MOUNT VERNON — Representatives from polymer-based industries all over the state gathered at the Dan Emmett Conference Center on Tuesday for a forum on emerging technologies.

Ohio is the nation’s leading state in polymer technology, according to Wayne Earley, the executive director of PolymerOhio, an industry networking group. There are 2,800 polymer-based companies in the state and these employ 140,000 people. He said the industry is growing all the time.

Replex Plastics of Mount Vernon hosted the forum, which contained a series of presentations. One of the presentations showed a particular technique that involves the infusion of color in the manufacturing of plastic parts: a technique that can lead to large savings for companies who produce such products.

Mark Scheutz, president of Replex, said the method of color infusion allows companies to colorize plastic parts in as many different colors and quantities at a fraction of the previous cost.

“If you’re making blue widgits and you want to make blue widgits, there’s a big cost involved in changing one color to another,” he said.

Scheutz said, the traditional method of coloring plastics consists of mixing a dye or pigment with the polymer before creating any molding or form. Aura Color Infusion Technology, developed by Bayer MaterialScience, infuses color at the molecular level into parts made from clear, translucent or opaque resins. It does not however apply any kind of color coating. He said the color can be added after such a clear or translucent molding is created, which eliminates a big headache and cost to the manufacturer.

Earley said there are only about three to six of these events in the state per year. There were 42 people who attended, including representatives from 30 different companies from all over the state. He said this event was the first held in Mount Vernon, adding that it was held here largely because of the work Replex Plastics did to organize the forum.

Earley said polymers include materials such as rubber, paint, adhesives, sealants, inks and other materials, in addition to plastics. All of these items could be described as materials containing plastic, but they are quite different from plastic. He said one of PolymerOhio’s responsibilities is to attract new companies to the state.

Nanotechnology was another topic discussed at the forum. This is the technology of engineering products at the level of tiny units, units whose mass is less than one micron. Sharell Mikesell, Ph.D., co-director of the OSU Center for Multifunctional Polymer Nanomaterials and Devices, said Ohio is one of the top five leaders in the nation in nanotechnology.

Earley said there is a lot of knowledge and experience in the field of nanotechnology in the state. This will attract researchers and companies.

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