SPE President Bruce Mulholland Appoints Four to Board of Directors

SPE President Bruce Mulholland appointed four new directors to the SPE Board of Directors for the year 2023. Each of the following will serve a one-year appointment:

Jeremy K. Dworshak
Jeremy is a molding research specialist at 3M. His work experience has encompassed technical areas from design, processing, tooling, quality, business management, and senior leadership roles. Jeremy served on the SPE Executive Board (EB) from 2016-2020 as Vice President Business & Finance, providing leadership for Society-wide business and financial matters. Concurrent with his service on the EB, Jeremy was a technical leader at Steinwall for 13 years, serving them in a variety of leadership roles. He’s also served on the board of the SPE Injection Molding Division since 2011 holding various positions: chair-elect (current), bylaws chair, secretary, ANTEC® technical program chair and was the co-author of the 2017 ANTEC® best paper. Academically, Jeremy has engineering degrees from North Dakota State and the University of Minnesota. He lives in St. Paul and enjoys connecting with friends, canoeing, playing games, spending time outdoors, and community service.

Diane Marret
Diane joined Berry Global in 2014 as a Research & Development Project Manager and returned in 2020 to become the Sustainability Director for Consumer Packaging North America. In this role, she and her team work cross functionally to support activities aimed at achieving Berry's Impact 2025 sustainability goals and support the development of fully recyclable, reusable, or compostable innovative solutions utilizing circular materials. Diane supports and advocates for programs related to waste infrastructure improvements, consumer education, certification, claims and advocacy. Prior to joining Berry, Diane worked in various engineering and program management roles in the home appliance and automotive industries. Her passion for Sustainability extends beyond Berry to backyard beekeeping and regularly educating friends and family on recycling best practices.

Margaret Sobkowicz Kline, Ph.D.
Margaret (Meg) is a Professor of Plastics Engineering at University of Massachusetts Lowell. She has a B.S. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Columbia University and Colorado School of Mines, respectively. She held a National Research Council postdoctoral fellowship at National Institute of Standards and Technology, and she was awarded the National Science Foundation CAREER grant for her plastics research. Her educational and research interests include renewable polymers, polymer nanocomposites and blends, plastics processing and recycling, rheology, energy applications of polymers, green chemistry, and climate change and sustainability policy. At UMass Lowell she is also involved with initiatives aimed at increasing the participation and advancement of women in academic STEM careers. Within SPE, she has served as Chair of both the Bioplastics and Renewable Technologies Division and the Eastern New England Section.

Gustavo Nechar
Gustavo serves as the vice president and chief human resources officer at Ascend Performance Materials, where he has led a cultural transformation by fostering and championing efforts around diversity, equity, and inclusion; sustainability; global expansion and a focus on specialty products. Before joining Ascend in 2017, he held leadership roles at Dresser-Rand, WABCO Vehicle Control Systems, Valeo and Citrosuco, a Brazilian food and beverage company.

For more information about the SPE Board of Directors visit www.4spe.org/Board.