Workshops
Designed to provide an in-depth exploration of technical performance opportunities and industry critical topics.
Optional workshops hosted over two days gave attendees the opportunity to dig deeper with technical and industry leaders on what is possible when Ingeo is considered not in isolation, but holistically, as a part of an integrated system - the material, the process conditions, and the final product.
Monday, September 10
Catalina East
Tailoring Ingeo's Physical Properties for Applications Development
This workshop provides an overview of polymer properties including polyolefins, polyesters, polyamides, and how they lead to developing performance attributes in downstream applications. Case studies will accompany each workshop section.
Overview of polymer properties including polyolefins, polyesters, polyamides, and how they lead to developing performance attributes in downstream applications
Joe Schroeder
Lead Chemist, NatureWorks
Leveraging Ingeo's molecular composition and inherent hydrophilicity for superior performance in hygiene and personal care applications
Aman Kulshrestha
Principal Scientist, NatureWorks
Advantaged thermal performance in appliances from Ingeo’s barrier properties
Osei Owusu
Sr. Material Scientist, NatureWorks
Balancing Melt Strength and Viscosity: Tailoring Ingeo's Rheology to Increase Processing Efficiency
Joshua Weed
Sr. Scientist, NatureWorks
Catalina West
Understanding Ingeo in a Low-Carbon and Circular Economy Context
This workshop provides an in-depth briefing on the role of Ingeo biomaterials in a low-carbon, circular economy from responsible sourcing to enabling appropriate recovery options like composting and recycling.
Experts in these areas from NatureWorks will cover topics such as: latest work in feedstock sustainability and certification, an update on relevant regional/global regulations, strategies and pilots to increase the recovery of Ingeo, and the latest Ingeo LCA and eco-profile data.
Mariagiovanna Vetere
Global Public Affairs Manager, NatureWorks
Becky Brooks
Regulatory Affairs Manager, NatureWorks
Erwin Vink
Sustainability Manager, NatureWorks
Tim Goodman
Cradle to Cradle Manager, NatureWorks
Tuesday, September 11
Catalina East
Extrusion Equipment Engineering for PLA: Theory and Practice
This workshop provides an approach for properly engineering extruder screws and dies for processing PLA resins. The material properties will be discussed, and appropriate design criteria will be defined. Then, we will demonstrate how to apply the design criteria to perform engineering calculations for single screw extruder and flow channel design and optimization. The workshop is taught through a troubleshooting approach in which poor designs are investigated and new designs are proposed then verified empirically.
Workshop Outline:
- Introduction to PLA rheology
- Process Design Criteria
- Extruder Performance and Mixing
- Adaptor and Die Optimization
- Troubleshooting
Tim Womer
President, TWWomer & Associates, LLC
John Perdikoulias
Vice President, COMPUPLAST
Aragon IB
Marketing Claims & Regulatory Compliance Overview for 3D Printing
With a manufacturing process that can make anything, complying with global regulatory laws and marketing guidelines can be challenging. Join this workshop for a focused review of regulatory and marketing claims do's/don'ts with topics covering:
- Regulatory | food compliance, REACH, EH&S, medical compliance
- Marketing | EOL, bio-based, carbon footprint, and performance claims
Becky Brooks
Regulatory Affairs Manager, NatureWorks
Leah Ford
Global Marketing & Communications Manager, NatureWorks
Mitzi Ng Clark
Partner, Keller & Heckman LLP
Don’t just take our word for it
I strongly recommend Innovation Takes Root. It's a good opportunity to understand and see what happens in this area of biopolymers. It's an international event and not just on PLA. I think it's well done, well-managed, and well-organized. It was a good investment for me.
Innovation Expert - Polymers, Electrolux
I'd definitely come back (to ITR) and recommend it. I think many different industries could learn something from a conference like this - it really is focused on the next level of sustainability.
Vice President, Titan Robotics
It has been a wonderful event; very well organized. I especially appreciate the scheduling of activities, the alternation of speeches, and time to network, which has been one of the key successes from my point of view. We also felt very supported by your team; we had the feeling you believe in what Flo is doing and, for us, that's very important.
Operations Director, Flo S.p.A.