 Women Breaking the Mold award winner. They discussed Plastics Pioneers, her work at Dow, product incubation, emerging trends in the plastics industry, approaches to and importance of mentoring and being mentored, giving back to the next generation of plastics professionals, providing technology and business assessments of start-ups, advice for people transitioning to an entrepreneurial role or start-up from a corporate role, and keeping students interested and engaged in science.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes the first Friday of every month.

PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Dr. Ellen Lee, Technical Leader of Additive Manufacturing Research at Ford Motor Company, live from ANTEC® 2024. They discuss her journey in additive manufacturing, challenges in using additive manufacturing in the automotive sector, developing technical roadmaps, collaboration with the value chain, advice for people interested in additive manufacturing careers, and additive manufacturing design, optimization, and printing processes.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes the first Friday of every month.

The FDA announced the alignment of QMSR to the ISO 13485 standard. So now the question is: What does it change for me? Do you need to update your full QMS? Will you need to go through another audit or inspection? Is this really a revolution?  Naveen Agarwal from Exceed will answer this question. So don't miss this episode to know more about QMSR.  Who is Naveen Agarwal?  Dr. Naveen Agarwal has 20+ years of diverse industry experience in leadership roles ranging from R&D to Product Quality and Business Analytics. He holds a Ph.D. in Polymer Science & Engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He is an ASQ certified Quality Engineer, a Manager of Quality and Operational Excellence, and a certified Project Management Professional. In his consulting practice, he works on strategic projects in Risk Management, Design Control, Post-Market Surveillance, and Quality Culture in the Medical Device Industry. In his spare time, he enjoys distance running, community work, and spending time with his family. Who is Monir El Azzouzi?  Monir El Azzouzi is the founder and CEO of Easy Medical Device a Consulting firm that is supporting Medical Device manufacturers for any Quality and Regulatory affairs activities all over the world. Monir can help you to create your Quality Management System, Technical Documentation or he can also take care of your Clinical Evaluation, Clinical Investigation through his team or partners. Easy Medical Device can also become your Authorized Representative and Independent Importer Service provider for EU, UK and Switzerland.  Monir has around 16 years of experience within the Medical Device industry working for small businesses and also big corporate companies. He has now supported around 100 clients to remain compliant on the market. His passion to the Medical Device filed pushed him to create educative contents like, blog, podcast, YouTube videos, LinkedIn Lives where he invites guests who are sharing educative information to his audience. Visit easymedicaldevice.com to know more.  Link:  Naveen Agarwal Linkedin Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/naveenagarwal/  Learn more about Let's Talk Risk! here ans subscribe: https://naveenagarwalphd.substack.com/about  Webinar recording - Getting Ready for QMSR: https://naveenagarwalphd.substack.com/p/webinar-5-getting-ready-for-qmsr   Risk management training on ACHIEVE:  https://www.achievexl.com/    Social Media to follow Monir El Azzouzi Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/melazzouzi Twitter: https://twitter.com/elazzouzim Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/easymedicaldevice Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/easymedicaldevice

PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Darien Dierksen, Senior Application Engineer at Procter & Gamble. They discuss her journey in the plastics industry, mentoring, challenges for women in the plastics industry, sustainable solutions at Procter & Gamble, the importance of recyling education and her road ahead in plastics.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes the first Friday of every month.

PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Alethea Schaeffer, VP of Sales & Engineering, USHECO. They discuss her journey in the plastics industry, thermoforming processes, the company's entrepreneurial approach to manufacturing, designing for manufacturing, approaches to problem-solving in engineering, pivoting to support pandemic supply needs and how the company stays innovative.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes the first Friday of every month.

Darrell Irvine obtained an Honors Bachelor's degree in engineering physics from the University of Pittsburgh. As a National Science Foundation graduate fellow, he then studied Polymer Science at MIT. Following completion of his PhD, he was a Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell postdoctoral fellow in immunology at the Beckman Center for Molecular and Genetic Medicine. He is presently a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He is also an Associate Director for the Koch Institute and serves on the steering committee of the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard. Irvine is the founder of Elicio Therapeutics, Strand Therapeutics, and Ankyra Therapeutics. He serves on the Scientific Advisory Boards of the MGH Cancer Center, the University of Toronto Medicine by Design Consortium, Venn Therapeutics, Alloy Therapeutics, Jupiter Therapeutics, Parallel Bio, Surge Therapeutics, and Gensaic Therapeutics.w/ Special Guest Host: Jacob Becraft - Co-Founder & CEO @ Strand TherapeuticsJake Becraft is a synthetic biologist and entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and CEO of Strand Therapeutics, and serves on its Board of Directors. Together with colleagues at MIT's renowned Synthetic Biology Center, he led the development of the world's first synthetic biology programming language for mRNA. Jake has been featured in Fierce Biotech, Bloomberg, the Boston Business Journal, and BioCentury, among others, for his vision and mission at Strand of applying this unique platform for real world disease applications. He has also been the recipient of prestigious national and international awards for his scientific and entrepreneurial achievements, including the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Award, the Andrew Viterbi Fellowship of MIT, Amgen Fellowship, and the Bristol-Myers Squibb 2018 Golden Ticket for recognition of Strand as an innovative startup. Beyond his work at Strand, Jake's broader interests span synthetic biology, biologically engineered organism-machine interfaces, and the intersection of tech and biotech methodologies. He is an advocate among the life science entrepreneurial ecosystem for supporting young founders in biotech entrepreneurship. Currently, he serves on the advisory board of Starlight Ventures, an early stage venture firm, and also serves on the Executive Board of Public Health United, a non-profit focused on helping scientists better communicate their research for maximum impact. Previously, he served as a Science and Technology advisor to legislators in the Massachusetts State Legislature. Jake received his Ph.D. in Biological Engineering and Synthetic Biology from MIT and his B.S. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, graduating Magna cum Laude with distinction. He is an author or inventor on numerous high profile publications, patents and white papers, including in top tier journals such as Nature Chemical Biology and PNAS.Alix Ventures, by way of BIOS Community, is providing this content for general information purposes only. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement nor recommendation by Alix Ventures, BIOS Community, or its affiliates. The views & opinions expressed by guests are their own & their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them nor any entity they represent. Views & opinions expressed by Alix Ventures employees are those of the employees & do not necessarily reflect the view of Alix Ventures, BIOS Community, affiliates, nor its content sponsors.Thank you for listening!BIOS (@BIOS_Community) unites a community of Life Science innovators dedicated to driving patient impact. Alix Ventures (@AlixVentures) is a San Francisco based venture capital firm supporting early stage Life Science startups engineering biology to create radical advances in human health.Music: Danger Storm by Kevin MacLeod (link & license)

PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host the co-CEOs of Hoffer Plastics: Gretchen Hoffer Farb, Charlotte Hoffer Canning and Alex Hoffer. They discuss the dynamics of a family-owned injection-molding plastics business, their approach to innovation in the plastics industry, the advantages of having multiple co-CEOs, the importance of family being part of company values, and working together with customers and staff at all levels to address the needs of the customer, end consumer, and those on the production floor.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes the first Friday of every month.

PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Monika Stroeder, PhD, Team Leader, Circular Products R&D at NOVA Chemicals. They review her role in developing new products, her move into technical services, packaging, sustainability and finally into research and development of circular products. They discuss working together with the industry in a value chain, downgauging, mono material packaging, incorporating recycled materials, mechanical and chemical recycling, the challenges for consumers in understanding recycling and reducing the carbon footprint. They delve into the development of new high-performance resin, the future of packaging for the food industry with changes in consumer shopping preferences, advanced recycling technologies, corporate diversity and NOVA Chemicals' 30-30-30 strategy.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes the first Friday of every month.

PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Madison Kramer, a Plastics Engineering sophomore at Penn State Behrend and the first PlastChicks Scholarship Winner.They discuss her scholarship, her interest in plastics engineering, how Lynzie and Mercedes created the PlastChicks podcast, plastics mold design, the benefits of internships in addition to academic studies, and innovations in the plastics industry.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes the first Friday of every month.

PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Sarah Webber, Sustainable Packaging Engineer for Plastic Ingenuity. They discuss her sustainable plastics industry career journey, encouraging others to explore careers in plastics, the importance of involving packaging engineers early in the process when the design is frozen but not ready to launch to optimize the potential for sustainable packaging, addressing the challenges of recycling, finding end markets for recycled materials, young people entering the plastics industry in sustainability areas, using a data-driven approach to sustainable design and manufacturing, and the role of The International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) in developing sustainable processes that support verifiable claims of recycled content in a product.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes the first Friday of every month.

PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Mitch Rife, Engineering Manager for Additive Manufacturing, Delta TechOps. They discuss transitioning from subtractive to additive manufacturing processes; designing for 3D printing while considering injection molding requirements should production needs increase; producing 3D-printed tools, tool carriers and protectors to support aircraft mechanics; choosing materials for aerospace prototyping; use of 3D-printed parts in aircraft manufacturing; and designing wheelchair-accessible airplane seats.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes the first Friday of every month.

PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Kate Davenport, Co-President of Eureka Recycling, a nonprofit zero waste organization and social enterprise recycler based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They discuss the economics and opportunities in providing recycling services, including finding sustainable markets that are interested in purchasing recycled materials, considering processes to move responsibility from the municipality to the producer, the difficulty of aggregating materials into one stream, competing with virgin plastics, the volatility of recycling materials pricing, and the challenges and costs of pulling plastic bags and flexible packaging out of the recycling stream.Terminology Note: MRF (pronounced "murf") is a materials recovery facility, materials reclamation facility, materials recycling facility or multi re-use facility, which is a specialized plant that receives, separates and prepares recyclable materials for marketing to end-user manufacturers (Wikipedia).Find out more about Eureka Recycling.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes the first Friday of every month.

When you look at ISO 13485 or EU MDR or US FDA, they all want to see that you are reducing the risk for your products. But to do that you have to brainstorm and identify those risks. Usually, we follow ISO 14971 for that. But not all of your team is aware of this, and we are now short on time. So, what to do? Draft it by yourself or work with some colleagues. Naveen Agarwal will be sharing with us the best way to collaborate to create a successful Risk Management process. So, let's listen to that.  Who is Naveen Agarwal?  Dr. Naveen Agarwal has 20+ years of diverse industry experience in leadership roles ranging from R&D to Product Quality and Business Analytics. He holds a Ph.D. in Polymer Science & Engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He is an ASQ certified Quality Engineer, a Manager of Quality and Operational Excellence, and a certified Project Management Professional. In his consulting practice, he works on strategic projects in Risk Management, Design Control, Post-Market Surveillance, and Quality Culture in the Medical Device Industry. In his spare time, he enjoys distance running, community work, and spending time with his family.  Who is Monir El Azzouzi?  Monir El Azzouzi is the founder and CEO of Easy Medical Device a Consulting firm that is supporting Medical Device manufacturers for any Quality and Regulatory affairs activities all over the world. Monir can help you to create your Quality Management System, Technical Documentation or he can also take care of your Clinical Evaluation, Clinical Investigation through his team or partners. Easy Medical Device can also become your Authorized Representative and Independent Importer Service provider for EU, UK and Switzerland.  Monir has around 16 years of experience within the Medical Device industry working for small businesses and also big corporate companies. He has now supported around 100 clients to remain compliant on the market. His passion to the Medical Device filed pushed him to create educative contents like, blog, podcast, YouTube videos, LinkedIn Lives where he invites guests who are sharing educative information to his audience. Visit easymedicaldevice.com to know more.  Link:  Naveen Agarwal Linkedin : https://www.linkedin.com/in/naveenagarwal/ Linkedin Post: https://naveenagarwalphd.substack.com/p/collaboration-is-the-secret-sauce-for-riskmgmt  Achieve Website: https://www.achievexl.com  Let Us Talk Risk Newsletter: https://naveenagarwalphd.substack.com/  Social Media to follow Monir El Azzouzi Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/melazzouzi Twitter: https://twitter.com/elazzouzim Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/easymedicaldevice Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/easymedicaldevice Authorized Representative and Importer services: https://easymedicaldevice.com/authorised-representative-and-importer/ Subscribe to our LinkedIn Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7051455462466023424

PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Nathan Rader-Edkin, Plastics Innovation and Resource Center Program Manager, Pennsylvania College of Technology, a Plastics News Rising Star for 2023, and a co-founder of a new plastics career site, PlasticsPostings.com. They discuss his plastics industry career journey, parenting, injection molding, the importance of industry experience to an academic career, and the role of the Pennsylvania College of Technology's Plastics Innovation and Resource Center.Find out more about the Pennsylvania College of Technology and the PlasticsPostings.com career site.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes the first Friday of every month.

PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Dr. Sherrika Sanders, Senior Technical Engineer, Manner Polymers and member of the SPE DEI Advisory Board. They discuss her career journey, being one of the Hidden Figures of Dallas, developing small molecules to authenticate fuel and consumer goods, the use of PVC in building and construction, SPE Foundation's PlastiVan program, and the importance of STEM programs in developing the next generation of scientists.Find out more about SPE Foundation's PlastiVan program, designed to excite students about opportunities in science and engineering within the plastics industry.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes the first Friday of every month.

PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Rashed Islam, Head of Product Integrity at Lyft - Transit, Bikes, and Scooters. They discuss his journey in his product integrity career, working at Google and Lyft, the challenges of implementing recycled plastics in products, sustainable transportation design, eStation strategies, the Lyft Micromobility Lab, and testing for different environments and conditions.Essentials of Management & Leadership in Plastics is a six-month virtual program open to early to mid-level career professionals who would like to be leaders or strengthen their leadership skills in the plastics industry. No other Leadership Certificate program exists that is specifically designed for those in the plastics industry.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes the first Friday of every month.

PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host 3Dnatives guests Alexandre Martel, Co-Founder, and Filippos Voulpiotis, Chief Business Officer. They discuss the role of 3Dnatives as a reliable source of information on the latest trends of the Additive Manufacturing market, common misconceptions about additive manufacturing, the careful work that goes into producing content tailored to multiple languages and their audiences, and the synergies between SPE and 3Dnatives that led to SPE's acquisition of 3Dnatives.Essentials of Management & Leadership in Plastics is a six-month virtual program open to early to mid-level career professionals who would like to be leaders or strengthen their leadership skills in the plastics industry. No other Leadership Certificate program exists that is specifically designed for those in the plastics industry.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes the first Friday of every month.

PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host four of the 2022 SPE Foundation Scholarship winners: Rachel LeBlanc, Allen Román, Kelsey Allis, and Wyatt McGraw. The SPE Foundation is an arm of SPE that supports the development of plastics professionals by funding quality educational programs, grants, and scholarships, emphasizing science, engineering, sustainability, and manufacturing to create inclusive opportunities for students around the world. The 2023-2024 Foundation Scholarships deadline is April 1.  Learn more about SPE Foundation Scholarships.Get details on the 2023 Re|Focus Sustainability & Recycling Summit, being held May 1-4, 2023 in Minneapolis, Minnesota and save 30% on the non-member registration rate using the discount code, PlastChicks. The Summit is hosted by the Plastics Industry Association, a PlastChicks supporter.Scholarship Winners FeaturedRachel LeBlanc is in the 5th-year of her Senior/Masters program at Case Western Reserve, studying Macromolecular Science and Engineering. Her research focuses on thermoplastic polyurethanes as materials for prosthetics. After graduation, she hopes to start her career in the medical devices industry or pursue a Masters in Engineering Management. She is helping create an educational demo/video for the city of Cleveland showing the importance of reducing contamination in the recycling stream. Rachel was awarded the Thermoplastics Elastomers Technical Interest Group Scholarship, SPE Foundation Gail Bristol Scholarship, and PPA Clare Goldsberry Scholarship. Allen Román is a Ph. D. student at University of Wisconsin-Madison, studying Mechanical Engineering and working under Tim Osswald. He was awarded the Donald McCoy Chicago SPE Scholarship. He donated part of the scholarship back to the scholarship program from which he benefited as a first-generation college student.Kelsey Allis is a Senior at Western Washington University, studying Polymer Material Engineering. She has worked closely with injection molding machines and is active in SPE Student Chapter. She organized a beach clean-up with the local Surfrider chapter as SPE Student Outreach Officer. She was awarded the Recycling Division Scholarship, Western Plastics Pioneers George Epstein Scholarship, and PPA Neward Scholarship. Wyatt McGraw is a Senior at Shawnee State University, studying Plastics Engineering Technology. He has completed many internships focused on blow molding and flexible packaging. He is active in the SPE Student Chapter. He was awarded the Flexible Packaging Division Scholarship, PPA W. Muller Scholarship, and Blow Molding Division Willi Muller Scholarship.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube channel.PlastChicks is supported by Plastics Industry Association and sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes the first Friday of every month.

PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri with guest Ed Hall, President and CEO of Baerlocher USA, discuss Ed's career journey, the importance of ethics and diversity in the workforce, Baerlocher USA's move into sustainability and services, and the need for the plastics industry to get together to teach, learn and collaborate in their approach to finding recycling solutions.Find out more about the 2023 Re|Focus Sustainability & Recycling Summit, being held May 1-4, 2023 in Minneapolis, Minnesota and save 30% on the non-member registration rate using the discount code, PlastChicks. The Summit is hosted by the Plastics Industry Association.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube channel.PlastChicks is supported by Plastics Industry Association and sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes the first Friday of every month.

The evaluation of the Risk-Benefit ratio is key for Risk Management Files per ISO 14971 or when you build your Clinical Evaluation Report or when you need to define the risk of using a particular technology against another. I mean that risk-benefit evaluation is mainly what helps us to decide that our product is safe and performant. So on this episode, Naveen Agarwal from Achieve will be my guest and help us understand the best way to measure your benefit-risk ratio. Who is Naveen Agarwal? Dr. Naveen Agarwal has 20+ years of diverse industry experience in leadership roles ranging from R&D to Product Quality and Business Analytics. He holds a Ph.D. in Polymer Science & Engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He is an ASQ certified Quality Engineer, a Manager of Quality and Operational Excellence, and a certified Project Management Professional. In his consulting practice, he works on strategic projects in Risk Management, Design Control, Post-Market Surveillance, and Quality Culture in the Medical Device Industry. In his spare time, he enjoys distance running, community work, and spending time with his family. Who is Monir El Azzouzi? Monir El Azzouzi is a Medical Device Expert specializing in Quality and Regulatory Affairs. After working for many years with big Healthcare companies, particularly Johnson and Johnson, he decided to create EasyMedicalDevice.com to help people better understand Medical Device Regulations worldwide. He has now created the consulting firm Easy Medical Device GmbH and developed many ways to deliver knowledge through videos, podcasts, online courses… His company also acts as Authorized Representative for the EU, UK, and Switzerland. Easy Medical Device becomes a one-stop shop for medical device manufacturers that need support on Quality and Regulatory Affairs. Links: Naveen LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/naveenagarwal Exceed consulting solution: www.exeedqm.com Achieve training: www.achievexl.com Case study https://www.achievexl.com/benefit-risk-analysis-fda-case-study Downloadable white paper from the FDA: https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/products-and-medical-procedures/weight-loss-and-weight-management-devices

PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri with guest Mason Myers, Principal Implementation Consultant at Autodesk, discuss the advantages of using simulation software to make it easier to get a process up and running, saving time and money using simulations, Autodesk's Moldflow Simulation software, and automation software advances in meshing and Cloud solving.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals and is posted the first Friday of every month.

As the recipient of the UA College of Engineering and Polymer Science 2022 Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award, would you believe that biomedical engineering was not Dr. Nguyen's first choice? Hear how her plan B has given her remarkable opportunities in the classroom and has inspired her to develop the next generation of engineers.

Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! On today's episode, we talk with Boran Ma, Postdoctoral Researcher at Duke University about Materials Science, Comedy, and Communications.   Read her full bio below.Help us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-form Showtimes: 3:38  Nic & Laura talk about communication strategies7:16 Interview with Boran Ma Starts7:41  Material Science23:44  Comedy33:30  CommunicationsPlease be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review. This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Connect with Boran Ma at https://www.linkedin.com/in/boran-ma-nu/Guest Bio:Bo is currently a Postdoc Associate at Duke University. Starting January 2023, she is joining the faculty of the School of Polymer Science and Engineering at the University of Southern Mississippi as an Assistant Professor. Bo got her PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from Northwestern University. Prior to that, she got her Bachelor's degree in Materials Science and Engineering from Harbin Institute of Technology.Bo does computational research on polymer materials. She uses molecular modeling and simulation to understand the underlying physics and mechanisms and to better design polymeric materials and systems, specifically for energy and sustainability applications.In her free time, Bo enjoys doing standup comedy, running, hiking, paddle boarding, and playing ultimate frisbee. Due to her passion about both science and comedy, Bo has been working on a science communications workshop where she helps students integrate comedy writing skills into science communications.Music CreditsIntro: Givin Me Eyes by Grace MesaOutro: Never Ending Soul Groove by Mattijs MullerSupport the show