Dallas, January 2, 2019– Sekisui Specialty Chemicals (SSC) sponsored the 6th Annual Applied Polymer Technology (APTEC) Extension Consortium Symposium hosted by Southeastern Louisiana University at Hammond Louisiana on November 17th, 2018. Brad Wurm, head of R&D at the Houston Technology Center, and Xiaonan Singer, member of the R&D department, represented the company at the daylong event.
SSC has been a long term sponsor of APTEC, with Brad Wurm serving as one of the board members. This professional relationship has benefited both parties greatly. APTEC serves as a talent pool for summer interns and provides opportunities for university collaboration. Two excellent summer interns were recruited via APTEC connections in 2018. From student’s perspective, participating summer intern program helps develop technical and social skills for working in a team environment while also furthering future job prospects.
The highlight of this year’s conference was the keynote speaker, Professor Tim Lodge from University of Minnesota. He gave a talk about new trends in polymer science and his recent work on self-assembly behavior of methylcellulose. In the poster session later, SSC members actively interacted with students to better understand their projects and potentially discover candidates for future internships. During the “speed date” session, SSC members explained typical recruiting process and gave students tips on how to prepare for job interviews. These conversations were also a great opportunity to connect with the university’s professors, several of whom expressed interest in collaboration in the future. “It’s a great platform for bringing together academia and industry to learn from each other” said Xiaonan about the event. Sekisui Specialty Chemicals looks forward to sponsoring the 2019 consortium and meeting more bright students next year.
For more information on the Applied Polymer Technology Consortium, visit their website at http://www.appliedpolymertechnology.org/