Anticipating its 75^th anniversary next year, SPE is returning to the region of its birth the week of May 22nd to hold its key annual technical conference and exhibition: ANTEC® Indianapolis 2016. “SPE is bringing ANTEC back to the Midwest, where there’s a strong processing community,” says SPE managing director Russell Broome.

A processing emphasis will be obvious among many companies in the ANTEC exhibition space of the JW Marriott Indianapolis (with over 75 companies exhibiting, as of press time). Meanwhile, as always, over 500 technical papers will be presented (including the one printed in this issue by a researcher at A. Schulman, Inc., Platinum Sponsor of ANTEC 2016).

Printing Progress

Rather than focusing on the methods normally thought of as “plastics processing,” a series of ANTEC sessions on Monday and Tuesday (May 23-24) will focus on another kind of processing that’s becoming more common: 3-D printing and additive manufacturing (AM).

ANTEC’s Monday plenary speech will be by AM expert Tim Caffrey of Wohlers Associates. He’ll present on “Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing: State of the Industry,” with findings from 2016’s Wohlers Report, an annual study the company has released for 20 years.

“The talk will summarize the key points from the report, including current industry size and growth over the past few years,” Caffrey says. “It will also include results of surveys conducted in preparation of the report with key global AM companies, define current trends, and identify emerging technologies, applications, and companies.” 

Meanwhile, on both Monday and Tuesday, there will be a large program of speakers sponsored by the new SPE 3-D Printing/Additive Manufacturing Special Interest Group. As of press time, over a dozen speakers and sessions were already scheduled, with topics covering material innovations, open platform concepts, medical applications, large area 3-D printing, reinforced printed parts, process optimization, and strength prediction of complex AM parts.

Racing with Carbon Fiber

Automotive composites expert Antony Dodworth will give Wednesday’s plenary talk. Dodworth is the chief technology & manufacturing officer for Bright Lite Structures. For over two decades he’s held engineering and design positions for multiple large and small manufacturers of both conventional automobiles and racing cars.

“Clearly, lightweighting is the largest driver for automotive these days, and carbon fiber composites are a significant enabling technology, says Donna Davis, ANTEC technical program chair. “Tony Dodworth has been a leader in that development. From racing cars to passenger vehicles, uses of carbon fiber composites will deliver efficiency while retaining design flexibility and safety.”

Editors’ Overview

There will also be a new plenary session concept for ANTEC this year, held on Tuesday: a panel composed of leading industry magazine editors called “State of the Plastics Industry: Outlook for 2016 and Beyond.” Editors have unique viewpoints from which to identify and analyze industry trends, and, being “word people,” they’re good at describing them. They’ll comment on various questions about where the industry is headed and the challenges it faces.

Panel organizers “are formulating the Q&A component for this plenary session, and also receiving input from the editors panel, for this first-ever plastics industry’s editors panel at any major plastics industry association meeting globally,” says industry writer Don Rosato, who’s the coordinator of the panel and serves as publications chair for the Plastics Institute of America.

The panel will be composed of Don Loepp, Plastics News; Jim Callari, Plastics Technology; Susan Flynn, Composites Manufacturing; and Clare Goldsberry, PlasticsToday. It will be moderated by the author of this article, the managing editor of Plastics Engineering.

This session will be held on Tuesday, May 24, at 11:15, followed at 12:30 by a special lunch session at which the editors will address topics of interest to the young professionals of SPE’s Next Generation Advisory Board (NGAB). NGAB plenary topics will concern professional training opportunities for members, industry networking opportunities, and future growth areas in plastics—and how SPE and the NGAB can integrate these things into their strategic planning.

Young Professionals Getting in Gear

ANTEC 2016 will have several events sponsored by the SPE NGAB, which mainly supports people just getting started in the industry. But some NGAB events this year that might typically thought of as “student events” will be open to a wider range of professionals. “We challenge any and all ANTEC attendees—whether student or industry professional—to join in on the fun and support the future leaders of SPE,” says NGAB chair Ashley Price.

To kick off ANTEC on Sunday, May 22, a program for students and young professionals called “Pilot Our Future” will facilitate audience members in doing their own personal SWOT analysis (SWOT: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) to help them develop their career directions. Price says the SWOT analysis is being used in this initial session to make it more interactive, engaging, and useful. The event will also introduce new ANTEC participants to SPE and its opportunities for young professionals. 

On Monday morning, the NGAB’s “Plastics University,” being offered a second time at ANTEC, will be a little different in 2016. “This year, the format will be an interactive museum with an automotive theme,” Price says. “Plastics professionals of all backgrounds (technical and non-technical) are invited to explore ‘show and tell’ exhibits in which companies show how their technologies work to drive innovation in the automotive world.”

Later, on Monday afternoon, The Plastics Race® this year will be geared more for all attendees to participate, rather than just students and YPs. The app-driven scavenger hunt will both entertain and create networking opportunities. “Our hope is to create more student-mentor interactions on the exhibition floor, and have fun while doing it,” explains Price. “Through the course of the Race, participants will search for questions set to challenge [their] knowledge in the fields of polymer science, polymer chemistry, plastics engineering, and more.”

Then on Monday evening, the Race’s highest-scoring team will be presented the grand prize at ANTEC’s Welcome Ceremony event. SPE says it’s elevating the excitement at the 2016 Welcome reception, making it a major networking opportunity.

And there’s also the Speed Interview Session on Tuesday, May 24, which this year is open to more than just students, in a new format. Plus there’ll be student poster sessions, as at past ANTECs. “Expect this year’s ANTEC to have more engaging opportunities for students and young professionals looking to develop and grow their academic/professional profile,” adds Price. (Learn more about the NGAB at www.4spe.org/ngab.)

Go to www.antec.ws to register for ANTEC Indianapolis 2016, to see the technical sessions’ agenda and abstracts, or to learn more about exhibiting at ANTEC or becoming a sponsor.