Innovation Awards Program

Dr. Greg Schueneman, US Forest Service Forest Products Laboratory

Dr. Greg Schueneman is a Supervisory Materials Research Engineer and Project Leader of the Forest Biopolymer Science & Engineering group at the US Forest Service's Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin. His research is focused on the conversion of forest based nanomaterials for use in traditionally petroleum based materials applications such as adhesives, coatings, sealants, and composites. Prior to joining the Forest Products Laboratory he had over 10 years of industrial experience.

Dr. Christopher C. White, Senior Managing Scientist - Exponent Inc.

Dr. White joined Exponent in January 2021. In this new role, Dr. White assists clients by solving technical problems related to the specification, reliability, and sustainability of polymeric materials used in various industries, including construction, infrastructure, transportation, chemicals, and utilities. One of Dr. White's core competencies is characterizing weather-related changes to polymers' chemical and physical properties and how those degradative changes may affect end-user performance. This expertise enables him to provide solutions to complex issues related to assessing durability, failure, sustainability, and climate change effects on materials and assets exposed to weathering. He is skilled in developing and utilizing test methods and standards to analyze plastics, rubbers, textiles, metals, glass, and ceramic composite materials. Dr. White offers technical guidance throughout all product development phases, including formulation, scale-up, end-use testing, and field performance assessments.

Before joining Exponent, Dr. White was a research chemist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. His research focused on developing new test methods that assess the durability of polymers exposed to weathering. He also worked on projects related to the adhesion of spray-applied fireproofing, blast resistance of trash containers, and material selection for building envelopes. Additionally, Dr. White has also led multidisciplinary teams focused on sustainability, climate change impacts, enterprise risk management, and community resilience. He was also a credentialed member of the National Construction Safety Team. Dr. White is a fellow of ASTM International, Chair of ASTM C24, Building Seals and Sealants, and an elected officer of the Society of Rheology. Dr. White was awarded a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in 1994. He also earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Maryland in 2007.

Marc Benevento, President - Industrial Market Insight

Marc Benevento is the founder and president of Industrial Market Insight, a consultancy focused on identifying organic growth opportunities for manufacturers and distributors of industrial products and materials by matching capabilities to unmet market needs.

His experience encompasses over 20 years with global multi-national manufacturers of industrial products in product development, business management, and marketing leadership roles in adhesives, composites, and metals serving the construction, energy, infrastructure, and transportation markets.

Marc's background includes nearly a decade in materials engineering at a global automotive OEM in addition to a variety of commercial roles in the chemical, composites, and adhesive industries. He has a passion for all aspects of product development, from discovering market needs, executing development, and commercializing new products, and is a practitioner and certified coach of New Product Blueprinting.

Mr. Benevento holds a Bachelor of Science in Materials Science & Engineering from Lehigh University and an MBA.

2022 Innovation Award Winner

ASC held its Innovation awards at the 2022 World Adhesive & Sealant Conference in Chicago, Illinois, April 25-27, 2022.

The 2022 Innovation Award had one winner and two runners up:

The primary award was presented to Mark Gower and the PACE Team at Avery Dennison.

The Development from Avery Dennison was entitled "Advanced Acrylics Technology for High Performance Pressure Sensitive Adhesive Applications." The technology combines controlled radical polymerization within emulsion systems with polymerizable surfactant technology to deliver emulsion PSA that is replacing high performance solvent-based PSA in many applications. For more information on this development click HERE.

2022 RUNNERS UP:

1st Runner Up went to H.B. Fuller with a development titled "Low Monomer/Emission Reactive Hot Melt Adhesives." For more information on this development click HERE.

2nd runner up went to ICP for a development titled "Novel Low Pressure Spray Polyurethane Foam Blown with Hydrofluoroolefin Propellant." For more information on this development click HERE.

2021 Innovation Award Winner

ASC held its Innovation awards at the Annual Convention in Orlando, Florida, October 25-27, 2021.

The 2021 Innovation Award had one winner and two runners up:

The primary award was presented to Dan Schroer, Mark Rickard and Megan Thomas with DuPont.

The Development from DuPont was entitled "Low GWP Froth-Pak™ Spray Foam Blown with Liquid HFO and CO2," DuPont's two-component spray polyurethane foam products are used to air seal and insulate various spaces within the building envelope. The innovation team solved challenges in formulating, manufacturing, and application technology. The resulting sealant and insulation products are shelf stable, maintain all performance attributes, and boast a GWP reduction of over 99%. For more information on Low GWP Froth Pak™ click HERE.

2021 RUNNERS UP:

1st Runner Up went to Kraton with a development called "Next Generation of Biobased Tackifiers REvolutionTM"

2nd runner up went to Arkema for a development titled "Clearstrength® XT100 Toughener for Structural Adhesives and Thermosets."

2020 Innovation Award Winner

ASC held its Innovation awards at the VIRTUAL Annual Convention November 4-6, 2020.

The 2020 Innovation Award had one winner and two runners up:

The primary award was presented to Brian K. Rearick, Ph.D. Research Manager - Global Application Research Lab at PPG.

The Development from PPG was entitled "High Strength, Highly Ductile Structural Adhesive PR 2930," which is a solution for a structural adhesive technology with an unprecedented combination of strength and elongation in response to U.S. Army requests for disruptive adhesives capable of meeting armor technology needs. For more information on PPG adhesives and sealants click HERE.

Runners Up: 1st Runner Up went to H.B. Fuller with a development called "HBF -Ködispace 4SG, The superior warm edge spacer system reactive thermoplastic spacer (TPS) for use in insulating glass" and the 2nd runner up went to Wacker for a development titled "GENIOSIL XB 502 Silane-Modified Polymers for High-Performance Adhesivesfor use with strong bonding adhesives."

2019 Innovation Award Winner

ASC held its Innovation awards at the Annual Spring Convention in Philadelphia April 8-10, 2019.

The 2019 Innovation Award had one winner and two runners up:

The primary award was presented to Deborah Moore, Product Development Technical Lead at Henkel.

The development was entitled "Loctite Universal Structural Bonders Powered by Hybrid Technology," which is a solution for OEM engineers looking for ways to improve assembly applications. For more information on this development click HERE.

Runners Up: 1st Runner Up went to Dow with a development called "UV Curable Primer that Enables Hard to Bond INFUSE Olefin Block Copolymer Midsole Foams in High Performance Footwear" and the 2nd runner up went to Sartomer for a development titled "An electron Beam curable Resealable Adhesive that only sticks to itself."

2018 Winners

ASC held its Innovation awards at the Annual Spring Conference in Miami April 23-25, 2018.

The 2018 Innovation awards had two categories: small business, and the primary award

Bostik - The primary award was presented to Darius Deak, Global R & D Director-Nonwovens at Bostik. The Development from Bostik was entitled "Brilliance" which is an olefin elastic high-performance attachment adhesive. For more information on Brilliance, click HERE.

Michigan State University, in partnership with POET, took home the small business award for the development titled; "Lignin Based Adhesive for Engineering Wood Products." The lead developer and accepting the award for MSU was Mojgan Nejad. To learn more about this development, review a short video presentation HERE.

Runners Up: 1st Runner Up went to Dow Automotive with a development called Betaseal Glass Bonding adhesive and the 2nd runner up went to Sunstar Engineering Americas for automated application of a one component UV Curable Formed-In-Place Foam Sealant.

2017 Winners

ASC held its first ever Innovation awards at the Annual Spring Conference in Atlanta April 3-5, 20017.

The Innovation awards had two categories: small business, and the primary award.

Organik Kimya - The primary award was presented to Simone Kaslowski, CEO of Organik Kimya, who is based in Istanbul, Turkey. The lead developer for the technology is Filiz Ozturk, Business Unit Manager for industrial adhesives. The Development from Organik Kimya was entitled "A Novel Process and Packaging Technology For Hot Melt Pressure Sensitive Adhesives." To learn more about this development please review a short video presentation HERE.

Resinate Materials Group took home the small business award for the development titled; "Creating a Circular Economy by converting PET scrap to Polyester Polyols for Adhesives Synthesis." The lead developer and accepting the award was Shakti Mukerjee, Director of Product & Process Development and Mike Christy, Staff Chemist. To learn more about this development please review a short video presentation HERE.