Polymer Webinar Series

Wednesday 16th November -15:00 GMT | 16:00 CET
Speakers: John Dale, BSc MBA, Peter Muehlschlegel, PhD 

This webinar was presented live on November 16th 2016. Please access the recording by using the link below. 

Failure of polymer material such as fibers, films and membranes, polymers, engineering plastics, composites and coatings can happen at any time. Design faults, moulding issues, stress, overload, degradation, unintentional service conditions, misuse and even sabotage can be factors. Determining the root cause of polymer failure, through multi-disciplinary failure investigations is necessary however the complexity can present challenges. This webinar describes the strategic steps you can take for effective failure analysis with example case studies from end-user applications that vary from simple packaging films through consumer goods to advanced aerospace materials.

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Wednesday 30th Nov -15:00 GMT | 16:00 CET
Speaker: David Stocks

This webinar was presented live on November 30th 2016. Please access the recording by using the link below. 

Polymer rheology testing is the study of how the stress in a material or force applied is related to deformation and flow of the material. Understanding the rheological properties of polymers through laboratory testing can help to optimize products and process conditions, thereby saving costs and minimizing potential waste. This talk will summarise the various rheological tools available within Intertek to characterise materials ranging from high performance plastic composites to dermal fillers. Examples of specific case studies will be presented which demonstrate how rheology has contributed to an improved understanding of the effect of polymer structure (either by accident or design) and inherent properties on processing behaviours.
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Thursday 8th December - 15:00 GMT | 16:00 CET

Speaker Inge Würtz, PhD

Physical and mechanical testing of polymers ensures that the material complies with industry specifications. With the vast array of product types and additives available, understanding the capabilities and limitations of a material is a key concern to suppliers, manufacturers and product developers on every level of the polymer industry. This webinar covers the physical testing methods (mechanical, thermal properties testing) suitable to can help raw material suppliers and manufacturers to determine the properties of their products, when to apply the most relevant techniques and which tests are required to obtain the data needed to make decisions to ensure a material’s quality.

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Our experts have many years of experience from working in the polymer and polymer application industries with knowledge across a wide range of polymer-related topics.

John Dale, BSc MBA, Business Scientist, Industrial Forensic Microscopy, Intertek UK
John joined ICI in 1977. His early years with the company were spent in the polymer, catalyst and surfactants businesses. His current role is that of Contamination Consultant and leader of the Analytical Microscopy team within MSG.John advises on all aspects of contamination analysis and on-site contamination control. Another particular research interest is in developing an understanding of microstructure - property relationships in fabricated foodstuffs. He is well known for a pragmatic and down to earth approach to solving high profile issues. Typically these involve him establishing the causes of product litigation cases, compromised supply chains, environmental contamination problems and the mechanical failure of materials. John’s interests within Intertek MSG are in integrating a variety of technologies and technical experts in an approach he calls “Industrial Forensic Science”. His team within Intertek MSG encompasses the technical areas of microscopy (optical and electron), image analysis and particle size characterisation.

Peter Mühlschlegel, PhD, Project Manager, Intertek Switzerland
Peter graduated 2006 with a PhD in applied Physics from the University of Basel. He joined Ciba AG for a Postdoc in research analytics. In 2007 he became manager of the Electron Microscopy laboratory for pigment, coating and polymer characterization. In 2008 he switched to the Ciba Expert Services division where he was responsible for projects in the field of Surface- and Nanoanalysis. In 2010 he joined Intertek (Schweiz) AG as project manager for Microscopy (TEM, SEM) and Spectroscopy (EDX, IR, RAMAN). His main focus is the morphological characterization and chemical identification of polymeric materials and coating systems as well as failure analysis and investigations for contaminant control. His special interests are chemical imaging and correlated microscopy.

David Stocks, Senior Research Scientist Rheology Laboratory, Intertek UK
David studied applied science to first degree level at Sheffield Hallam University before being employed by the University of Nottingham and studying the effect of polymer coatings on metals as part of a M Phil degree. He joined ICI in 1988 as a polymer melt rheologist and is now technique leader. David’s main interests are the processing behaviours of polymeric materials from melts to pastes and adhesives. He is also resource manager for the mechanical and tribological testing group at Wilton and is an active member of the IUPAC working party on the structure and properties of commercial polymers. He has published scientific journal articles as well as presenting papers at international Rheology conferences.

Emmanuelle Brendle, PhD, Project Manager, Intertek Switzerland
Emmanuelle has worked for Intertek since 2010, and is involved in the management of analytical projects with focus on E&L, food contact migration and polymer additives analysis, including writing of reports for regulatory approvals, with expert knowledge of quality system compliance (ISO9001, GLP, GMP). Prior to joining Intertek, she worked as a speciality chemicals manufacturer for Ciba with extensive experience as analytical methods developer using chromatography, XRD, IR and NMR, and has experience working with migrations studies, and with analysis of polymer additives in polymer matrixes.

Inge Würtz, PhD, Business Development Consultant and Polymer Specialist, Intertek Germany
Dr Inge Würtz has 30 years’ experience in polymer chemistry. She gained her PhD in physical chemistry at the TH Kaiserslautern with the focus on polymers. She started her career in 1986 at DOW in the Analytical Research Lab, and since 1995 she has worked for different international compounders and distributors in various positions, from Application specialist, to head of Technical Department, Marketing and Key Account Manager on a global basis. She works with Polyolefins, Polystyrene based polymers, engineering polymers such as PA, PBT, POM and blends up to Thermoplastic Elastomers on the basis of TPE-S and TPE-V. Inge joined Intertek in February 2016 as polymer specialist and business development consultant.

Dr Tino Otte, PhD, Senior Scientific Consultant, Intertek Switzerland
Tino Otte joined Intertek TechCenter Reinach (Switzerland) in 2016 as Senior Scientific Consultant specialized in extractables and leachables analysis as well as GMP testing.Before joining Intertek he studied analytical and polymer chemistry in Leipzig and Halle (Germany). After earning his PhD at the Technical University of Darmstadt (Germany) he worked for many years in the instrumental analysis and pharmaceutical characterization sectors. Tino Otte is responsible for organic trace analysis, special analytics for registration, migration studies, extractable and leachable studies for pharmaceutical packaging, for GMP quality control analysis, stability tests and polymer analysis.