Plastics Hall of Fame inductees to be honored this fall

Plastics Academy President Jay Gardiner announced the 2021 inductees to the Plastics Hall of Fame, and that the 2020 posthumous inductees will be honored on Oct. 7. The ceremony was originally scheduled to take place on the eve of NPE2021’s opening day.

The official induction ceremony for the 10 inductees will take place at the fall meeting of the Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) in Chicago on Oct. 7. “We are very proud of our 2021 Plastics Hall of Fame class. The winners come from across the globe and represent many different disciplines,” said Gardiner. “After a difficult year, we look to these inductees as a reaffirmation of the vitality and strength of the plastics industry.”

PLASTICS President and CEO Tony Radoszewski said, “PLASTICS founded the Hall of Fame to recognize leaders within our industry who have made an outsized impact on setting the course for plastics to thrive, and we are continuing the rich tradition by honoring those who shine in their careers and contribute to science and society.”

The event will also include induction of the six-member 2020 posthumous class, which was delayed several times during the pandemic.

2021 inductees to the Plastics Hall of Fame

• Yoshiharu Inaba is a pioneer in all-electric injection molding technology who joined Japan's Fanuc Corp. in 1983. Fanuc introduced the first worldwide mass-production-type all-electrical injection machine, the Autoshot, in 1985. Today, the company estimates there are more than 200,000 all-electric machines in the world. Inaba, who holds more than 110 design patents, is chairman of Fanuc.
• Mayumi Kotani is president of Kyoto, Japan-based Yushin Precision Equipment Co. Ltd., a leading maker of take-out robots for injection molded products, and the fourth woman to be inducted into the Plastics Hall of Fame. Kotani helped start the company in 1973, and Yushin entered the market for take-out robots in 1978. She served as VP of sales for 12 years before being named president in 2002.
• Salvatore Monte is president and co-owner of Kenrich Petrochemicals Inc., and the holder of numerous patents. He is recognized as an expert in the development and commercialization of coupling and compatibilizing agents. He is a member, fellow and honorary service member in the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) and a longtime leader of the Plastics Pioneers Association.
• Peter Neumann led injection press maker Engel Holding GmbH through a period of rapid global growth and served as president of Euromap, the European committee of manufacturers of plastic and rubber machinery. With Neumann as CEO, Engel’s sales grew from about $90 million to $1.62 billion.
• Donald Paulson is a veteran plastics processing educator and holds nine U.S. and European patents. Using the results of research he conducted at General Motors Institute, in 1968 he started Control Process Inc., the first company to use cavity pressure to control machine injection pressure. He sold the company and in 1980 started Paulson Training Programs Inc., now a leading provider of online interactive and seminar plastics technical training. In 1998, he was named one of the six most important inventors in the plastics industry, and was awarded the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) Lifetime Engineering and Technical Achievement Award in 2006.
• Joseph Prischak founded Plastek Group, a major global injection molding company and toolmaker, based in Erie, Pa. He is considered the father of the Plastics Engineering Technology program at Penn State Erie, which has the largest undergraduate plastics program in the country and more than 1,000 graduates. Prischak also is the founder of African 6000 International, a nonprofit that drills deep freshwater wells across the African continent.
• Ulrich Reifenhäuser joined German extrusion machinery group Reifenhäuser GmbH & Co. in 1983 and, with his brothers Klaus and Bernd, built the family company into a global firm with leading technology for high-performance blown film and nonwoven materials. Reifenhäuser has been the chairman of the K Show since 2004, has played an active role in VDMA (the Germany machinery manufacturers trade association) and frequently acts as spokesman for the German plastics machinery community. He currently serves as his company’s chief sales officer. During his tenure, the firm’s sales have grown from about $169 million to more than $594 million.
• Wylie Royce is a materials supplier executive who is also well-known for his trade association leadership. Royce is executive VP of colorant and specialty chemicals company Royce Global, and is a partner and director of Royce International. Royce International supplies epoxy resins, hardeners, diluents, and specialty chemicals. He holds a U.S. patent for a proprietary method utilizing electron beam modification of resin to create marbleized colorant effects for injection molded products.
• Suresh Shah developed and commercialized important automotive plastics innovations and served in numerous roles at SPE. The retired General Motors and Inteva engineer was the first to invent and introduce the plastics module concept 27 years ago, leading a team that designed and developed the all-plastic door inner module dubbed the SuperPlug. The component, which replaced 50 metal pieces, was the first and most complex part commercialized using gas injection molding technology. His roles at SPE including serving as a board member and chairman of the automotive division. In 2017, he received the division’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
• Vince Witherup carried the torch for the U.S. plastics industry around the world as an executive at Franklin, Pa.-based auxiliary equipment maker Conair Group Inc. and as an ambassador for the NPE trade show. He has been involved in plastics for more than 50 years. Witherup has held volunteer leadership positions for the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc. (SPI), now PLASTICS. He served as chairperson of the NPE2000 show, where he was honored as SPI’s International Businessperson of the Year. He has been active in the Plastics Pioneers Association for more than 20 years.

2020 posthumous inductees

The 2020 posthumous inductees to the Plastics Hall of Fame are: Howard Irvin, Marbon Chemical; Ronald Saxton, DuPont; Walt Schrenk, Dow Chemical; Dennis Tully, MTD; Charles Sears, Dri-Air Industries; and Bill Stoesser, Stoesser Industries.