Dr. Mark T. Berard

Mark is being recognized for his long-term service to the Gulf South Central Section, the Vinyl Plastics Division, and the new Plastics in Building and Construction Special Interest Group, holding key roles in each group, including President of the Section and Chair of the Division. As Special Events Chair at ANTEC ’93, he organized the first Sunday “Fun Walk” at ANTEC. He helped design half-day mini-courses held the day before Vinyltecs, and organized the new Best Paper at Vinyltec program. And we understand he knows how to put on really great Louisiana crawfish boils for the Section, as well!

Russell is being recognized for his service to the Piedmont Coastal Section and the Society. He held a variety of positions on the Section board, including serving as the youngest President in the history of the Section. His role as Section Councilor got him more involved on the Society level, where he served as Chair of the Student Activities Committee and the Council Committee-of-the-Whole before being appointed to the Executive Committee, where he now holds the position of Senior Vice President. Russell’s work with the Student Activities Committee this year has resulted in a broad range of new programs for students attending ANTEC and NPE.

Dale Brosius

Dr. Frank Cangelosi

Frank is being recognized for his long-term service to the Engineering Properties and Structure Division and the Polymer Modifiers and Additives Division. He held a variety of positions in both Divisions, and served them both as Chair. He helped to establish the $1,000 EPSDIV John O’Toole Best Student Paper Award, and established the Division’s Corporate Sponsorship Award program. A few years ago, when PMAD encountered a leadership crisis, Frank’s stepped in to help revitalize the board. He was also a key contributor to the development of the PMAD Challenge – a program designed to increase interest in plastics additives among SPE Student Chapters.

Jerry M. Fischer

Jerry is being recognized for his service to the Mold Making and Mold Design Division and the Oklahoma City Section. Jerry’s efforts in obtaining Newsletter sponsors has helped to maintain the Division’s solvency. He served on SPE’s original Processor’s Conference steering committee for three years and mentors students presenting mold making papers at ANTEC. Jerry worked on a special project for the Oklahoma City Section, designed to introduce high school students to the engineering profession. His soda straw tower competition continues to this day, providing a significant impact to education, public relations and Society awareness.

Kenneth A. Kerouac

Ken is being recognized for his service to the Mid-Michigan Section. He held almost all positions in the Section, including President. He also served two years as a member of SPE’s New Technology Committee. Ken organized joint meetings with a local manufacturer’s association, providing more networking opportunities for Section members. He also kick-started the Section’s annual golf outing after it had a “near-death experience.” According to his sponsors, over the years, Ken has stepped up to the Section plate multiple times and his contributions have allowed the Section to survive.

Francis B. McAndrew

Francis is being recognized for his long-term service to the Newark Section. He held numerous positions with the Section, including President. He was instrumental in changing the name of the Section from Newark to the New Jersey Section – and then later in coordinating the merger of the New Jersey Section with the Palisades Section. A non-golfer, Francis worked behind the scenes on Section golf outings, handling prizes, registrations, sponsor donations, meals and the presentation of gifts. His efforts helped make these outing a success.

Scott is being recognized for his service to the Mold Making and Mold Design Division and the Society. He has held various positions with the Division (often concurrently), including Chair. He led Division efforts to launch its own website, developed synergy between the Division and other like societies, fostered publication of the Division newsletter in English and Spanish, directed the move to a fully electronic newsletter, and made significant changes to improve the Division’s financial situation. On the Society level, Scott served as SPE Student Activities Chair, coordinating two new activities for student interaction at ANTEC 2008. He currently serves as a member of the Finance Committee.

Monica H.L. Prokopyshen

Monica is being recognized for her service to the Automotive Division. She held various positions with the Division, including Chair. A major focus for Monica is educational outreach at the middle, high school and university levels. She created “designing with plastics” workshops at Explorathon to draw female, disadvantaged,minority students into science, technology and math disciplines. She initiated an Automotive Division/ American Chemical Council (and now Detroit Section) partnership to sponsor and mentor junior and senior transportation design students. She aided in the redesign of the Division website, educated high level managers on SPE benefits to get them involved with SPE, and has been a strong contributor to the Automotive Division Innovation Awards Gala for years.

Vishu Shah

Vishu is being recognized for his long-term service to the South Bend and Southern California Sections. He was one of the founding members – and the first President – of the South Bend Section at the age of 26. Most of Vishu’s service has been with Southern California, where he held almost all positions on the board, including President. He was instrumental in establishing the Section website and the joint Section/Southern California Edison plastics symposium, and in organizing the Western Plastics Processors Trade Fair. Vishu has also worked diligently to re-establish links with the Section’s Student Chapters.

Timothy D. Simko

Tim is being recognized for his service to the Composites Division, the Thermoset Division, the South Bend Section and the Society. Most of his involvement has been with the Composites Division, which he served in a variety of positions, including Chair. He was a founding member of the Automotive Composites Conference, which has become the largest global automotive conference, and contributes greatly to the financial success of the Division. He brought key new members to the board, and focused on program management and achieving goals and objectives. Tim was one of the original members of the Society’s Technical Advisory Board, joining other industry leaders in determining the technical focus for SPE in the coming years.

Clarence G. Smith

Clarence is being recognized for his long-term service to the Southern California Section. He served in a variety of positions, including Chair of the East Branch of the Section, and President of the Section. He served on a pilot program sponsored by the State of California to educate high school dropouts for jobs in the plastics industry, worked with professors at Cerritos College and Cal State Pomona to establish plastics programs at both schools, and revitalized the San Diego Branch with bilingual programs for companies with locations along the Mexican Border. Clarence also established joint meetings with SME, ASQ, SPI and ACS to promote membership, networking and better meeting attendance for all five organizations.

William L. Smith

Bill is being recognized for his service to the Southern Section and the Society. He served the Section in a variety of committee positions, and all officer positions, including President. He was instrumental in strengthening student activities at one Alabama and three Georgia universities, spending hours of his time on campus talking with students and professors. He served as General Operating Chair of ANTEC 1998 in Atlanta, and on many TopCon organizing committees. Bill sat on SPE’s Finance Committee, the SPE Nominating Committee and served as Chair of the Pinnacle Awards Committee when that award was being developed. He also held the position of Vice President on SPE’s Executive Committee.