2023 Nominations for Board of Directors - Barry Morris

SPE Director Nominee

About Barry Morris

Barry Morris is an industry thought leader and innovator in plastics and packaging technology. He is a passionate and engaging teacher and mentor with the ability to explain difficult concepts in simple terms for technical and non-technical audiences.

Through his long career at DuPont and then Dow he is an authority on translating application needs into optimal material selection. He is a proven solution provider with extensive technical skills and 12 U.S. patents. He is a strategic thinker with the technology and business acumen to evaluate feasibility of new ideas and shape R&D programs for success.

Barry is the author of over 125 book chapters, journal articles, conference papers, and magazine articles, including the definitive book on flexible packaging that provides essential scientific insights, best practices and key principles of design to enable industry professionals to deliver sustainable packaging with reduced development time and cost.

Barry is a Fellow of the Society of Plastics Engineering (SPE) and was awarded the Rohm and Haas Prize by the TAPPI PLACE Division (now the International Flexible Packaging and Extrusion Division) in recognition of outstanding contributions which have advanced the technology of the flexible packaging industry. In 2016 he won the Pedersen Medal from DuPont for outstanding technical achievement. In 2018 he was awarded the Bruce Maddock award for extrusion innovation by SPE.

Barry is a leader in SPE having served as chair of the Extrusion and Flexible Packaging Divisions. He currently sits on the board of both divisions and is Councilor for the Extrusion Division.

Experience

BA Morris Consulting LLC
Wilmington, DE
Managing Member — 2022–present

Dow Chemical
Wilmington, DE
R&D Fellow, Packaging and Specialty Plastics — 2019–2021

DuPont
Wilmington, DE
Technology Fellow, R&D, Performance Materials — 2015–2019
Technology Fellow, New Business Development, Packaging and Industrial Polymers — 2014–2015
Senior Technology Associate / Technology Fellow, Ethylene Copolymers NA Technology — 2006–2014
Technology Associate / Senior Technology Associate, R&D, Ethylene Copolymers — 1996–2006
Research Engineer/Sr. Engineer — 1985–1996

I started my career at DuPont in a corporate polymer processing R&D group and quickly joined a business R&D group supporting ethylene-based copolymers. I have held a variety of roles including process R&D, technical service, application development, product R&D, and new business development. As a researcher and leader of multi-disciplinary teams, I invented technology (12 US patents granted to date) and commercializing new polymer new products and applications that generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. I have expertise in polymer extrusion, adhesion, film and extrusion coating processes, flexible packaging, and polymer modification. Following the merger of DuPont with Dow I became part of Dow. As an R&D Fellow at Dow, I led the transfer of my business’s technology to Dow, helped mentor a new R&D team, and assisted in the creation and shaping of R&D projects across business teams. I retired from Dow in 2021 after 36 years of service. In 2022 I formed BA Morris Consulting LLC to provide part-time consulting to the plastics industry in the areas of materials science and flexible packaging technology.

I am a strong believer in sharing knowledge and giving back to the industry. To that end, I have been a frequent presenter at industry conferences with over 125 publications and authored a comprehensive book on flexible packaging technology. I have won numerous conference best paper awards, including the SPE Extrusion Division’s Bruce Maddock award for significant contributions to the advancement of single-screw extrusion technology and DuPont’s Petersen Medal (named in honor of DuPont’s Nobel Laureate and conferred for outstanding technical achievements, delivering significant value for DuPont). In 2005 I was named an SPE Fellow.

I have a B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Virginia, a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Princeton University, and an MBA from the University of Delaware.

SPE Positions Held

Extrusion Division

Board of directors: 2002–present
Chair: 2010–2011
ANTEC® TPC: 2008–2009
Councilor: 2018–present

Flexible Packaging Division

A founding member
Board of directors: 2006–present
Chair: 2016–2017
Scholarship chair: 2017–present
ANTEC® TPC: 2009
Topcon Tech Committee member: 2013–present

SPE Council

Councilor: 2018–present
CCOW Chair: 2020–2022

Major accomplishments

As a director of the Extrusion Division since 2002 I have helped steer this successful division through two decades of industry economic ups and downs.
I helped create the Flexible Packaging division and have served on its board or held a key position almost continuously since its founding. As chair in 2017 I led the creation of our scholarship program and have chaired the scholarship committee ever since. I have also helped organize the technical program at our Topcons.
As the chair of CCOW I helped lead the transition of Council from a governing body to a knowledge sharing forum by conducting frequent roundtable discussions on topics of interest across chapters.

Summary

I honed my leadership and personal skills through my long career at DuPont and Dow and my work at the chapter level in SPE. As a senior technical leader at DuPont and Dow, I helped evaluate and create new business opportunities, pitched strategic projects to the business, and championed and mentored the project teams to help ensure success. If elected a Director of SPE I will use these skills to critically evaluate and shape ideas with an eye toward finding new ways to attract and serve our members.

I am an effective communicator, not only in large settings such as presenting at conferences but also in leading small teams and groups. I have always been a good listener and try to be respectful and inclusive in my interactions with other people. As a leader at the chapter level for 20 years and more recently with Council, I have learned some of the nuances of leading volunteer organizations and the challenges we face as a society going forward. Having retired I have the time to devote to volunteer organizations that I feel passionate about. SPE has positively influenced my career, and I strongly feel that now that I have the time, I should give back and help society thrive in the future.

Additional Information

If elected, I will actively participate in the strategic planning process and am willing to jump in and help implement the plan wherever needed. My motivation is to give back to society. SPE has provided tremendous benefits to me over the years, including access to technical information and industry experts, the ability to establish my personal “brand” through presentations and networking, and honing my leadership skills. I can promise I will be a conscientious board member, attend all the meetings, make decisions based on what I feel is best for society and help drive programs as needed.

My hobbies and interests include music (I play trombone in a community orchestra and a swing band), hiking and photography. My wife and I enjoy traveling to national parks – we have been to 58 out of 63 U.S. parks and are scheming to get to the rest).