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1997: Past Meetings

The following is a summary of previously held meetings in 1997 listed in reverse chronological order.
October 28, 1997 Topic: The Future of ACC&CE
Ernest A. Coleman, President of ACC&CEErnest A. Coleman, President of the Association of Consulting Chemists & Chemical Engineers, Inc. is also CEO of his own consulting company C P Technology, Inc. The Technology Division of CPT places temporary workers in chemical, health care, and related technology based industries in the Fairfield County area of CT. He is a founding member of the Polymer Modifiers & Additives Division of SPE and he currently serves on the board of that Division and the Marketing and Management Division of SPE. He was elected Fellow of the Society in 1994. He reviews books for SPE and writes the TECHWATCH column in Plastics Formulating & Compounding magazine.
He has worked with many different polymers, engineering and commodity thermoplastics, thermosets, and both silicone and fluoropolymers. He specializes in surface modification, plastic additives, and modern manufacturing practices. He was elected president of ACC&CE in 1996.
ACC&CE is a dynamic organization. This year we hired an Executive Secretary with a background in chemistry/chemical engineering, put up a new Web Site, and voted to use E-mail and polling faxes to get requests for consultant services from prospective clients to members quickly.
Both President Coleman and Vice President elect Armbruster will visit The Netherlands in late 1997 to discuss adding a group of European technical consultants to ACC&CE in 1998. We are expanding the basic idea of helping each other to find the very best consultant for the client.
New Council members are being elected from all over the U.S. (and eventually the WORLD). We are looking to E-mail and private chat rooms as the meeting rooms of the future. Physical meetings between members are encouraged because networking is so important to us. Mini-meetings in different cities around the world to improve our consulting talents and service to clients are the goal of this program.
September 30, 1997 Topic: “Case Histories in Innovation”
Speaker: Dr. Peter R. Lantos, The Target GroupThe road to success in launching a new business, a new product line, or a new product, is a tricky one, full of pitfalls. In this presentation we will explore some real-life case histories developed during the last few years to see whether we can learn anything from them.
The presentation will be an interactive one. For each example, facts will be presented at several stages of the project after which we will discuss what the appropriate next step might be and where that might lead. Since each case is a true historic one, we will also learn where that project eventually ended up.
Peter R. Lantos is president of The Target Group, a consulting firm in Philadelphia specializing in the plastics and specialty chemical industries. He holds a Ph. D. in chemical engineering and is a certified management consultant, and a professional engineer.
Prior to starting The Target Group in 1980, he had served in senior management positions in industry, including Du Pont, Celanese, Sun Chemical, Rhodia and Arco Chemical. With those companies he gained expertise in R&D, commercial development, market research and strategic planning. This expertise has helped The Target Group serve Fortune 500 clients such as AlliedSignal, Shell, Miles, PPG and Hercules, as well as smaller corporations (Pawnee, Continental Southern) and off- shore firms (Hosokawa Micron, Nichimen, Hoechst). During 17 years, The Target Group has completed over 150 single-client assignments for about 70 companies.
June 24, 1997 Topic: New Members Night
Michael B. Riordan, member #853
Elliot Goldberg, member #855
Bernard Ennis, member #860
Eugene Zador, member #862Four of our new members will each give a brief presentation on their consulting expertise and experience.
Come meet these new colleagues and along with other members, network, make and renew your friendships, and make plans for the Fall schedule.
Don’t forget to mark your calendar for the CHEM SHOW on November 18-20, 1997 at the Javits Convention Center in New York City. The November ACC&CE meeting will be during the CHEM SHOW on WEDNESDAY November 19, 1997. Contact the ACC&CE office to sign up for booth duty and exposure during the show.
April 22, 1997 Topic: “Opportunities In Technology Transfer”
H. Carroll Brooke Carroll Brooke is President of Fairfield Capital Management, a consulting firm focused on business development through technology commercialization, business plan development, and raising private equity capital. Most recently, he initiated and established a $4 million technology transfer fund to start new companies with university-based technology.
Mr. Brooke has both large corporate and entrepreneurial experience. He has been a principal in founding four businesses including two sold to Fortune 1000 companies and another initially capitalized through a public offering. He also has twenty-seven years of corporate experience at Pitney Bowes, which includes product development management, corporate and financial management, financial planning, budgeting, mergers and acquisitions, and capital investments. Mr. Brooke began his career at the Chase Manhattan Bank in the Global Credit Department.
Mr. Brooke has a BA in economics from Cornell University, an MBA in finance from Columbia University Graduate School of Business and is a Certified Management Accountant.
Mr. Brooke will discuss recent experiences in commercializing technology from corporations and universities. He will include new technology business development in Connecticut.
March 25, 1997 Topic: “Chemical Process Simulation”
Dr. Anthony J. Gerbino
Dr. Gerbino is a Senior Scientist at OLI Systems. He provides technical support to OLI’s client service organization and sales force. He earned his Ph.D. at Rice University where his research focused on mineral scaling and brine chemistry in oil an gas production. OLI Systems is the world’s leading provider of software for the modeling of complex aqueous systems. Over the past 25 years, OLI has designed and developed (at a cost of more than $20 MM) thermodynamic based, aqueous simulation software which calculates the physical and chemical behavior of virtually any mixture of chemicals under almost any condition of interest. OLI uses this software to provide solutions for problems in the Oil & Gas, Chemical Process, mining, pharmaceutical and environmental industries. In connection with the Chemical Process Industries. Dr. Gerbino will discuss the computer modeling of aqueous systems for engineering design and process optimization. The topics will include: (1) aqueous chemistry and its influence on the behavior of chemical systems, (2) a modeling approach for complex problems and concentrated solutions, (3) applications in mineral scaling, corrosion, co-precipitation, biotreatment, ceramic precipitation, VLE, and solubility calculations and (4) case studies showing how process problems were solved and the benefits realized in time, resources and ultimately cost.
February 25, 1997 Topic: “ACC&CE, the World Wide Web/Internet and You”
Alex Brez Alex Brez is a founder and principle of Computer Solutions, Inc. He is the principal architect of the internet site known as The WWW Chemist Guide which is being recognized as the premier Chemical Industry site on the WIDE WORLD WEB.
Alex has been associated with data processing for the past 30 years. He has been VP of Systems and Programming for the life insurance division of the Chubb Corporation and was also VP of Consulting for International Data Processing.
The current relationship between Computer Solutions and the Association of Consulting Chemists and Chemical Engineers is very unique. Alex will discuss the existing relationship and will address the importance of building on this relationship to take maximum advantage of current Internet opportunities.
This will be an interactive session. Attendees will be encouraged to participate and are asked to bring Internet related recommendations and suggestions.
January 28, 1997 Topic: “Plastic Recycling-Breaking the Rules”
Celeste Johnson Celeste Johnson is President and Founder of Obex, Inc. a Stamford-based manufacturer whose officers, employees and shareholders are committed to the improvement of our environment by using 100% MIXED waste plastic as the raw material in their production process. She is responsible for setting the goals and strategy of the company, as well as directing the development of the technology, and establishing the markets for the various product designs made from NovaWood, Obex’s trademarked product. Novawood products have been recommended (based upon performance testing) by such prestigious organizations as the American Horticultural Society and Organic Gardening Magazine among others.
Celeste is a founding member of the Critical Technologies Advisory Board, a joint venture with the CT Dept. of Economic Development. and the Univ. of CT’s Institute of Materials Science. She was recently appointed to the City of Stamford’s Water Pollution Commission.
In her non-plastic years, Celeste was the business manager of Worldwide Postal Systems at Pitney Bowes, a Security Analyst for Salomon Brothers and an Investment Analyst for Alliance Capital Management Corp.
Ms. Johnson received her A.B. in both Economics and Political Science from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, ME. She was awarded her M.B. A. in Information Management. from the University of CT.