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Renewable Polymers Podcast Presentations |
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 Industry leaders recently gathered at The Ohio State University to discuss innovations in renewable packaging and materials. The Renewable Polymers for Innovation Emerging Technology Forum brought together sixty technical professionals in polymers, packaging, advanced materials, chemical engineering, and others interested in biobased materials and applications. Seven presentations delivered by corporate researchers, CEO's and marketing directors are available for playback and download as audio slide shows from the Ohio BioProducts Innovation Center (OBIC) website.
"Rising global demand for oil, increased volatility in oil supply, and the growing availability of biobased feedstocks are motivating end users and packaging suppliers," said Stephen Myers, OBIC Director. "Advances in technology have increased efficiency and performance, and lowered costs of biobased materials and products. Major retailers are making commitments to renewable packaging. There is now a federal initiative for government agencies to preferentially purchase biobased products. The potential for economic and environmental benefits is promising. All of these factors will increase demand."
 Stephen Myers led the forum by describing how the Ohio BioProducts Innovation Center links industry and academia in the development of renewable, biobased materials and applications. Tom Brady, President of Plastic Technologies, Inc., presented, "Innovations in Packaging Design - Trends In Packaging and Renewable Polymers." Roger Avakian, Chief Technology Officer at PolyOne Corporation, discussed, "Innovations in Packaging Materials & Additives - Adapting Renewable Materials to Your Existing Processes." Mike Bower, Director of Research and Development at Plastic Suppliers Inc, presented "Innovative Applications for EarthFirst PLA films and Performance Specifications of this Renewable Polymer."
Mike Tupy's presentation, "Next Generation Products from Natural Feedstocks - Advancement in BioBased Materials - Novel Waxes" discussed Cargill's work in developing value-added products from vegetable oils. Rich Martinez, Chief Environmental Officer for The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, discussed environmental stewardship in his keynote address, "Lawn & Garden Consumables, BioBased Packaging, and the Environment." Bhima Vijayendran, Director of Technology in Advanced Applications at Battelle Memorial Institute, presented "Market Forces and BioBased Materials."
 Though the forum attracted many professionals to Columbus, Myers is excited to offer open access to all the presentations. "Ohio is a major player in the future of biobased products. The work of Tim Rhodus and his Digital Technology Team allows OBIC to reach out to the the entire packaging and materials industry and deliver timely information in an easy to use format."
Professor Rhodus points out the benefits of using this podcast technology for online presentation delivery. "We have been using this software extensively since Spring of 2006. The resulting podcast files are high quality and viewable at full-screen resolution without the high bandwidth requirements of streaming video. Viewed with Apple QuickTime player software, users have the ability to stop, move forward or backward in the presentation and the audio follows right along. A podcast feed (RSS) link was also created for those who want to download the presentations into iTunes and transfer them to an iPod. (bioproducts.osu.edu/podcast/bioproducts.rss) We are very excited about developing educational content that uses this approach. We feel the enhanced podcasts represent an elegant solution for offering "presentations on demand," explained Rhodus.
The Emerging Technology Forum was co-hosted by the Ohio BioProducts Innovation Center, PolymerOhio, the Central Ohio Chapter of the Institute of Packaging Professionals, OSU Extension and the Ohio Agricultural Research & Development Center.
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