SPE Announces Lifetime Achievement Award Winner

Dr. Rose A. Ryntz, vice president of global advanced development and material engineering at International Automotive Components Group (IAC) has been named the 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award winner by the Automotive Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE). Ryntz is a technical specialist and research leader in automotive plastics technology with more than 35 patents and five trade secrets in production and material technology that have advanced the industry. Her innovations include the development of damage resistant fascias, automotive interior skin technologies for use in seamless passenger airbag instrument panels and interior and exterior automotive coatings on plastics. Her technical support, with several automotive suppliers, led to several Joint Development Agreements further advancing the industry. These include functionally integrated interior automotive components with heating, lighting, and Human Machine Interface (HMI) content, bi-laminate and compact sheet technologies for use in vacuum formed, in-mold grain laminate doors, instrument panels, lightweight technologies incorporating natural fiber and bio-based solutions. 

Ryntz has won more than 20 prestigious industry awards internationally and is respected as an industry expert and a key opinion leader. She has been interviewed over 40 times by industry trade journals, been featured as a keynote speaker more than 15 times, presented more than 120 technical papers worldwide and authored four technical books. Ryntz credits her success to her education, work experience and participation in SPE and other professional associations. She will be honored for her lifetime of industry expertise and innovation, contributing to the advancement of the automotive plastics industry, at the 48^th annual Automotive Innovation Awards Gala on November 7, 2018 at Burton Manor in Livonia, Mich.