Our Speakers:

Heather Hass

General Session Keynote Speaker

Heather believes everyone deserves the opportunity to thrive at work. Her passion for fueling others’ success drover her from her beginnings as a classroom teacher and principal to her role as President of ADVISA. ADVISA partners with organizations to create effective teams, leaders, and cultures, empowering them to be places where people love to work.

Heather brings uncommon passion and authenticity to helping leaders build trust and shared purpose with others. Her clients range from large multi-national companies like Cummins, Husqvarna, Quantum Health and HanesBrands, to smaller, locally owned businesses across a variety of industries.

After earning her bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education at Indiana University, Heather spent her early career as a teacher and administrator, eventually earning her master’s degree in Educational Leadership. Since making the leap into the business world, Heather has coached and trained thousands of leaders to embrace the reality that their people strategy IS their best strategy.

Presentation: Surviving the “Workquake” through Connection + Culture

Diana Wright

Supervisory Chemist, FBI Laboratory

Diana Wright is a Forensic Chemist/Examiner in the FBI Laboratory, specializing in the areas of paints, tapes, and polymers.  She has over 20 years of experience working with and providing testimony regarding a variety of polymeric systems and a keen interest in developing a more consistent approach to report writing and interpretation of forensic casework.  She is a member of several forensic science professional societies and ASTM where she is the ASTM E30 (Forensic Science) Technical Contact for paint/polymer standards. She is also board certified in Paints and Polymers by the American Board of Criminalistics as well as a past recipient of the Edmund Locard Award for Excellence in Trace Evidence and a co-author on numerous peer reviewed articles on research and casework related to paints, tapes, and polymeric materials.

Presentation: Forensic Tape Analysis, Comparison and Interpretation

Melinda Einsla

Dow Adhesives

Melinda Einsla is a Principal Research Scientist in Core R&D Formulation, Automation, and Materials Science at Dow.  She holds a B.S. in Chemistry from Bloomsburg University and a Ph.D. in Macromolecular Science and Engineering from Virginia Tech, where she studied polymeric proton conductors and polymer/inorganic nanocomposites for proton exchange membrane fuel cells.  Melinda completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Los Alamos National Laboratory where she studied inorganic and polymeric proton conductors for proton exchange membrane fuel cells.  She joined Dow in 2008 and has worked in the areas of Plastics Additives, Photovoltaic Encapsulants, Paper Coatings, Pressure Sensitive Adhesives, and Architectural Coatings.  Melinda has spent much of her career developing novel emulsion polymers, with an emphasis on studying structure-property relationships to design new backbones for various applications.  Melinda’s passion for sustainability has been ever-present in her work, from alternative energy to greener chemicals.  Melinda was awarded the Dahlquist Award by the Pressure Sensitive Tape Council in 2018, and was a member of the team awarded the prestigious EPA Green Chemistry Award in 2017. 

Presentation: Influence of Surface Interactions on PSA Performance

Keigo Shimura

R&D Manager, Sekisui Voltek LLC

Keigo Shimura has been with Sekisui Voltek for 12.5 years and is their R&D Manager.  He holds four degrees: a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and a Bachelor’s degree in Art from Hamilton College, Masters of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Rochester, and a Master’s in Business Administration from Southern New Hampshire University.  Keigo started his career in Sales at Excell, where he promoted blow molded air ducts to the automotive industry.  After 1.5 years at Excell, he decided to pursue a more technical role at Sekisui Voltek.  Since then, Keigo has been a part of the R&D department, where he is responsible for new application and new material development for the automotive, tape, medical, and general industrial markets.  In addition, Keigo has authored several foam-related patents during his time at Sekisui Voltek.

Presentation: Variables that Affect the Internal Strength of Crosslinked Closed Cell Polyolefin Foam and the Measurement Method Thereof

Aili Wilen

Director of Enviromental Compliance, IPG

Aili Wilen is the Director of Environmental Compliance for IPG.  She has a degree in Biology, Chemistry and Theatre from Berry College in Rome, Georgia.  Growing up in Aberdeen, Washington, she always knew that she would be doing some type of environmental work and has done so for the past 28 years.  Her background includes working in wastewater laboratory, automotive, ISO implementation and regulatory compliance across multiple sites worldwide.  Aili has two daughters in college and as of the date of this conference, she will have completed all of the Disney World races offered for the season totaling 123 miles over 17 races.

Presentation: Speed Dating Operational & Product Environmental Compliance 101 

Weihong Lang

Director of Technology, Mayzo

Dr. Weihong Lang is the Director of Technology at Mayzo, Inc., a company providing custom stabilization solutions across a wide variety of applications for over 35 years. Weihong received her PhD in Polymer Chemistry at Sheffield University, UK. For more than 15 years, Weihong has held senior research positions at chemical, tape, and medical device companies. She has earned thirteen US patents and had five papers published. Weihong is now leading the company’s R&D efforts to expand and improve specialty chemical product offerings to meet the continually evolving needs of growing customer base. She also provides technical support and training on the properties and applications of Mayzo’s products, both at the customer level and at education sessions during industry trade shows and conferences.

Presentation: Antioxidant and Hotmelt Adhesive Performance

David R. Keely

Application Technology Leader, Dow Adhesives

David Keely is the Application Technology Leader for Dow Adhesives North America.   He is responsible for technical support for label, specialty PSA, graphic arts and other markets as well as development and promotional strategy.    He graduated from West Virginia University in 1991 with bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and education.  He is the author of numerous professional articles/presentations and one patent.  Keely has been with Rohm and Haas/Dow for 22 plus years and has a total of 30 years of experience in the adhesives industry in various technical, commercial, and manufacturing roles.   He is involved in several industry associations including PSTC and TLMI.   In his spare time he enjoys running, reading and volunteer work. 

Presentation: Designing a Wash-Off PSA for Label Applications

Antoine Gisle

Product Manager – Tape BU, Ahlstrom-Munksjo

Antoine Gisle is a Product Manager for Ahlstrom’s Tape Business Unit, focusing on Masking and Specialty Tape markets globally. He has been working at Ahlstrom for 7 years and has a background experience as Product Development Engineer on paper tape backings, various fiber-based materials, and specialty papers for different units and locations across Europe. Antoine has a M.Sc in Paper Science, Engineering and Biomaterials from Grenoble National Institute of Technology – Pagora, and worked as Research Associate at Louisiana State University during his B.Sc in Materials Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. Besides his career at Ahlstrom, he also started his own business as graphic designer and enjoys creating various print media & marketing visuals for all kind of businesses.

Presentation: The Endless Possibilities of Paper Tapes – How It’s Made?

Jeff Krueger

Technical Director, Mondi

Jeff is currently the Technical Director for Mondi’s US release liner group.  His primary roles are working with the Mondi Tekkote team and their customers as well as supporting several of Mondi’s EU liner plants and their product sold into North America.  Jeff holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities.  He has been employed with Mondi (and Akrosil prior to that) for over 25 years.  In that time, he has worked with all types of silicone coatings as well as multiple substrates combining those materials into custom release liners for various applications.

Presentation: Sustainability In Release Liners

Sanjeev Singh

Product Development Group Leader, Franklin International

Sanjeev is a Group leader, in Product development group at Franklin International primarily focused on developing emulsion based PSA’s for various applications in tapes, label and graphic space. He comes with 15 years of professional work experience in multitude functions of manufacturing operations, of which 12 years is in leading product development focused on developing PSA’s and tape structures with different technologies and chemistries ranging from rubber based hot melts to solvents and emulsion based acrylic systems. Prior to Franklin International Sanjeev worked at Cantech (now part of IPG), Intertape polymer group (IPG), and CCT (now part of ATP).

Sanjeev authors various scientific publications and patents and delivered scientific talks at various forms in fields of bio-plastics, bio-composites and PSA’s.  Academically, Sanjeev graduated from Smeal School of Business, Penn. State with an MBA in strategic leadership, earned PhD from School of Packaging, Michigan State. Prior to that graduated with Masters of Engineering and MS in chemistry with Material Science from Delhi, India. 

Presentation: Effect of Chain Transfer Agent in Presence of Reactive Surfactants during Scale-up of Emulsion Polymerization

Kelsey Kaht

Research & Development Scientist, Avery Dennison

Kelsey is a Research & Development Scientist at Avery Dennison. Over the past two years, she has been specializing in the development of medical adhesive products such as surgical drapes, IV cover dressings, and long-term wearables. Prior to working in the adhesive space, Kelsey spent over a year in the pharmaceutical industry working on drug-embedded polymeric microspheres for sustained release. Kelsey holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Louisville.

Presentation: Skin Adhesive Evaluation for Long Term Wearables

Ross Behling

Senior Research Specialist, 3M

Ross Behling is a senior research specialist in the Corporate Research Material Laboratory at 3M, and has dedicated his career to polymerizing, characterizing, and commercializing novel pressure sensitive adhesives (PSAs).  Dr. Behling is a well-regarded subject matter expert in the field of rheology, who is often called upon to consult on projects across the company.  Ross has worked with numerous divisions across 3M to develop new-to-the-world products from optically clear adhesives to robotically applied industrial assembly adhesives to thermal management adhesives for battery bonding.  This work has led to a significant patent portfolio around these new technologies and the associated product platforms.

Ross holds a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Iowa State University and a B.S. in chemical engineering from Northwestern University.

Presentation: Novel PSA Form Factor for Automated Bonding

Michael R. Krejsa, Ph.D

Technical Service Manager, Henkel Corporation

Dr. Krejsa earned his college degrees from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH in Macromolecular Science with a B.S. in 1988, an M.S. in 1990 and his Doctorate in 1992.     Upon graduation, Dr. Krejsa started with Monsanto Chemical Company as a Senior Analytical Chemist in Springfield, MA focusing on NMR spectroscopy supporting the Adhesives and Coatings businesses of Monsanto.    After moving through positions of increasing responsibility in the Analytical area under subsequent companies (Monsanto, Solutia, UCB and Cytec), in 2007 he moved to the role of North American Tech Service Manager for Cytec’s PSA business, and in 2009 became Global Tech Service Manager for Cytec PSA.    Upon the purchase of the Cytec PSA business by Henkel in 2012, he relocated to Bridgewater, NJ as the Customer Facing Technical Service Manager for the Henkel US PSA business.   His current role is Senior Principal Applications Engineer responsible for technical service support for PSA customers across all technologies and markets.  

Presentation: Building and Construction Low Application Temperature Adhesives: Evaluation and Development

Kara Pierce

Sr Manager – Packaging Engineering, Intertape Polymer Group

Presentation: Transportation Simulation Testing and Pressure Sensitive Tapes – Understanding the Complete Package

Benjamin (Zhenbin) Niu, Ph.D

Research Scientist, Dow Chemical Company

Benjamin(Zhenbin) Niu, Ph.D in Organic and Polymer Chemistry, joined Dow Chemical in 2014 and currently working as a Research Scientist in Pressure Sensitive Industries (PSI) group. His efforts focus on the development and commercialization of new release coatings/PSAs/silicone-based materials and technologies, productline technical platform leading, etc. Before joining Dow Chemical, he earned Ph.D. from Virginia Tech. He also conducted cutting-edge polymer research as a researcher in Duke University and as a Polymer Chemist in Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He has research experiences and expertise in many areas, like organic synthesis, polymerization, polymeric materials, coating, adhesive, etc. He has authored two book chapters, more than 37 peer-reviewed papers and 25 patents. He also served as the reviewer for many peer-reviewed journals, like Chemical Communications, etc.

Presentation: Design and Development of High-Efficient Antimist Additive (AMA) for High-Speed Release Coating Application

Mark Gower, Ph.D

Technical Principal, Avery Dennison

Currently, Technical Principal with Avery Dennison’s PCE (Polymer Center of Excellence) global ‎research team at Mill Hall, Pennsylvania since 2011. Responsibilities include project lead within ‎Avery Dennison’s new platform technology development program. Background includes 25 years ‎experience in the emulsion PSA industry in Australia and Asia Pacific including a Six Sigma Black ‎Belt monitoring manufacture and market introduction of new PSA and a PhD via RMIT University ‎titled Time Temperature Composition Response of Emulsion Polymerized Polyacrylate PSA. ‎Current research interests include controlled polymerization in emulsion, the influence of polymer ‎architecture on pressure sensitive adhesion and sustainable materials for building emulsion PSA.‎

Presentation: Advanced Acrylics Technology for High Performance Pressure Sensitive Adhesive Applications

Corey Reardon

President & CEO, Alexander Watson Associates (AWA)

Corey Michael Reardon is President & CEO of Alexander Watson Associates (AWA), a position he has held since he acquired the business in 1999. 

AWA was established in 1971 and is a global business-to-business market research, publishing and advisory services company with a unique industry focus on the specialty paper, film, packaging, coating and converting industry. AWA publishes a broad portfolio of market research studies, undertakes private client research in the markets in which the company specializes, and—through AWA Conferences & Events—organizes international conferences and a growing portfolio of workshops and training programs.  

Corey is an expert with an established career in the industry. He serves on many company boards, is a regular speaker at key industry events around the world, and consults privately for client companies on marketing and strategic planning. Corey Reardon is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati in Marketing and Strategic Planning and the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Industrial Marketing.

He began his career nearly 30 years ago in Corporate Strategic Planning, joining Loparex (then H P Smith and Rexam Release) in 1987, where he held a number of increasingly senior roles in various Product Management, Marketing and Business Development positions worldwide, including roles in Brussels, Hong Kong, and finally The Netherlands as Director of Marketing and Sales for European operations. He then joined Avery Dennison, as Marketing Director for Europe until he acquired AWA in 1999.

AWA Alexander Watson Associates has grown significantly under the leadership of Corey, and now offers its growing global client base a platform of management information, research, consulting, and M&A services from its headquarters in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and from regional offices in the USA, UK, and Thailand.

Presentation: Global Specialty Presentation: Pressure-Sensitive Tape Market

Dan Malenke

President, PKGPRO, LLC

Native of Austin, Minnesota, Dan Malenke is an accomplished practitioner, solutions provider, educator, and author with extensive coast-to-coast and international experience in developing and directing professional seminars for the printing and packaging industries. He holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Industrial Education from U.W.-Stout, Menomonie, Wisconsin, and an Ed.D. in Vocational Education/Training and Development from the University of Minnesota.
Dan is President of PKGPRO, LLC in Wildwood, Florida, a provider of technical and business services for brand owners, packaging converters, and retailers. Previously, he was Manager of Marketing Programs, Education/Communications Manager, and Learning Center Manager for MeadWestvaco and served nine years on faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Stout.
Dan enjoys musical pursuits and fearless renovations. He and his wife, Julia, have raised two daughters and are proud participants in the lives of four granddaughters and a grandson.

Presentation: Trends in Paperboard and Corrugated Packaging

Bradley Mingels

Director of Workforce Development Academic Programs, University of Massachusetts Lowell College of Engineering

Professor Bradley Mingels is responsible for academic and training curricula, program, and course development serving manufacturing, defense, commercial, and academic educational segments.  Additionally, he is responsible for grant proposal generation and has raised over $10 million for laboratory equipment procurement and establishing new facilities in both academic and industrial settings.

He has over 25 years of industry experience as well as over 30 years (mostly adjunct, concurrent with industry) of academic experience and continues to consult on a variety of Manufacturing, Engineering, and Data Analysis topics.  The “dual experience” of industry and academia creates a unique perspective, combining practical and theoretical approaches and yielding effective and elegant solutions.

In addition to teaching Manufacturing Engineering and Mechanical Engineering design and analysis courses, Prof. Mingels specializes in Manufacturing Efficiency, Data Analysis (predictive model development and pattern recognition) and Engineering Economics (replacement analysis, capital recovery, and project return on investment). His expertise has allowed him to develop workflow and data models for defense contractors, commercial organizations, and academic institutions.

Dan is President of PKGPRO, LLC in Wildwood, Florida, a provider of technical and business services for brand owners, packaging converters, and retailers. Previously, he was Manager of Marketing Programs, Education/Communications Manager, and Learning Center Manager for MeadWestvaco and served nine years on faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Stout.

Dan enjoys musical pursuits and fearless renovations. He and his wife, Julia, have raised two daughters and are proud participants in the lives of four granddaughters and a grandson.

Presentation: Beyond the Battery: Uses of Tape in Electric Vehicles

Nicolas Velez

Business Development Manager, Henkel Corporation

• Business Development Manager for NAMX
• 8 years with Henkel in the pressure sensitive adhesive division
• Chemical Engineering degree in 2015 from Penn State University and Masters in Management from Harvard University in 2018  
• Currently responsible for UV new business development in the North American pressure sensitive adhesive business, which includes market areas of Tape, Labels, Medical and Graphics. 

Presentation: UV Acrylics: Adhesive Polymer Re-engineering for Low Temperature Applications in Tapes and Labels

Robert Dietz

Chief Economist, National Council of the Housing Indusry

Robert Dietz, Ph.D. is the Chief Economist for NAHB, where he leads a team of 12 economists whose responsibilities include forecasts of housing and economic trends, survey research, and home building industry and policy analysis. Dr. Dietz has published academic research on the private and social benefits of homeownership, federal tax expenditure estimation, and other housing topics. He is the nation’s leading analyst of the residential construction industry.

Dr. Dietz has testified before the House Ways and Means Committee, the Senate Finance Committee, and the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Economic Policy on housing, economic and tax issues. He is a member of the Blue Chip, Wall Street Journal and other top national forecasting panels, has co-chaired the National Association for Business Economics construction/real estate group, and is commonly cited on CNBC, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and NPR.

Prior to joining NAHB in 2005, Robert worked as an economist for the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation where he estimated the federal budget impact of tax law changes associated with housing and real estate issues. He is a native of Dayton, Ohio, attended George Washington University as an undergraduate and earned a Ph.D. in Economics from The Ohio State University in 2003.

Presentation: Looking Beyond the Housing Recession

Werner A Hormann

Custom Adhesive Technology, Inc.

Werner Hoermann received his post graduate degree from Westfälische Wilhelms University Münster, Germany, after which he moved to the US to facilitate technology transfers and joint ventures. His professional stations include executive business and R&D positions with Elotex, Collano USA, Novamelt USA, Functional Coatings and W.R. Grace. With his company Custom Adhesive Technology he is developing and manufacturing pressure sensitive adhesives, tapes, and membranes with an emphasis on construction products. Besides private label manufactures those products, he engineers production facilities for clients from the US, Asia, and Europe.

Presentation: Opportunities for Tapes in the Building Envelope by Incorporation of Multifunctionality

Heather Hass

General Session Keynote Speaker

Heather believes everyone deserves the opportunity to thrive at work. Her passion for fueling others’ success drover her from her beginnings as a classroom teacher and principal to her role as President of ADVISA. ADVISA partners with organizations to create effective teams, leaders, and cultures, empowering them to be places where people love to work.

Heather brings uncommon passion and authenticity to helping leaders build trust and shared purpose with others. Her clients range from large multi-national companies like Cummins, Husqvarna, Quantum Health and HanesBrands, to smaller, locally owned businesses across a variety of industries.

After earning her bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education at Indiana University, Heather spent her early career as a teacher and administrator, eventually earning her master’s degree in Educational Leadership. Since making the leap into the business world, Heather has coached and trained thousands of leaders to embrace the reality that their people strategy IS their best strategy.

Presentation: Skills for Building Trust & Value with Customers

Jason Zajac

The Tape Lab

Jason has over 19 years’ experience in the tapes and converting industry. He has worked at the OEM level at Avery Dennison where he was in Sales and Business Development of PSA for 5 years. Jason then ran a converter, MBK Tape Solutions for almost 9 years as an equity stakeholder and served as Vice President of Sales and Engineering. He grew the business from 2012-2020 4X and increased their profitability by 23%. Jason sold his interest in MBK in August 2020 started The Tape Lab. The Tape Lab was created to connect the communities of Entrepreneurs and Engineers with tape and flexible material manufacturers to the converter/fabricators that make the end products. The Tape Lab is thriving today servicing the medical wearables market space as well as stick to skin consumer products. The Tape Lab offers consulting as well as full service converting solutions to their customers. In late 2022 Jason started his latest venture, Skin Patch Shop where he formed two DBAs, Boost Patches and Plus Patches. Boost Patches are topical patches infused with botanicals and vitamins. Plus patches are CGM overlay patches for diabetic patients to hold their CGM and pumps in place for 14 days.

Presentation: The Tape Lab, Wearable Medical Device Companies, and the 501K Process

Evert Smit

Director Scouting, Lohmann GmbH & Co., KG
President, Afera – The European Adhesive Tape Association

Dr. Evert Smit, a Dutch national, is active in the adhesive business since 1992, with major focus on Pressure Sensitive Adhesives and their applications in all possible fields. This ranges from Medical, Building & Construction, Graphics, Electronics, to Transportation & Automotive. He has experience at different points along the value chain, from raw material to final tape application, and at different areas in the technology: from basic research to customer technical service. Having worked for National Starch & Chemical (Unilever, ICI), Henkel and Arizona Chemical (Kraton), he joined Lohmann in September 2015 to lead the R&D departments globally. Since end 2020 he is Director Scouting—co-creating the future of the Lohmann Company by actively scouting for and working with start-up companies and spin-offs that will contribute to the future of Lohmann.

He is currently also in his second term as President of the European Adhesive Tape association, Afera, after being Chairman of their Technical Committee for several years.

He has presented many times at international conferences on progress in the adhesives and their applications’ fields, both from scientific and business standpoints, and both from his company and from his roles at Afera.

He lives with his family in Bonn, Germany.

https://www.lohmann-tapes.com/

http://www.linkedin.com/in/evertsmit/

Presentation: Sustainable Pathways for Adhesive Tapes: Lohmann’s Activities to Advance the Circularity in Tapes and Tape Applications

Jennifer Heathcote

VP Business Development, GEW (EC) Limited

Jennifer Heathcote is a subject matter expert on mercury vapor and LED UV curing systems as well as their use across a broad range of graphic arts, product decorating, and industrial applications. Her knowledge spans digital inkjet and analog printing, PSAs and structural bonding adhesives, and industrial coating, converting, and finishing. Jennifer is a Board Member of RadTech North America, The Association for Ultraviolet and Electron Beam Technologies. She regularly presents at industry conferences, events, and webinars; has authored over 30 technical and commercial papers on UV curing; and in 2012, she co-authored The UV LED Handbook. Jennifer earned her Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University and her MBA from the Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University. Her professional career has included roles in applications engineering, sales, business development, general management, and technical and commercial advising. Jennifer is VP of Business Development at GEW Inc. and can be reached at jheathcote@gewuv.com and on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/Jennifer-Heathcote/.

Presentation: How the electrical grid and global sustainability initiatives are triggering a shift to UV LED curing

Lindsey Foster

Product Steward – Dispersions & Resins North America, BASF

Lindsey Foster is a Product Steward at BASF Corporation supporting the North American Resins and Adhesives products. She helps the business understand the complex regulatory landscape for product safety and provides strategic regulatory guidance. Before her current role as a Product Steward, Lindsey was the Environment, Health, and Safety Specialist for the BASF Chattanooga manufacturing sites. She holds master’s degrees in Public Health and Environmental Engineering.

Presentation: Understanding the PSA Regulatory and Sustainability Environment in 2023

Tad Radzinski

Co-Founder and President, Sustainable Solutions Corporation

With over 35 years of practical experience, Tad Radzinski is a leading expert in corporate responsibility, sustainable product analysis and innovation, and sustainable buildings and operations. Tad, co-founder and president of Sustainable Solutions Corporation (SSC), delivers sustainable business services to companies in a wide range of global industries. Formerly the EPA’s Waste Minimization National Expert, Tad has been a trusted advisor for Fortune 500 companies including ASSA ABLOY, Unilever, Merck, Stanley Black & Decker, Saint-Gobain, American Standard, General Motors, Perdue, and Kohler. Tad understands the need for companies to generate value in an increasingly complex marketplace. He delivers the framework to utilize life cycle thinking combined with sustainable product innovation to design more sustainable products and buildings. Tad is an adjunct professor at Villanova University, teaching graduate classes in the Masters of Sustainable Engineering Program, including Sustainable Buildings and Operations and Advanced Life Cycle Assessment.

Presentation: Market Demands for Sustainable Pressure Sensitive Tape Products

Phillip Kauneckas

Tape Operations Manager, Intertape Polymer Group

Philip Kauneckas serves as the Tape Operations Manager at Intertape Polymer Group in Danville, VA.  Philip has over fifteen years of professional experience in engineering and lean manufacturing.  Under his leadership, Intertape Polymer Group was awarded the 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year – Sustained Excellence and the IPG Danville plant was recognized as a 2016 IndustryWeek Best Plant.

Philip holds a degree in industrial engineering from North Carolina State University and a M.B.A from Averett University.  He is a member of the Association of Energy Engineers and Sigma Beta Delta.  Philip is a Certified Energy Manager and past President of the AEE Danville Chapter.  He is also a Six Sigma Black Belt.

Presentation: Award Winning Energy Management Program

Nicholas Gerome

Taurus Advisory Group

Nick is a Licensed as a Commodity Trading Advisor and weather forecaster who brings unique knowledge and perspective to energy risk management and cost control.  A managing member at Taurus Advisory Group, Nick assists a diverse group of clients with a wide range of energy-related services from commodity procurement, to efficiency, to sustainability to climate risk.

Presentation: Pathways to Sustainability

Nate Burroughs

Taurus Advisory Group

As the other half of the Taurus Advisory Group partnership, Nate works with clients to improve their bottom line, helping to develop and attain their energy-related goals by taking advantage of energy incentives and other fiscal resources, and effectively navigating the ever-evolving sustainability landscape.

Presentation: Pathways to Sustainability

Evert Smit

Director Scouting, Lohmann GmbH & Co., KG
President, Afera – The European Adhesive Tape Association

Dr. Evert Smit, a Dutch national, is active in the adhesive business since 1992, with major focus on Pressure Sensitive Adhesives and their applications in all possible field. This ranges from Medical, Building & Construction, Graphics, Electronics, to Transportation / Automotive. He has experience at different points along the value chain, from raw material to final tape application, and at different areas in the technology: from basic research to customer technical service. Having worked for National Starch & Chemical (Unilever, ICI), Henkel and Arizona Chemical (Kraton), he joined Lohmann in September 2015 to lead the R&D departments globally. Since end 2020 he is Director Scouting – co-creating the future of the Lohmann Company (https://www.lohmann-tapes.com/en/), actively scouting for and working with start-up companies and spin-offs that will contribute to the future of Lohmann.

He is currently also in his second term as President of the European Adhesive Tape association, Afera (https://www.afera.com/), after being Chairman of their Technical Committee for several years.

He presented many times at international conferences on the progress in the adhesives- and their applications fields, both from scientific and business standpoints, and both from his company and from his roles at Afera.

He lives with his family in Bonn, Germany.

https://www.lohmann-tapes.com/

http://www.linkedin.com/in/evertsmit/

Presentation: The Afera Flagship Project Sustainability: readying the European Tape Industry for a circular future for Tapes