Professor Prashant K. Jain Receives Baekeland Award
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Madison, NJ – On May 12, 2022
Professor Prashant K. Jain, Alumni Research Scholar and Professor of Chemistry, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign received the Leo Hendrik Baekeland Award at a ceremony and symposium hosted by the North Jersey Section of the American Chemical Society (ACS) which was held at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison, New Jersey. 
The prestigious award, established in 1944, is given out every two years to a chemist under the age of 40. It commemorates the technical and industrial achievements of Bakelite inventor Leo Hendrik Baekeland, who is known as “the father of plastics”. The award honors and encourages younger chemists to emulate Baekeland’s innovative approaches to applied science and consists of a gold medal and a $5,000 honorarium. 
Natalie LaFranzo PhD, ACS Director-At-Large, Prof. Prashant K. Jain, Qi Gao, Organizing Board Chair
In Professor Jain’s acceptance speech and presentation, titled: The Photification of Chemical Manufacturing, he expressed deep appreciation for the award, along with an abiding interest in the innovation of earth-friendly chemicals and plastics. Other speakers were distinguished pioneers in nanotechnology, photochemistry, properties of materials and macromolecular structures and dynamics. They were Prof. George Schatz, Northwestern University, Prof. Naomi Halas, Rice University, Prof. Robert Field, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Prof. Paul Weiss, University of California, Los Angeles.
Drs. Burkhard Wagner and Louis Pilato, who appear in "All Things Bakelite: The Age of Plastic", Prof. Jain and Executive Producer Hugh Karraker 
Also, representing The L.H. Baekeland Project, Hugh and John presented the short video, "The Story of Bakelite" and distributed DVDs and handouts printed for the event.
Front row: Qi Gao, Paul Weiss, PhD Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, UCLA,
Alan Cooper, Head of Chemistry at Bantam Pharmaceutical, LLC
Lenfell Hall in The Mansion at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Florham Campus
Jill Mesonas, Chemical Engineer MBA wrote Hugh: "You must be so proud to be related to someone who truly changed the world!!!"
Afterwards, organizing committee chair Qi Gao hosted Hugh, John, Burk, Prashant, other presenters, and her colleagues from Merck & Co. to a wonderful dinner.
We are grateful to Qi and her committee for their warm hospitality and for inviting us to participate in this significant ACS event honoring Professor Jain and commemorating Leo Baekeland. 
Photos courtesy of the North Jersey Section of the American Chemical Society
John Maher Presents Film at Society of
Plastics Engineers Conference
Madison, WI – On May 18, 2022
Director John Maher presented the short version of the film, “All Things Bakelite: The Age of Plastic”, to the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) Thermoset TopCon 2022 event in Madison, Wisconsin. The two-day conference, held at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center, brought together many leaders in industry and professors and students of polymer science to learn about opportunities for thermoset innovations in multiple markets, including Agriculture, Aerospace, Wind Energy, Marine, Medical, and many more. SPE, founded in 1942, is an international organization of more than 22,500 professionals dedicated to the advancement of knowledge and education in the plastics industry and academia.
TopCon organizing board chairman, Len Nunnery, gave John Maher a warm welcome.
John Maher at TopCon 2022
Professor Timothy A. Osswald, PhD, Director of the Polymer Engineering Center,
University of Wisconsin-Madison 
Len Nunnery, Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Technical Services at PLENCO, a plastics engineering company in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, introduced John, representing The L.H. Baekeland Project. Len cited the film’s contribution to understanding the history of plastics and Leo Baekeland’s role in finding innovative applications for Bakelite. John reports that the conference was well-attended and that he was pleased to give out copies of the film.
We thank Len Nunnery and Teri Chouinard of the organizing board for providing John the opportunity to present the short version of "All Things Bakelite: The Age of Plastic" during the program. 
About his experience, John said, "Len Nunnery gave me a nice introduction. After the film, I was invited to attend the final board meeting and dinner with creators of the TopCon Conference. Altogether, an informative and enjoyable trip to Wisconsin.”
Walter Schutz, John Maher, Teri Chouinard, Greg Spaeth, Len Nunnery, Rick Faulk

All photos courtesy of SPE
BAKELITE QUIZ - LAST CALL FOR ENTRIES
The L.H. Baekeland Project announces The Bakelite Quiz that appeared in its Spring 2022 Newsletter has not received a winning entry. The Bakelite Quiz offers readers a chance to guess the name and purpose of an obscure Bakelite item from a photo the newsletter publishes in each edition. The winner will receive a vintage Bakelite item and a DVD box set of the film, which includes additional content. We invite all readers to submit their guess to [email protected].

Hint: It's a kitchen tool used in the preparation of a ubiquitous Belgian delicacy. 
We will notify the winner by email and reveal the name of the mystery object and its use in our next newsletter.
Bonus prizes offered to Quiz winner(s) that send a screenshot of their follow/like/share of our website allthingsbakelite.com, adding #bakelitequiz.
Thank you for playing and good luck!
For continuing updates on the activities and interests of The L.H. Baekeland Project, including our Newsletter ~ News and Thoughts from The L. H. Baekeland Project and the film All Things Bakelite: The Age of Plastic, please connect with us on: