Written on 12.12.2012 - Personnel
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Watson wins PFA Herman Stone Technical Excellence Award

The Polyurethane Foam Association (PFA) recently announced that Stuart Watson was the winner of the fall 2012 Herman Stone Technical Excellence Award.

Watson's presentation of “Precision and Bias of the CertiPUR-US Test Method for Volatile Organic Compounds”, scored highest among the seven papers presented during the PFA Fall General Business Meeting and Technical Program in Hilton Head Island, SC, USA. Watson, an industry consultant and Board member of the Alliance for Flexible Polyurethane Foam, was formerly senior vice president of the Carpenter Company, for whom he worked 23 years. Watson earned his doctorate in polymer chemistry and engineering from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Watson's paper focused on analysing the consistency and reproducibility, precision, and possible bias of the small chamber test method for testing volatile organic compounds in flexible polyurethane foam that is part of the CertiPUR-US programme protocol. Analysis of the test method revealed that the data were normally distributed and that no statistically significant difference between testing chambers or operators existed, and the test could reproducibly distinguish between the high and low emission samples.

PFA Technical Program presentations are scored by meeting attendees. Comparative average scores are calculated based on the number of ballots submitted. Seven papers were presented at the PFA fall Technical Program. Watson's paper is co-authored with Douglas Sullivan, executive director of the Alliance for Flexible Polyurethane Foam, which administers the CertiPUR-US foam certification programme.

The objective of the Herman Stone Technical Excellence award is to encourage the sharing of technical innovations, the use of scientific methodology, and professionalism in presentation technique. The award was created by the Herman Stone family in honour of Stone's 80^th birthday. Dr. Stone is a renowned researcher, inventor, expert in flexible polyurethane foam production technology, and a leading contributor to the FPF industry. In 2007, Dr. Stone was inducted into the Flexible Polyurethane Foam Hall of Fame, housed virtually at www.pfa.org.