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Air taxis and delivery vehicles—whether piloted or autonomous—could be ready for daily use as soon as 2023, according to some forecasts. If so, this urban air mobility (UAM) market will create growing business opportunities for suppliers and processors of specialty…

Automakers around the world continue to invest billions to advance electronic vehicles (EVs) as sustainable and desirable transportation options. Despite their efforts, two nagging problems persist: how to rapidly recharge a battery—ideally in 5 minutes or less—and extend range beyond…

The Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) has acquired 3Dnatives, a French company that produces a media platform and international events for professionals in 3D printing, additive manufacturing, and their related market applications.

Experts gather in Brussels to discuss developments in additives, pigments, dyes and masterbatches At this year’s SPE Additives and Color Europe conference, industry executives from Europe and other parts of the world came together to talk about the latest in…

80 Years and Counting Exactly 80 years ago, Fred O. Conley of Detroit and two colleagues signed incorporation papers in Michigan and the Society of Plastics Engineers was born. Conley was a major figure in the development of SPE: He…

The writer and humorist Mark Twain observed that “Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence in society.” Twain was speaking in the 19th century. In the 21st century, a similar thought can be expressed about numbers,…

One of the most notorious flops in U.S product development history was the Edsel, which Ford Motor Co. made from 1957 to 1959. The Edsel was conceived to capture a greater share of the expanding medium-price-range car market at a…

Treaty Trouble? A recent international agreement could result in supercharged versions of anti-plastics measures of the type we’ve seen for years. In Nairobi, Kenya, on March 2, the United Nations Environment Assembly adopted a resolution (one of 14) aimed at…

Developments in technology increase reuse processes and the quality of recyclate Plastics are hogging the limelight these days, for better or worse. From National Public Radio to The Atlantic to the Financial Times to local town councils, everyone is talking…

Enhanced colorants complement multiple needs including sustainability and product circularity Much work is underway in new and upgraded formulations for pigments and colorants of all types—solids, concentrates, liquids, organics and inorganics. Driving these efforts are evolving areas like recycling and…