Friday, January 15, 2021 - Paris, France – Safic-Alcan announced it has reached an agreement to extend the existing cooperation with Momentive Performance Materials. Safic-Alcan became also an authorized distributor for Momentive’s products for use in industrial applications, in Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Norway. Safic-Alcan is providing customers with sales, order fulfillment and technical support. Momentive’s SAG, SagTex, and Silwet antifoams, Indusil silicones, Formasil additives, Silbreak emulsifiers, Magnasoft enhancers and NuWet surfactants are used as chemical processing aids, foam control and mold release agents in industrial applications. “This agreement is a natural extension of a successful relationship that brings together Safic-Alcan’s extensive experience in specialty products and diverse markets with Momentive’s innovative products that offer performance and processing benefits to industrial applications,” said Piermario Ghizzone, Momentive’s European segment leader, process industries. “Safic-Alcan and Momentive have a long-standing and successful relationship for industrial applications. We are delighted to extend our commitment with a world leader of silicone fluids and to offer enhanced technical solutions and added value products to our customers in industrial markets,” stated Philippe Combette, CEO of Safic-Alcan.

Friday, January 15, 2021 - Munich, Germany - Bharat Sharma is KraussMaffei Group’s new head of the Asia-Pacific region, based in Singapore, from January 1. In this role, he will be responsible for both the new machine business and digital and service solutions. Sharma will report to Nadine Despineux, executive vice president of the Digital & Service Solutions Division of the KraussMaffei Group. "We are delighted to welcome Bharat Sharma to KraussMaffei. Bharat Sharma has many years of experience in the management of international sales organizations, in business development and in the conception and implementation of sales strategies. His technical expertise and management skills are excellent assets to benefit KraussMaffei,” explains Nadine Despineux. In his role as head of the Asia-Pacific region (excluding greater China), he will be responsible for sales, service and project management. The experienced manager will set up and expand the sales and service organization of KraussMaffei. This includes managing the country organizations and the external sales network. "I am delighted to be joining KraussMaffei in the Asia-Pacific region. Together with my team, I will be responsible for expanding KraussMaffei's market share and competitiveness. I am looking forward to serve our customers in the region with the best suitable solutions for their business,” Sharma explains his role. Sharma joins KraussMaffei from Honeywell Process Solutions, where he was most recently senior business executive for APAC control systems and field devices. Prior to that, he held various management positions at Honeywell and at a number of international business organizations.

Friday, January 15, 2021 - West Conshohocken, PA - In light of COVID-19 (coronavirus) and ongoing safety concerns for members and staff, ASTM International announced that all previously scheduled in-person April standards development meetings (including independent meetings) have been canceled. These decisions were based on several factors, including, but not limited to: Continued review of information and recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO), and other governmental bodies; input from ASTM International members whose organizations are increasingly concerned with travel; and specific information on the projected city restrictions in Toronto, Ontario, CA, and other cities, with input from the hotels. ASTM International staff will be contacting committee leaders to plan alternatives for conducting committee business. Looking forward, ASTM International will rely on these and other relevant criteria and input points to assess the status of ASTM’s future standards development meetings. View the status of a committee’s next meeting by visiting www.astm.org/meetings. For additional resources, including PDF guides for members participating virtually, visit www.astm.org/updates/committees.html. Last year, ASTM International also announced they are providing no-cost public access to a suite of more than two dozen standards used in the production and testing of personal protective equipment to combat the coronavirus public health emergency. For more information, visit www.astm.org/COVID-19.

Friday, January 15, 2021 - Akron, OH - Smithers announces that Smithers expert Christine Domer and independent consultant Walter Waddell will kick off a new webinar series on green tire chemistry this month. The first presentation, titled, “The Green Tire 101: Performance Materials,” will take place on Tuesday, January 19, at 11:00 a...m. EST. The webinar will begin with an overview of the green tire and the silica-filled tire tread. Domer and Waddell will start with a brief history of green tire development work from the early 1990s to the present day, reviewing initial patent work, the “magic triangle,” tire labeling, and other important factors in the history of the green tire. Domer and Waddell will also provide an in-depth review of the particular importance of silica technology in green tire development. They will discuss other performance-enhancing materials that have impacted tire tread performance, including elastomers, process oils, performance resins and organisilanes. This webinar is the first in a three-part series on green tire chemistry. To support green tire development initiatives, the Smithers compounding team conducted a multi-year study of silica dispersion in tire tread compound variations. Parts 2 and 3 of the series will discuss details from the team’s findings and implications of the study’s results for green tire performance. The Green Tire 102: Silica Dispersion wil be held February 16. This webinar will discuss dispersing silica into reinforcing aggregate structures. The Green Tire 103: Silica Silanization will be held March 17. This webinar will discuss the silanization reaction of silica with organosilanes. All three parts of the webinar series will serve as an evergreen guide to green tire chemistry that industry experts can use as a reference for years to come. “In tire tread development, there is a practical model called the ‘magic triangle’ that refers to the give-and-take between traction, treadwear, and rolling resistance when it comes to tire performance. This webinar series is a deep dive into how tire OEMs are overcoming the limitations of the magic triangle to meet consumer demand for a reduced carbon footprint without sacrificing traction,” said Domer. “This has been an industry-wide effort, one that dates back nearly thirty years.” Christine Domer has over 30 years of material science experience in the tire and rubber industries, with special expertise in raw materials, cure development engineering, compounding, reinforcements, and processing in both tire and non-tire applications. She joined the Smithers team in 2016 and is General Manager of the Akron Laboratories, which includes a rubber chemistry lab and a physical testing lab, and the Smithers Tire Analysis Reports. She has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Akron. Walter H. Waddell, Ph.D., is an independent consultant for Smithers. He retired from ExxonMobil Chemical and worked at Carnegie-Mellon University, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, and PPG. He has a B.S. and Ph.D. in chemistry, 37 patents, 158 publications, and has delivered nearly 200 technical presentations. He has received 10 major technical achievement awards and was awarded the Harold Herzlich Distinguished Technology Achievement Medal at the 2020 International Tire Exhibition and Conference (ITEC). For those who are unable to attend the live session, Smithers will publish a recording available for download at www.smithers.com/resources.

Friday, January 15, 2021 - Washington, D.C. - Nominations for the ACS Heroes of Chemistry Awards are open now through February 1. The Heroes of Chemistry Award is the highest honor awarded to industry by the American Chemical Society, recognizing companies that developed successfully commercialized products benefiting humankind. Any private or publicly owned for-profit company may nominate a team of chemists or allied scientists who played a vital role in the research and development of a commercial product that has had an impact on the welfare and progress of humanity. Nominating companies may choose to include individuals from other companies, government or academic labs, incubators,. or other organizations as members of the teams they nominate. Former employees are also eligible to be included in the nomination. Celebrate your company's hard work and success in innovation. For more information visit www.acs.org.