PlastChicks

Episoade

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  Season 9 Episode 6 - Paul Caprio, LS Mtron 04.09.2026 20min

  PlastChicks host Lynzie Nebel is solo in this episode recorded live at the new LS Mtron Global Tech Center in South Korea during the Global Tech Day 2026. She interviews Paul Caprio, President of LS Mtron for the U.S. and Canada. They discuss his reasons for joining LS Mtron, his nearly 40 years in the plastics industry, plastics injection molding machine manufacturing, the importance of having a tech center where potential buyers can see and be hands-on with the equipment, company growth through global competition, building relationships with plastics industry manufacturers and suppliers, specialty vertical and micro presses, designing and building new machinery based on customer needs, and the value of being a trusted lifetime equipment partner.NotesWatch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals and the Plastics Industry Association. Look for new episodes on the first Friday of every month.
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  Season 9 Episode 5 - Poolside with Wendy and Steve Hoenig 07.08.2026 24min

  Episode DescriptionPlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri sit down with Wendy and Steve Hoenig poolside at the Plastics Pioneers Association (PPA) and Plastics Hall of Fame (PHoF) Spring 2026 Networking/Conference in Sarasota, Florida to explore their remarkable journey through the plastics industry as partners in both life and business.After distinguished careers at Dow, Wendy, a 2024 Plastics Hall of Fame inductee, and Steve combined their expertise and entrepreneurial spirit to launch H&H Business Development, where Wendy serves as Founder and CEO and Steve serves as Chief Technology Officer.They share insights from their trailblazing careers at Dow, discussing how they met and built successful careers in plastics, transitioned from corporate life to entrepreneurship, and discovered the unique advantages of running a business together.The conversation explores how their complementary management styles strengthen both their company and home life, how they navigate disagreements, capitalize on each other's strengths, and support one another within their blended family. They also reflect on some of the proudest moments of their careers and the lessons they've learned along the way.Join us for an inspiring discussion about partnership, leadership, innovation, and the power of building a life and business together.About the GuestsWendy Hoenig is Founder and CEO of H&H Business Development, a consulting firm focused on developing new technologies and businesses.  She has over 40 years of experience in new business development in Fortune 100 corporations, venture capital, private equity, and start-ups. In 2024, she was inducted into the Plastics Hall of Fame in recognition of her leadership and significant contributions to the plastics industry through her work at Dow and H&H Business Development.Steve Hoenig is Chief Technology Officer of H&H Business Development, where he helps organizations develop and commercialize innovative technologies and business opportunities. He is an experienced technology leader in the plastics and flooring industries. Drawing on his extensive expertise in the plastics industry, Steve works alongside Wendy to help companies accelerate growth and innovation.NotesSee Wendy's 2024 induction into the Plastics Hall of Fame.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals and the Plastics Industry Association. Look for new episodes on the first Friday of every month.
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  Season 9 Episode 4 - Poolside with Tim and Barb Womer 03.07.2026 19min

  PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri interview Tim and Barb Womer poolside at the Plastics Pioneers Association (PPA) and Plastics Hall of Fame (PHoF) Spring 2026 Networking/Conference in Sarasota, Florida. They speak to Tim and Barb about how they met, balancing work and personal life, raising a family, his plastics industry career journey through various engineering and executive roles to owning his own business, how Barb's business expertise is critical to their mutual professional success, and the deep satisfaction of living life with a shared vision. Tim Womer is the owner of TWWomer and Associates, LLC, has had numerous patents issued on his inventions in screws, screw mixers and other products and processes, and has been inducted into the Plastics Hall of Fame.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals and the Plastics Industry Association. Look for new episodes on the first Friday of every month.
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  Season 9 Episode 3 - Poolside with Norm and Sue Fowler 05.06.2026 29min

  PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri interview Norm and Sue Fowler poolside at the Plastics Pioneers Association (PPA) and Plastics Hall of Fame (PHoF) Spring 2026 Networking/Conference in Sarasota, Florida. They speak to Norm and Sue about how they met, their relationship and home life, his induction into the Plastics Hall of Fame in 2025, her professional career, his career at Xerox, mentoring, contributions to the plastics industry, leadership roles in SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals, and life in Key West, Florida. Watch Norm Fowler's induction into the Plastics Hall of Fame (YouTube).Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals and the Plastics Industry Association. Look for new episodes on the first Friday of every month.
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  Season 9 Episode 2 - Justin Riney - INEOS Styrolution 01.05.2026 54min

  PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Justin Riney, Sustainability Commercial Manager Americas at INEOS Styrolution and host of the podcast, Redefining Plastics. They explored his path into the plastics industry and podcasting, common myths around plastics and recycling, challenges of replacing plastics with alternative materials, efforts to improve municipal polystyrene recycling, the importance of consumer education, the Polystyrene Recycling Alliance, the need for better industry storytelling, issues in how plastics recycling metrics are calculated compared to other materials, brand collaboration in plastics material selection, and effective social media engagement.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.Listen to the podcast, Redefining Plastics, on your favorite player or watch episodes on YouTube.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals and the Plastics Industry Association. Look for new episodes on the first Friday of every month.
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  Season 9 Episode 1 - Lexington Peterson - Engel 03.04.2026 47min

  PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Lexington Peterson, Business Development Manager in Automotive and Mobility at Engel. They discussed SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals, sustainability, her plastics engineering career journey, advancements in large-scale thermoplastic composite structures, lightweighting in electric and autonomous vehicle development, composite development for air mobility in drone development and air taxis, incorporating AI into machinery, autonomous humanoid robots, entrepreneurial opportunities in plastics, the Plastics Industry Association's FLiP - Future Leaders in Plastics Program, STEM outreach programs, and introducing youth to engineering options.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals and the Plastics Industry Association. Look for new episodes on the first Friday of every month.
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  Season 8 Episode 10 - Geoff Foster, Core Technology 06.03.2026 44min

  PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Geoff Foster, CEO and President of Core Technology. They discuss how he founded his own plastics injection molding company, what's fueling their 300% growth since Covid, critical skills for engineering students, the importance of building diversity and inclusion into all levels of the company, the value of internships, considering potential employees from different industries, and the nonprofit Molding Kids for Success, which strives to educate youth in science, technology, engineering and mathematics by combining classroom experiments with real-world applications on the manufacturing floor. Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals and the Plastics Industry Association. Look for new episodes on the first Friday of every month.
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  Season 8 Episode 9 - Pia Fischer, Institute for Plastics Processing in Industry and Craft (IKV) at RWTH Aachen University 06.02.2026 48min

  PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Pia Fischer, Research Assistant and PhD Candidate, Institute for Plastics Processing in Industry and Craft (IKV) at RWTH Aachen University. They discuss the development of her interest in plastics, injection molding, skill building for success in the PhD program, the benefits of mentoring, processes for sustainability and recycling, addressing challenges in post-consumer waste recycling, seasonal variations in recycling batch streams, shifting from academia into industrial work, sustainability regulations, evaluating sustainability claims, and advice for young engineers.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals and the Plastics Industry Association. Look for new episodes on the first Friday of every month.
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  Season 8 Episode 8 - Matt Seaholm and Pat Farrey, Plastics Industry Association 02.01.2026 53min

  PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host the Plastics Industry Association, featuring Matt Seaholm, President & CEO, and Pat Farrey, Executive VP & Chief Integration Officer. They discuss the merger of the Plastics Industry Association and SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals to combine resources that offer members greater opportunities and amplify the plastic industry’s voice. Topics include developing a shared long-term strategy to better serve the plastics industry, ensuring transparency to engage stakeholders in shaping the future, creating synergies that add member value while preserving existing benefits, addressing younger professionals’ needs, and building a platform for experts to educate the current and future plastics workforce.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals and the Plastics Industry Association. Look for new episodes on the first Friday of every month.
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  Season 8 - Episode 7 - David Routsis and Hannah Donnellan, Routsis Training, LLC 05.12.2025 52min

  PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host David Routsis, President, and Hannah Donnellan, Sales and Marketing Associate, Routsis Training, LLC. They discussed identifying training needs in the plastics industry, addressing the challenges of capturing specific staff manufacturing knowledge before they retire, producing training content in six languages, keeping training current, visiting plants to identify training needs, using training to help everyone speak the same language and get on the same page with manufacturing processes, the power of certifications, bridging the gap from other areas into plastics engineering, and contact lenses for chickens.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes on the first Friday of every month.
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  Season 8 - Episode 6 - Tuan TranPham, Anisoprint 07.11.2025 50min

  PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Tuan TranPham, "the most-followed person in 3D printing," and President of the Americas and Asia Pacific at Anisoprint. They discuss the evolution of his career in 3D printing and the plastics industry, his desire to educate and inspire about the reality and potential of 3D printing, the benefits of sharing what you know to build collective knowledge in the industry, combining 3D printing with traditional manufacturing techniques, how the convergence of different technologies leads to innovation, how 3D printing may achieve its peak in 2032, the micro-factory of the future, the cloudification and localization of manufacturing, using AI to unleash and democratize the creation of content that could be 3D printed in the cloud, and evaluating the potential success of a 3D printing industry company.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes on the first Friday of every month.
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  Special PlastChicks Scholarship Episode - Eve Vitale, Gina Grady, Brian Grady, and Claire Marble 03.10.2025 30min

  On this special PlastChicks Scholarship episode, PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri receive an on-air surprise! Eve Vitale, Gina Grady, and Brian Grady announce a new endowed PlastChicks Scholarship Fund to award scholarships forever to deserving plastics students. Thanks to Gina and Brian Grady for their generous support!Next Lynzie and Mercedes host their Third Annual PlastChicks Scholarship Award Winner, Claire Marble, a sophomore at University of Wisconsin-Stout. Claire discusses how she became interested in plastics and manufacturing engineering, her early experience at an injection mold base shop, approaching problems from an engineering perspective, community building and teamwork, the value of service and volunteering, injection molding, and 3D printing.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes on the first Friday of every month.
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  Season 8 - Episode 4 - Sean Petterson, Supersede 05.09.2025 42min

  PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Sean Petterson, CEO of Supersede.They discussed the founding of Supersede, marine and construction material manufacturing, the process for using recycled plastics, logistics management, the challenges of green solutions and carbon-reduction initiatives, designing cost-competitive systems to outperform alternatives and be profitable with a positive environmental impact, the impact of plastics-related regulations and legislation, upcoming initiatives, boat material safety, and building materials for skateparks.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes on the first Friday of every month.
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  Season 8 - Episode 3 - Kohei Shinohara, Sodick 01.08.2025 31min

  PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Kohei Shinohara, Senior Vice President at Sodick, live from the Innovation and Emerging Plastics Technologies Conference at PennState Behrend, June 11-12, 2025.They discussed injection molding machine design, medical and precision micro-molding, use of the V-Line® two-stage plunger injection system, selecting technologies to showcase at industry events, challenges around micro-molding and feedback systems, automation, industry career advice for young people, the next great areas of advancement in injection molding, and developing the company's role as a networker of high value-added product and services.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes on the first Friday of every month.
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  Season 8 - Episode 2 - Lisa van der Vorst, Mold-Masters Ltd. 04.07.2025 24min

  PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Lisa van der Vorst, Senior Sales Director-North America at Mold-Masters Ltd., live from the Innovation and Emerging Plastics Technologies Conference at PennState Behrend, June 11-12, 2025.They discussed the state of the industry and future of hot runners, her career journey leading to injection molding, lessons learned from living in different countries, the importance of emotional intelligence, career advice for engineering students, mentoring a Net Impact Circular Plastics Challenge finalist team, local and global challenges with recycling and waste management, advances in circular recycling, and career risks that led to greater opportunities.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes on the first Friday of every month.
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  Season 8 - Episode 1 - Dr. Shilpa Manjure, Northern Technologies International Corporation/Natur-Tec 06.06.2025 38min

  PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Dr. Shilpa Manjure, Global Technical Leader at Northern Technologies International Corporation/Natur-Tec and SPE's Bioplastics and Renewable Technologies Division Chair. They discussed how her interest in plastics and biopolymers developed, the global approach to find solutions for plastics pollution, the definition of bio-based and compostable materials, developing an empathetic leadership style that helps bring the best out of everyone, sustainable alternatives, developing bio-based and compostable materials that can run on current plastics manufacturing lines, the mission of SPE's Bioplastics and Renewable Technologies Division, and igniting the spark of interest in the next generation of students to explore the difference they can make in the world in STEM fields and manufacturing. Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes on the first Friday of every month.
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  Season 7 - Episode 10 - Dr. Jennifer Hoffman, Eurofins | EAG Laboratories 05.05.2025 52min

  PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Dr. Jennifer Hoffman, Director of Project Management for Eurofins | EAG Laboratories. They discuss her journey in materials science, her role as a "technical therapist," determining the best approach to address varying client needs, most common issues in plastics, deformulation/reverse engineering of materials, helping companies make smart business decisions based on scientific data, trends in plastics, sustainable materials, favorite tools, her role with SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals, student mentorship and activities, and advice to new scientists entering the field.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes the first Friday of every month.
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  Season 7 - Episode 9 - April Brown, Moldex3D 04.04.2025 38min

  PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host April Brown, Applications Engineer at Moldex3D. They discuss her professional journey to a plastics industry career, injection molding simulation projects, reducing manufacturing cost and optimizing processes while reducing waste and considering sustainability, being more inventive and efficient in the workplace, creating a sustainable future for everyone in the plastics industry, using AI to compile years of simulation data to help optimize a new part design, using simulation to predict defects before production and reduce necessary trials and tooling modifications, Moldex3D's Moldiverse cloud ecosystem, and future predictions for simulation and AI in plastics manufacturing. Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes the first Friday of every month.
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  Season 7 - Episode 8 - Andy Francis, Q-Lab 07.03.2025 40min

  PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host Dr. Andy Francis, Vice President of Marketing at Q-Lab Corporation. They discuss the big forces of plastics weathering, the arch nemeses of plastics, the difficulty of service life prediction, techniques and equipment for testing the effects of weathering on plastics, common misconceptions about plastics durability, plastics failure methods due to weathering, and the future of materials testing.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes the first Friday of every month.
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  Season 7 Episode 7 - The Kenders 07.02.2025 49min

  PlastChicks Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri host the Kenders, siblings with careers in plastics: Laura Kender, Polymer Process Engineer at Corning Life Sciences; Elizabeth Kender, Senior Product Developer at New Balance; and Stephen Kender, Senior Design Engineer at UPPAbaby. They discuss how their interest in plastics developed, their teamwork in college, their career journey in plastics, networking, injection molding, sustainability, the future of plastics, and designing for plastics strength, lightweighting and performance.Watch the PlastChicks podcast on the SPE YouTube Channel.PlastChicks is sponsored by SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals. Look for new episodes the first Friday of every month.