Dr. Norm Kakarala named 2014 SPE Lifetime Achievement Award Winner

DR. Norm Kakarala, who has had a notable 46-year career in automotive plastics at companies like General Motors Corp., Delphi Corp., Inteva Products LLC, and Uniroyal Tire Co., has been named the 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award winner by the Automotive Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE). He will be honored for his role leading automotive plastics and composites innovations at the 44th-annual Automotive Innovation Awards Gala on November 12, 2014 at Burton Manor in Livonia, Mich.

First given in the year 2000, the award recognizes the technical achievements of individuals whose work – in research, design, and/or engineering, etc. – has led to significant integration of polymeric materials on passenger vehicles. 

Dr. Norm Kakarala was selected as this year's Lifetime Achievement Award winner for his extensive work during a career spanning almost five decades as a technical specialist in the area of polymers, composites, and thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) formulations, including adhesives, coatings, and rubber.  He is well known for his work in understanding structure-property relations, and the influence of forming processes like injection molding, sheet extrusion, and thermoforming on materials.  He has a strong background as a technical liaison between product development and production implementation of automotive plastics. He also has designed accelerated laboratory tests to predict product-service performance of automotive plastic components, many of which have subsequently been adopted as industry standards.

SPE’s Automotive Innovation Awards Program is the oldest and largest competition of its kind in the world. Dozens of teams made up of OEMs, tier suppliers, and polymer producers submit nominations describing their part, system, or complete vehicle and why it merits the claim as the Year’s Most Innovative Use of Plastics.  This annual event typically draws over 700 OEM engineers, automotive and plastics industry executives, and media.  As is customary, funds raised from this event are used to support SPE educational efforts and technical seminars, which help educate and secure the role of plastics in the advancement of the automobile.