Guest column: Education, training remain key focuses for association

The ACS Rubber Division continues to evolve. Our Elastomer Training Center is completed, along with its smart classroom, and has already started offering new courses. This is just a part of our focus on education. We believe this is the future of our industry, that is, to educate the new generation of technicians, chemists, engineers and others who will become the foundation of tomorrow.

With this, the Division is merging two long-standing committees into one. The Strategic Partnership Committee and the Education & Publications Committee will become the new Strategic Education Committee. Both committees are aligned to hold a joint meeting during the 2019 International Elastomer Conference to build a new charter and mission that will be used for strategic education partnerships, creating new technical and business-oriented courses, and filling in the pathway from componentry to chemistry, Chairman Mike Morrow's idea and theme.

Several steps in this pathway have already been created, such as our education partnership with Akron Rubber Development Laboratories. We are also in the process of developing a new Componentry Manufacturers Group, aimed at building partnerships with manufacturers to offer expertise and courses along the componentry pathway. More details will be discussed during the 2019 IEC.

The Strategic Education Committee will also work hand-in-hand with Nicole Neila, our training and development manager, to vet and bring new education courses into the Elastomer Training Center as new resources for our members and others in the industry. In addition to these courses being available to all, Nicole is working with our local rubber groups and other partners to enhance high school and college programs to educate and promote our industry to those who will become our workforce of the future. If you have time during IEC 2019, stop and speak to Nicole about her exciting new programs.

This year's International Elastomer Conference will be exceptional, with over 260 exhibitors showcasing their products and services in 60,000 square feet of booth space. It also includes the largest Technical Symposia in Rubber Division history, with 144 technical presentations and the Student Colloquium with 15 oral presentations and nine posters. Several more exciting additions to the conference include the Division's Women's Pre-conference Workshop, which we hope to build into a separate Women of Rubber Conference in the future; the Young Professionals Open Forum, which is a prelude to a new Young Professionals Committee and programs; the Get Involved! sessions where you can learn how to become more involved in the Division's activities, committees and board; and the Presentation Skills Workshop where you can learn how to give a professional presentation.

The 2019 International Elastomer Conference is just weeks away. It will be held Oct. 8-10 at the Huntington Convention Center in Cleveland, Ohio. It features the Expo, 196th Technical Meeting, Educational Symposium, Student Colloquium, Career Fair, Business & Awards Meeting, the new events previously mentioned, and our keynote speaker, Ramani Narayan, a Michigan State University distinguished professor, speaking about our "Circular Economy and the concept of no leakage into the natural environment." As always, the IEC also includes the 25-Year Club Luncheon, free Welcome Reception and the semi-annual 5K Run/Walk presented by H.M. Royal, Inc.

I hope to see you all at this annual International Elastomer Conference, especially since it will be my last official event as executive director. After 19 years, I am retiring in January 2020. I am very pleased with the Steering Committee's selection of Lakisha Miller-Barclay, our current Director of Finance & Administration, to succeed me as executive director.

She is professional, personable, and is extremely knowledgeable in Rubber Division operations and future focus. Her expertise in finance, legal and human resources will be an asset in her new position. Lakisha is well-liked by the Rubber Division team and I am fully confident in her ability to lead the Division into the next evolution of services and programs for our members and the rubber industry.

This has been a wonderful end to my 52-year multiple careers in the Air Force, as president of the Asphalt Institute and as the first executive director of the Rubber Division. I thank every one of you who have supported me through the years, especially our board and the entire Rubber Division team of whom I have had the pleasure to work with.