Rauwendaal spreads love of extrusion

As Plastics Machinery & Manufacturing turns 10, we're looking back at 10 people who made significant contributions to the industry during the past decade. Read more of our 10 People for 10 Years here.

By Bruce Geiselman 

Now 74 years old, extrusion expert Chris Rauwendaal remains active in the industry as president of Rauwendaal Extrusion Engineering Inc.  (REE Inc.), an Auburn, Calif., company he launched in 1990, where he develops screws and mixers for specialized applications and offers education services for processors. 

The mechanical engineer earned his doctorate in the Netherlands and launched his career as a development engineer with American Enka Co. in North Carolina, where he was introduced to extrusion technology. He later became manager of process engineering in corporate R&D with Raychem Corp. in California before starting REE.  

He’s developed thousands of screws, as well as mixing elements and extruder components. He holds at least nine patents and is an SPE fellow who earlier this year was inducted into Plastics Hall of Fame. 

Rauwendaal has taught extrusion and related topics to thousands of people worldwide, and has published more than 300 papers, books, video training courses and book chapters, according to his biography on the Plastics Hall of Fame website. 

In 2017, he told Plastics Machinery & Manufacturing that he pursued mechanical engineering because “I always liked to tinker with mechanical devices.” 

Seeing a lack of adequate training in the extrusion industry, he began offering educational seminars. As he told PMM, he wants to be remembered as somebody who made an effort to improve technology and training.