Sixteen years ago Smithers Rapra launched its first TPE conference. The 2013 event “Thermoplastic Elastomers 2013” will take place in Duesseldorf, 15-16 October 2013 in the run-up to K 2013 (16-23 October 2013). The programme is now available:

08.55 Opening Address
Conference Chair Patrick Ellis, Associate Consultant, Smithers Rapra, France

KEYNOTE SESSION

09.00 Innovation takes root in thermoplastic elastomers
Dr. Krishna Venkataswamy, Senior Global Technology Director, GLS Thermoplastic Elastomers, PolyOne Corporation, USA

09.30 The TPE industry: maturity, growth and regional dynamics
Robert Eller, President, Robert Eller Associates LLC, USA

10.00 Requirements of TPEs for the automotive industry
Dr Valentina Cerato, Senior Materials Engineer, Ford Motor Company Ltd, UK & Dr Matthew S Corley, Materials Engineering & Testing, Ford Werke GmbH, Germany

12.10 Characterisation of TP materials and process using specifically designed "rheometric" and "pressure drop" dies for die flow and extrudate cooling analysis
Mahmoud Oumohand, Manager Product Development CAE, Cooper Standard, France

13.50 New TPE solutions for synthetic leather in automotive and other markets
Akira Sannomiya, Assistant Manager Sales & Marketing -Elastomers Division, Mitsui Chemicals, Inc, Japan

14.20 TPV contra styrene block copolymers (SBC) in several automotive applications
Ger Vroomen, Strategic Marketing Director Automotive, Teknor Apex, The Netherlands

SESSION 3: Material Developments

14.50 A new heat and oil resistant TPV
Dr. Dirk Kilian, R.Bieringer, D. Ecknig, H.-M.Issel, & C.Klingshirn, Unimatec Chemicals Europe GmbH & Co. KG, Germany

16.00 Electrically conductive and flame retardant thermoplastic elastomers
Dipl.-Ing (FH) Christian Berg, Chemical Engineer, Müller Kunststoffe GmbH & Dipl.-Wirt. Ing Sven-M. Druwen, European Sales Coordinator, HEXPOL TPE, Germany

16.30 Recovery management of thermoplastic elastomers
Laurent Millier, Senior Research Scientist, PolyOne Th. Bergmann GmbH, & Dr. Liang Xu, Product Development Manager, GLS Thermoplastic Elastomers, PolyOne Corporation, USA

Wednesday 16 October

09.00 Increasing renewable, bio-based content in co-polyester TPE: results from two different approaches
Francis Aussems, Innovation Manager, DSM, The Netherlands

09.30 Olefin block copolymers - a sustainable solution for TPE compounds
Dr. Olaf Henschke, Technical Service and Development, Dow Elastomers, Switzerland

10.00 Paper to be confirmed

SESSION 5: Innovative TPEs for the Consumer Markets

11.10 New TPE materials for the consumer electronic market
Dr. Martin Geissinger, Product Management, Kraiburg TPE GmbH & Co. KG, Germany

11.40 Estane aliphatic TPU novelties for non-yellowing automotive, electronics and industrial applications
MariaJosep Riba, Technical Service & Applications Manager for Estane Elastomers - EMEAI, Lubrizol Advanced Materials Manufacturing Spain S.L.

12.10 Hydrophilic PEBA for healthcare applications
Laure Berdin, Market Development Engineer, Specialty Polyamides Division, Arkema, France

12.40 New low styrene SBS block copolymers for elastomeric films
Andre J. Uzee, Sr. Research Scientist, Global Technology Manager - Elastics, Dexco Polymers, USA