SPE Innovations in Polyolefins Conference 2026

Kim drives technology programs at Braskem to develop advanced polyolefins with improved recyclability and sustainability. As Principal Investigator on a REMADE-funded collaboration, Kim leads a diverse industry-academic team that is developing a process to recycle elastomers as secondary feedstock. Kim has a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Cornell. She is an inventor on more than 25 patents and applications for novel polyolefin technologies. Kim is on the Board of Directors of SPE’s Thermoplastic Materials & Foams Division, where she has served as Education Chair and Councilor.

Gamini has a BS and PhD from Purdue University in Materials Engineering and Sustainability. He joined Penn State as a Post Doctorate Scholar in 2020 prior to his professorship appointment. He works closely with PA plastics manufacturers to implement sustainability programs in their plants.

Tom Giovannetti holds a Degree in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Tulsa and for the last 26 years has worked for Chevron Phillips Chemical Company. Tom started his plastics career by designing various injection molded products for the chemical industry including explosion proof plugs and receptacles, panel boards and detonation arrestors for 24 inch pipelines. Tom also holds a patent for design of a polyphenylene sleeve in a nylon coolant cross-over of an air intake manifold and is a Certified Plastic Technologist through the Society of Plastic Engineers. Tom serves on the Oklahoma Section Board as Councilor, is also the past president of the local Oklahoma SPE Section, and as well serves on the SPE Injection Molding Division board.

Dr. Joseph Lawrence is a Research Professor and Senior Director of the Polymer Institute and the Center for Materials and Sensor Characterization at the University of Toledo. He is a Chemical Engineer by training and after working in the process industry, he has been engaged in polymers and composites research for 18+ years. In the Polymer Institute he leads research on renewably sourced polymers, plastics recycling, and additive manufacturing. He is also the lead investigator of the Polyesters and Barrier Materials Research Consortium funded by industry. Dr. Lawrence has advised 20 graduate students, mentored 8 staff scientists and several undergraduate students. He is a peer reviewer in several journals, has authored 30+ peer-reviewed publications and serves on the board of the Injection Molding Division of SPE.

Matt Hammernik serves as Hasco America’s Northeast Area Account Manager covering the states Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. He started with Hasco America at the beginning of March 2022. Matt started in the Injection Mold Industry roughly 10 years ago as an estimator quoting injection mold base steel, components and machining. He advanced into outside sales and has been serving molders, mold builders and mold makers for about 7 years.

Christine Barnhart is the VP of Product Strategy and Go-to-Market for Verusen, a supply chain technology startup, leading a new era of supply chain by shifting the landscape of how global organizations approach their materials management strategy and challenges. Working closely with Product Management, Sales, Marketing and others within the organization, as well as customers, she is tasked with ensuring that Verusen is delivering market-leading innovation to our customers. Prior to Verusen, Christine was the Senior Director of Product and Industry Market Strategy for Infor’s supply chain solutions. Christine brings over 20 years of expertise in manufacturing, purchasing and planning from companies including Berry Global, Mead Johnson Nutrition, and Whirlpool. In 2021 and 2018, she was recognized as one of the Top Women in Supply Chain by Supply and Demand Chain Executive. Christine has a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Evansville and completed her MBA with distinction at the University of Louisville. She is certified in Production and Inventory Management (CPIM) through APICs (ASCM) and as a Project Management Professional (PMP) from the Project Management Institute.

Dr. Sarah Eckersley is the Vice President of R&D for Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure (II&I) at Dow. II&I consists of two customer-centric global businesses, Industrial Solutions and Polyurethanes & Construction Chemicals, that develop important intermediate chemicals that are essential to manufacturing processes, as well as downstream, customized materials and formulations that use advanced development technologies. The II&I unit of Dow has over $16B in sales and offers customers value-added sustainable solutions to enhance comfort, energy efficiency, product effectiveness and durability. Applications address a wide range of sections, including home comfort and appliance, building and construction and adhesives and lubricants, among others. Eckersley is also an executive member of the R&D leadership team at Dow and is accountable for developing and setting organizational and technological strategy. Prior to her role leading II&I R&D, Eckersley was the Global R&D Director for Dow Coatings, Monomers and Plastics Additives. She collaborated closely with marketing and commercial organizations to identify high value initiatives for growth and profitability. In her expansive career at Dow, Eckersley previously held critical roles in Core R&D, Pharma & Food Solutions to Packaging and Specialty Plastics. Eckersley is a proven leader with over 25 years of industry experience and an active member of the Technical Advisory Board for the Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Science and Technology Advisory committee of the American Coatings Association. Eckersley holds a B.A.S.c in chemical engineering, University of Ottawa and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering, University of Waterloo. Eckersley has also completed programs in the Young Executives Residency, UNC Kenan Flagler Business School, and Women on Corporate Boards, Harvard Business School. In 2021, Eckersley was recognized with the Lawrence B. Evans Award in Chemical Engineering Practice from the AICHE and a Global Leader Award from the Society of Women Engineers. Twice, she has received the Roon Foundation Award, a premier recognition from the coatings industry. Eckersley is passionate about Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (ED&I), exhibiting this by publishing articles as well as frequently participating as a keynote speaker both internally at Dow and externally. She has co-authored 25 peer reviewed publications and 6 issued U.S. patents.

Cathy is a retired executive in the plastics industry, the founder and co-host of Parity Podcast focused on accelerating gender equality, and a DEI thought leader and speaker. You can find her on LinkedIn or www.par-ity.com.

Robbyn Prange, associate R&D director for Formulation, Automation and Materials Science (FAMS), Core R&D has accepted the role of R&D director for DCS Engineered Materials Product Development. In this role, Robbyn will lead the global team focused on developing new products across a range of platforms such as conductive composites, adhesives, battery fire protection, microelectronics, and moldable optics for leading mobility & transportation and consumer & electronics customers globally. Robbyn will also serve as a member of the Silicone Product Development leadership team and represent R&D on several global multi-functional management teams. She will transition in mid-May and will remain located in Midland, Michigan. Robbyn joined Dow in 2001 as part of the Research Assignments Program. Over the next seven years, she contributed to numerous polymer chemistry and application development projects across Polyurethanes, Epoxies, and Water Soluble Polymers. Robbyn then led a nylon process improvement project for Honeywell and, while leading Air Products’ Epoxy Americas Application Development & Technical Service team, was technically responsible for commercializing several products aligned to the concrete coatings market. Rejoining Dow in 2012 as a research scientist in Core R&D, Robbyn successfully led various projects and initiatives including Film Genome, Dow’s low volume, high throughput film fabrication and testing capability. In her current role as associate R&D director in FAMS, Robbyn leads the Midland Colloids and Interfacial Science and Mechanical Dispersion teams which have advanced and commercialized key projects including Silicone-Polyurethane, Silicone-Acrylate, HTR Adhesion, RHOBARRTM 320 and 325 Barrier Coatings and HYPODTM 8510N Polyolefin Dispersion. During her tenure, her team has earned four R&D 100 awards, two Edison awards, and an Adhesion and Sealants Innovation award. Robbyn earned a B.S. in Chemistry from Hope College and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from The Pennsylvania State University. An active member of the American Chemical Society and GLAD, Robbyn has held local leadership roles with both. She is Six Sigma Green Belt certified, the inventor on 8 patents and author of 18 peer review articles and preprints.

Zen Saunders (she/her/they) currently serves as the North America Leader for Inclusion, Diversity and Employee Experience. In this combined role, she is responsible for driving and implementing the I&D + EX strategy and providing expertise, consultation, and support to business, functional, and ERG leaders and EX change champions in the region. She collaborates with the businesses and functions on inclusion and employee experience interventions that lead to measurable results and long-term culture change. She also manages relationship support for I&D+ EX partnerships and represents Dow externally consistent with the region’s outreach and thought leadership initiatives. In her previous role, Zen was the Regulatory Affairs Leader (LA, AR, AL, GA and KY) advocating for Dow’s interests in several strategic industry associations in the Gulf Coast. She was responsible for supporting permit approvals, advocacy for state regulations, ensuring site support for various regulatory changes and negotiating enforcement settlements. In a vote by her industry peers, Zen was awarded Most Valuable Player of the Louisiana Chemical Association Environmental Committee in 2019 and 2020 and was also nominated to be Top 20 under 40 in the Baton Rouge Business Industry Report in 2017. Zen serves as the Louisiana Operations Disability Employee Network Site Implementation Leader, was a co-leader for the Louisiana Operations Global African American Network and has worked closely with the other ERG Site Implementation Leaders on numerous collaborative inclusion and safety initiatives. Zen is the former team leader for the Louisiana Sustainability team and is one of the Global Co-Leaders for the Valuing Nature team. She also currently serves on the Florida A&M University Recruiting team and Dow Political Action Committee National Steering Team. Zen holds a Master of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Carnegie Melon University, as well as a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Engineering and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Syracuse University. Zen and her wife, Iman, have two daughters Mya and Yah Ella. In their spare time, the family enjoys hiking, karaoke and spending time with family in San Francisco and Belize.

As Chief Diversity Officer, Wendy Garcia is responsible for increasing contracting opportunities for Women- and Minority-owned Business Enterprises (MWBEs) and managing the Comptroller Office’s internal supplier diversity initiative, as well as other diversity related projects across all bureaus of the agency. Ms. Garcia also leads the Comptroller’s Advisory Council on Economic Growth through Diversity and Inclusion – a group comprised of national, local, corporate, and government experts seeking to increase supplier diversity in the public and private sectors. The Comptroller’s Office of Diversity Initiatives, led by Ms. Garcia, releases “Making the Grade: New York City Agency Report Card on Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprises,” a report that examines how well City agencies meet existing supplier diversity goals while outlining additional measures that could be taken to increase the participation of MWBEs in City contracting. Previously, Ms. Garcia served as the Deputy Chief Diversity Officer at the Office of New York City Comptroller, Director of Community Outreach and Partnerships at the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD), Deputy Director of the Manhattan Borough President’s Northern Manhattan Office, and Immigrant Research Analyst for the Rockefeller Foundation through Baruch College. Ms. Garcia earned a Master’s degree in Urban Policy and Management from New School University with a concentration in Economic Development, and a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Delaware.

Jennifer is an Associate Director in Process & Catalysis R&D within the Packaging & Specialty Plastics and Hydrocarbons business group, located in Lake Jackson, TX. Jennifer also leads the Global I&D Steering Team and a regional North America I&D Team in the Packaging & Specialty Plastics and Hydrocarbons R&D organization. In her career with Dow, Jennifer has held various R&D and TS&D roles supporting development of new products and applications in Quaternary Amines, Water Soluble Polymers, INCLOSIA, Dow Pharma & Food Solutions, Core R&D and most recently, Packaging & Specialty Plastics and Hydrocarbons. Jennifer joined Dow in 1999 on the Research Assignments Program. Jennifer earned a B.S. degree in Biochemistry from the University of Missouri-Columbia.