Celebrating SPE's 2024 Fellow of the Society Award Recipients

In early January, SPE announced the 2024 recipients of its Fellow of Society Award. The Fellow of the Society program was established in 1984 and 365 SPE members have been awarded with the Fellow title since its inception. 

The Fellow of Society program honors SPE members for their outstanding contributions in the field of plastics engineering, science/technology, or in the management of such activities. Candidates must be sponsored by an SPE Section, Technical Division or Interest Group and elected by the Fellows Election Committee based on their professional record as well as written sponsorships from at least two SPE members.

The following plastics professionals received SPE’s Fellow of Society Award for 2024:

DR. PETER FRENKEL
VICE PRESIDENT-TECHNOLOGY
GALATA CHEMICALS
Nominated by the SPE Vinyl Division

About the Recipient
Dr. Frenkel is the Vice President of Technology at Galata Chemicals. He has over 30 years of experience in the field of polymer additives focusing on product development, innovation, process improvement and advocacy, with an emphasis on PVC. Dr. Frenkel drives innovation that concentrates on sustainable technologies related to bio-based plasticizers, heat stabilizers, polymer modifiers and catalysts. He has co-authored over 40 patents, several book chapters and dozens of scientific journal and conference papers; played a critical role in numerous new product launches. Dr. Frenkel holds a Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry and a Master of Science in Organic Chemistry.

DR. WENYI HUANG
PRINCIPAL RESEARCH SCIENTIST
DUPONT
Nominated by the SPE Thermoplastic Materials & Foams Division

About the Recipient
Wenyi Huang, currently employed as the Principal Research Scientist at DuPont, holds a Ph.D. in Polymer Engineering from The University of Akron. His expertise includes reactive extrusion & specialty compounding, breathable membrane, die design, microcapillary technology, functional materials and nanotechnology. As an accomplished author, he has contributed to 56 external publications including 11 book chapters and a book, and over 40 US patents along with > 100 patent publications in other countries. Wenyi is a Certified Six Sigma Black Belt, and presently serves as the Technical Program Chair of Extrusion Division and the PO Session Chair of TPM&F Division.

DR. HARRY MAVRIDIS
DIRECTOR OF PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT & CIRCULAR DESIGN AMERICAS
LYONDELLBASELL
Nominated by the SPE Extrusion Division

About the Recipient
Dr. Harry Mavridis is the Director of Product Development & Circular Design Americas, in LyondellBasell’s R&D Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.  He has a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from McMaster University (Canada) and 35 years of experience in the plastics industry, 32 of that at Lyondellbasell and legacy companies.  He has made contributions in Polyethylene Product Development, Structure-Processing-Property relationships in polyolefins and Rheology & Polymer Processing (including mathematical modeling of polymer melt flow and heat transfer).  He is the author or co-author of 25+ technical papers (with 2,000 Google Scholar citations) and inventor or co-inventor of 27 granted patents (+12 pending). 

DR. JEFF MUNRO
SENIOR RESEARCH SCIENTIST
DOW CHEMICAL COMPANY
Nominated by the SPE Thermoplastic Elastomers Technical Interest Group

About the Recipient
Jeff Munro holds a PhD degree in Chemical Engineering.  He joined Dow in 2007 where he worked on a range of polymer science issues involving polyurethanes, composites, and block copolymers.  Since 2010, Jeff has been in the Polyolefin Elastomers Product R&D group, focusing on polymer science and formulation projects relating to polyolefin elastomers.  Jeff is currently a Senior Research Scientist based in Lake Jackson, TX, focusing on the development of polyolefin elastomers for photovoltaic encapsulants and for transportation applications, including impact modifiers for automotive TPOs and EPDM for thermoset rubber applications.

DR. SRIKANTH PILLA
PROFESSOR AND DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR COMPOSITE MATERIALS
UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE
Nominated by the SPE Injection Molding Division

About the Recipient
Dr. Srikanth Pilla is a Professor and Director of the Center for Composite Materials at the University of Delaware. He is also the Founding Director of ‘AIM for Composites’, a Department of Energy funded Energy Frontier Research Center. Pilla has co-authored over 150 peer-reviewed archival publications. Pilla has supervised over 50 graduate students, postdocs, and many undergraduate students. Four of his former team members now hold faculty positions at the University of Texas-El Paso, Clemson University and Amasya University. Pilla’s efforts in research and engineering education have garnered him numerous awards, including the US EPA Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award.

DR. LI-YING TAMMY YANG
RESEARCH FELLOW
GAF
Nominated by the SPE Building and Infrastructure Division

About the Recipient
Dr. Li-Ying Tammy Yang is the Research Fellow at GAF, the leading roofing manufacturer in North America.  She has a Ph. D. degree in Chemical Engineering from Univ. of Maryland at College Park. She has 25+ years of industry experience in polymer blend materials & engineering, innovation and building product development and commercialization.  Tammy was the past chairman for SPE Building and Construction SIG, and currently serves on the Board of Directors in the Division of Building and Infrastructure.  She has 60 granted patents, 30 new patent applications and 10+ publications.  She enjoys connecting with people, and exploring coffee in her spare time.

Previous Honorees