Dow Corning: Compounding Specialist To Discuss Benefits
Dow Corning Compounding Senior Specialist Valerie Smits will discuss organosilane technology as an alternative for tailor-made curative systems to a variety of polymer matrices and performance requirements at the inaugural TPE Conference, May 11-12, in Akron, Ohio.
Smits presentation, “How Can You Benefit from Si-based Technology for TPV Production?” will examine drawbacks of well-established techniques to perform crosslinking of the elastomeric phase in TPV production such as process stability, color and toxicity issues, and moisture uptake. She will also present insights concerning organosilane technology to support the development of new thermoplastic vulcanizate composites.
Smits’ presentation will be 10:45 - 11:15 a.m., Friday, May 12.
Smits joined Dow Corning in January 2005 as compounding senior specialist in The Surface and Interface Solutions Center at Dow Corning S.A., Seneffe, Belgium. She manages the plastic and rubber laboratory, as well as evaluating and developing silane applications for the plastic and rubber markets, such as dynamic vulcanization, crosslinking, and composites using in-situ or pre-treated fillers. Her primary objective is to help customers across different disciplines, businesses and industries discover and implement innovative technologies for their applications.
Prior to joining Dow Corning, she worked at Total Petrochemicals S.A. for eight years, holding key positions as Polypropylene New Application Development Engineer, Metallocene Polyolefin Application Development Engineer and Technical Service Engineer. She acted as the primary technical interface with key customers and she also authored several patents. She holds a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Mons - FPMS (Belgium).
The TPE Conference of the Rubber Division of the American Chemical Council follows the Rubber Division’s 169th technical meeting. The conference will focus on bringing together the many agencies and companies associated with thermoplastic elastomers within the rubber and pharmaceutical industries. For more information on the conference, visit www.rubber.org/meetings/1current/tpe.htm