SOUTHFIELD—The American Society of Mechanical Engineers Metro Detroit Section will hold an online meeting Thursday, Dec. 15 from 4 to 5 p.m. on “Polyurethane foams: Current advances and future perspectives for automotive applications.”
To register for this free event, visit this link.
ASME officials said polyurethane based foams in the automotive market was a $10.7 billion market in 2020, and is expected to reach $20 billion by 2031, a compound annua growth rate of nearly 6%.
Presenters at the event will be Sandeep Tamrakar and Owen Li.
Sandeep Tamrakar is a research engineer at Ford’s Research and Innovation Center with the responsibility of research and development of sustainable and natural fiber reinforced polymer composites for interior and under-hood applications. He has authored more than 15 peer-reviewed publications and has presented in more than 20 conference proceedings. He has more than 12 years of experience in polymer composites in the areas of fiber matrix interfaces, viscoelastic behavior, high strain rate characterization and durability analysis of composite materials. He earned a Master of Science degree from the University of Maine and a PhD from the Universit of Delaware, both in civil engineering.
Owen Li is a researcher in Ford’s Advanced Polymer Technologies group. His area of focus is development of advanced and sustainable polyurethane foams for seating, under-hood, and battery applications. Prior to joining Ford, he researched sustainable personal heating and cooling devices at the University of California Berkeley’s Center for the Built Environment. He earned a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering from the University of California Berkeley.
Topics to be covered the significance of polyurethane foam, research on sustainable materials, flash graphene, boron nitride, graphite recycled from batteries, and more.
Attendees are eligible for a Professional Development Certificate showing one professional development hour of credit. Attendees desiring this credit should indicate it on the registration form.