François DE BUYL received his PhD in Organometallic Chemistry from University of Brussels, Belgium (1991) and an MSc in Advanced Material Sciences from University of Surrey, UK (2003). He joined Dow Corning Europe in 1991 and worked on various silicone based materials development and applications, such as, e.g., silicone sealant & adhesives, organosilanes, thermoplastics and (silicone) rubbers reinforcements, and coatings, before joining the Dow Silicones Belgium Silicone Elastomers TS&D team back in 2011, helping for instance lighting and optical companies (Tier 1 and OEMs) using silicone in their LED lamps and luminaires designs, with products such as, e.g., optical moldable silicones, optical encapsulants, thermal interface materials, adhesives and coatings for lighting fixtures protection and assembly.
Kurt Manigatter is CEO of ELMET GmbH, a worldwide well known LSR Mold-and Molding- specialist also known as supplier for LSR dosing systems. Kurt holds a Master of Engineering degree and is graduate of Technical High School, Austria. He started his carrier as designer in a shipyard and was responsible for development of automation of technical processes, to build ships as automatically as possible. After 9 years empirical knowledge he changed to the mechanical industry to develop drive concepts. After additional 5 years he changed into his passion, the mold making and automation branch. 3 years he was employed at the market leader for LSR molds. Then he quit his job and founded ELMET GmbH. He is known as an expert for LSR solutions and frequent lecturer and part of advisory boards.
Stefan works for Aptiv Services Deutschland GmbH, located in Wuppertal. He started at Kabelwerke Reinshagen as a tool maker in 1981. He holds a degree in Machinery Engineering from University Wuppertal and a Degree in Since and Economics of University Dortmund.
He held various positions at Reinshagen and later at Delphi Automotive System in Tool & Process Engineering and Operations.
He was 7 Years Plant manager of Delphi Wuppertal Plant and since 2013 he is responsible for Global manufacturing Engineering for LSR. He was 7 Years Plant manager of Delphi Wuppertal Plant and since 2013 he is responsible for Global manufacturing Engineering for LSR
Dr. Hans Peter Wolf studied Chemistry at the University Frankfurt and completed his Ph-D. in inorganic Chemistry 1988 with the dissertation work about „Gasphase reactions on Raney Nickel and with shock cooled zinc“.
He started his career at Dow Corning in November 1988 and worked as research and TS&D chemist for direct process and automotive market until 1991. From 1992 -1996 he worked in the supply chain organization as Upgrade Engineer and later as Elastomer Production Leader in Wiesbaden. Between 1997- 2007 he was Manager of the application technology and technical service team for silicone rubber in Europe.
From 2008 to 2019 he was Global Research and Development Manager for Silicone Rubber. He retired from DOW end November 2019.
Dr. Ralf-Urs Giesen studied Mechanical Engineering specialized in polymer process engineering at University of Paderborn/Germany, after that he made his PhD at the University of Kassel/Germany. In 2009 he took up employment as scientific assistant in the Institute for Materials Technology, Department Polymer Technology at University of Kassel/Germany. Currently Mr. Giesen is the managing director of the Polymer Application Center (called UNIpace) of the University of Kassel and also the head of the division UNIpace in the department of Polymer Technology.
Oliver studied Mechanical Engineering and Plastics Technology at RWTH Aachen / IKV in Germany and received his diploma in 1990. He started his professional career at Dätwyler / Switzerland as a project leader for rubber precision parts for the Automotive Industry. In 1996, Oliver joined DuPont-Dow Elastomers as Market Development Manager for Automotive. Between 2001 and 2003 he was the commercial director at Omnexus in Europe. In 2004 he joined Momentive Performance Materials in Automotive Marketing for Elastomers and became the Global Marketing Leader of this segment. Since 2020 he supports Sigma Engineering in Strategic Marketing.
Gary Crutchley graduated in 1990 with an honours degree in Applied Chemistry, awarded by Aston University in the UK. Between 1990 and 2000 he was employed by Dunlop Tyres UK in various tyre materials development roles including compounding and cord reinforcement. In 2000 he joined Kumho European Technical Centre, where he undertook the development of novel and existing tyre materials for the South Korean tyre manufacturer.
In 2007 Gary joined Smithers as a polymer consultant specialising in consultancy activities in relation to elastomeric materials. In his role he now has over sixteen years’ experience in working with a wide range of rubber materials, in activities focussed on failure diagnosis, development, process support, and expert witness services. Currently as Lead Consultant with Smithers MSE he manages a small team of polymer and training consultants, and has gained experience with a wide range of polymers in their diverse applications, whilst supporting a global client base to solve often technically challenging problems.
