Morning Moderator
Jason LaBorde
AGC
Jason LaBorde graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He has been in the polymer industry since 2008, where he worked in the sealing solutions business. In 2018, he joined AGC Chemicals Americas as a Sales and Marketing Manager for fluoropolymer resins and compounds. Jason is currently the Business Manager - Fluoropolymers at AGC Chemicals Americas, where he is responsible for developing and managing the business strategy for AGC’s fluoropolymer product portfolio in North America. He currently serves on the Executive Committee for the PLASTICS Fluoropolymers Division.
Morning Speakers and Presentations
Dr. AJ Pasquale
Insight Polymers
Dr. A.J. Pasquale is Co-founder and Director of Operations at Insight Polymers & Compounding. A.J. is originally from Illinois and has a B.S. in Chemistry from Illinois State University and a Ph.D. in Polymer Chemistry from Virginia Tech. His experience includes positions in R&D and New Business Development at Procter & Gamble, DuPont (Chemours) and Eastman Chemical. He co-founded Insight Polymers with Dr. Jeremy Lizotte in 2018.
Insight CNT Technology demonstrates improved modulus and Tensile strength with little to no affect on Impact strength. Insight CNT's are available in both concentrate and fully compounded products with the best performance achieved through compounding the concentrate into neat polymers. Benefits vary with different polymer systems.
Neil Mendes
Alpine Polytech
Neil is the CEO of Alpine Polytech an ISO/IEC 17025:2017 an Accredited Laboratory providing material and equipment performance testing. Neil currently sits on the board of the EPG and has served as Chair two times as well and is currently the Area Director for Gulf Coast. Prior to Co-founding Alpine Polytech, Neil spent 20 years with Greene, Tweed, Neil was SVP of Sales & Marketing, prior to that he served as GM/VP of the Energy Business.
Understanding the current energy market, including Energy Transition and Traditional Energy sources and what the data says will be the the drivers over the next few years.
Mike Sanchez
AGC Chemicals Americas
Mike Sanchez is a Technical Service Engineer with AGC Chemicals Americas. His activities focus on development and support of innovative new materials for wire and cable claddings used in the energy sector.
Laser marking has become prominent as an alternative to conventional (solvent-based) printing methods used in the wire and cable industry. This presentation gives an overview of laser marking processes, laser equipment types, susceptor packages and in optimization of print quality at desired production line speeds. The author's experiences with additives for fluoropolymer claddings will be a focus.
Thomas Romeu (co presenter is Daniel Hertz III)
Seals Eastern
Thomas John Romeu has been a Materials Engineer at Seals Eastern for over a year, where he focuses on developing innovative rubber compounds in the company's R&D division. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) and is in the process of obtaining his Engineer in Training (EIT) certification.
Daniel Hertz III
Seals Eastern
Daniel L Hertz III has worked in the elastomer seal business more than forty years. He currently serves as President/CEO of Seals Eastern Inc., an American manufacturer committed to serving the sealing needs of Fortune 500 companies across the globe since 1960. Mr. Hertz holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado, a Master of Science from Stevens Institute of Technology, and a Juris Doctorate from Brooklyn Law School.
This presentation will review past work performed to study the absorption and desorption of CO2 by various elastomer compounds used in the energy industry. This paper also examines lab data documenting the impact of supercritical CO2 extraction on similar oilfield elastomer compounds.
Afternoon Moderator
Jennifer Lyons
UTEX
Afternoon Speakers and Presentations
Jessica Mattison
XMEK
Jessica Mattison, a polymer chemist with 17 years of experience, holds a BS and MS in Chemistry from California Polytechnic of Pomona. As Materials and Technical Services Director at Xmek, she specializes in technical support, design, and analytical testing. She develops high-performance rubber compounds for oil and gas applications, focusing on rapid gas decompression and extrusion resistance. Outside of work, she enjoys outdoor activities with her husband and three kids.
Extrusion resistance of a compound is dependent on many factors in the formulation, processing and manufacturing as well the application design and usage. This presentation will explore these concepts and their effects.
Andy Anderson
Eutsler Rubber
Troubleshooting elastomeric compounds in molding processes can be frustrating at time. Many factors can contribute to the issue from compound formulation, mold design, compound load prep, and press operations. We will review these factors and steps to minimize their influence on molding operations.
Dr. Jeff Ellis
Dr. Ellis has been studying the interactions of polymeric materials with their surrounding environment since 2004. Many of these projects utilized his expertise in polymer processing, joining, selection, failure analysis with solution implementation, testing, degradation, and accelerated aging. He has 14 patents, 18 peer-reviewed publications, and has given 50 domestic and international conference presentations.
EWI has conducted an extensive materials and industry survey of using polymer composite pipelines for transporting hydrogen. EPG participants will understand the findings of this work, including pipeline materials and design for hydrogen service, initial testing on these pipes, their materials responses, and gaps in the industry that need to be filled before large-scale commissioning commences.
Eric Bucci
Trelleborg
Eric is the Global Technical Manager for the Energy Segment with Trelleborg. His responsibilities include strategic and technical development of key growth sub-markets with a focus on market leading research in conjunction with their customer base.
This presentation will take a look at hydrogen as a key fuel source for the future and its effects on sealing polymers.
