2012 Moldmaker and Mold Designer of the Year Announced

The Society of Plastic Engineers (SPE) and the Mold Making and Mold Design Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers, Inc. paid tribute to two of its members during the Division’s Annual Business Meeting held on Wednesday, April 4th at ANTEC 2012 which was held in conjunction with NPE 2012 in Orlando, Florida.

Barbara Arnold – Feret from Fort Worth, Texas with the 2012 Mold Designer of the Year Award.  Barbara is currently a consultant with PARTS, Ltd. in the Fort Worth/Dallas area and started her career in the plastics industry as a teenager while working at her father’s company where she began honing her mold making skills.  While she has been involved in a variety of processes throughout her storied career in the plastics industry, she is most proud of her work in the mold design area of rotomolding as this type of tooling is very unique compared to traditional injection mold tooling.

Barbara has served the SPE organization in several different capacities over the years including the Chairperson of the Product Design and Development Division and currently serves as a Counselor for the Mold Making and Mold Design Divisions.  In addition to her support of the SPE she was also active in the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) organizations Plastics, Composites and Coating Technical Group, member of the Emerging Technologies group and also Chairperson for the Injection Molding Group.

A $500 honorarium was presented to Barbara through a grant provided by Progressive Components, Inc. and will be presented in Barbara’s name to a school of her choice.

SPE also honored Robert Novak of Waukesha, Wisconsin as the recipient of the 2012 Moldmaker of the Year Award.  Robert is a full time Instructor at Waukesha County Technical College (WCTC) in Waukesha, Wisconsin in the mold making area and is a distinguished member of the Milwaukee Section of the Society of Plastics Engineers and the Mold Making and Mold Design Division.  Robert earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Wisconsin – Stout in Career Technical Education and Training and has been an integral part of the WCTC program since 1990.  During that time Robert has guided nearly 400 students through the WCTC program and these students have moved on to successful careers throughout the mold making industry.

Robert will receive his award and $500 honorarium, which was made possible by a grant from the D-M-E Company and will be presented in Robert’s name to a school of his choice at a date to be determined.

Both awards were announced by Wayne Hertlein, Chairperson of the Mold Making and Mold Design Division of SPE and an Advanced Engineer at MMI Engineered Solutions in Saline, Michigan.

For further information please contact:
Society of Plastics Engineers

Wayne Hertlein – MMI Engineered Solutions: whertlein@mmi-es.com
Chris Williams – MMI Engineered Solutions: cwilliams@mmi-es.com