Chair
For about 20 years, Narasimharao (Rao) Dontula has worked in the field of materials and associated processes to create masterbatches, films, sheets, for active packaging, imaging, display, membranes, antimicrobials and automotive applications. This work has catalyzed atleast 7 new product and process innovations some of which are protected by the 49 US patents he is associated with. He has published in SPE journals and presented at ANTEC, Polymer Processing Society conferences and FlexPackCon. He holds B.S. M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Chemical Engineering and has been an SPE member since 1990. Earlier, he was on the board of Applied Rheology Division. He also serves on board of other 501c(3) non-profit organizations.
Rao is currently interested in developments made in the areas of active flexible packaging and sustainable flexible packaging. He works at Multisorb (part of Filtration group) in the Healthcare segment.
Chair Elect
SPE International Polyolefins Conference
Donna S. Davis recently retired from her position as Sustainability and Advocacy Manager, Polyethylene, at ExxonMobil Chemical Company. Over her career at ExxonMobil, she has led New Product Development efforts such as the introduction of Exact™ plastomers and other specialty polymers. She entered the polymers world via process design, going back to ExxonMobil’s first gas-phase polyethylene plants in Texas, Saudi Arabia, and Canada. She has been heavily engaged in packaging markets and applications, particularly developing opportunities for ethylene- and propylene-copolymers. Ms. Davis has championed industry-wide technical interaction by organizing programming for Thermoplastic Materials and Foams, Flexible Packaging, Polyolefins, and Sustainability. She has also chaired SPE’s Technical Program Committees and General Operating Committees for SPE’s Annual Technical Conference. She was inducted into the Plastics Hall of Fame in 2018 and served as the 2003-2004 president of the Society of Plastics Engineers. Sponsored by SPE Flexible Packaging division.
Secretary
Secretary
Mr. Robert L. McGee (Bob) is a Research Scientist for Transcendia in new business development group. In this role, he serves as a technical leader for the development and introduction of new polymer film based products for use in Medical, Industrial, and Food and Beverage markets. He has expertise in cast and blown co-extrusion as well as film formulation development. Bob previously worked in various R&D positions at The Dow Chemical Company for 33 years and closely collaborated with the value chain on new product development and implementation during those years. In these various capacities at both companies, he authored or coauthored more than 185 internal scientific reports, has 16 external publications and holds 21 patents. He certified as a Six Sigma Green Belt in 2002. Bob received his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry with a minor in Psychology from Muskingum College and then earned a Master of Science in Chemical Engineering from Ohio University, Athens, where he investigated polymer-processing innovations. He has been a member of the Society of Plastic Engineers since 1994.
Past Chair (2018-2020)
Finance Committee Chair
Councilor
Ken Forziati is a Professional Engineer with 25+ years of experience in the plastics industry focused primarily on machinery for production, converting, and processing of flexible and rigid polymer-based webs. He currently serves as Product Manager – Thermoforming at Harpak-ULMA Packaging, LLC in Taunton, Massachusetts. Ken holds a B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from the University of Virginia, and an MBA from the College of William and Mary.
Treasurer
John Wagner graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a BS and MS in Chemical Engineering. He was co-captain of the Fencing team and assistant coach while in graduate school. He worked in the plastic processing industry for 34 years. First at BF Goodrich Chemical Company in Louisville, KY making PVC resin, compounds and monomers and then at Mobil Chemical Co. Films Division in Macedon, NY doing research and development on biaxial oriented polypropylene (BOPP) retiring in 1998. He has 24 patents, edited and co-edited seven books, authored several book chapters, journal articles and presented papers at national and international seminars. He is a SPE fellow (1998) and honored service member (2015). He is the Treasurer for both the Flexible Packaging Division (2007-present) and the Extrusion Division (2001-present) and has served as Extrusion Division Chair (1996). He became assistant editor for the Journal of Plastic Film & Sheeting in 2001, co-editor in 2007 and now is the editor in chief since 2010. He is also president of Crescent Associates, Inc., a consulting firm that specializes in plastic processing, expert witness testimony and intellectual property. John is married and has two daughters. He enjoys woodworking, traveling and teaching T’ai Chi.
Director
Pak Meng Cham has a Ph.D. of Materials Science and Engineering from Virginia Tech (polymers). He worked in Materials Science and Product Development of polyolefins at The Dow Chemical Company.
For the past 16 years, he’s been with PepsiCo and is currently a Sr. Principal Scientist of Global R&D Foods Packaging – Sustainability, Science & Technology, working on Sustainable Materials Development. Pak is a board member of Go!PHA (Global Organization of PHA), and also advisory board member of Virginia Tech MII (Macromolecules Innovation Institute). He is an inventor of 12 patents.
Director
Sam Crabtree is a senior technical leader and R&D executive with more than 37 years of experience advancing materials science, polymer processing, and manufacturing innovation across the chemical and plastics industries. He is widely recognized for translating complex polymer science into robust, scalable technologies that deliver commercial value.
At Glad (a Clorox brand), Sam serves as a Principal Scientist and technical leader, driving strategy and execution across critical areas including polyethylene film technology, blown film extrusion, advanced materials evaluation, manufacturing process optimization, and consumer‑relevant performance. His current leadership spans supplier technical engagement, resin selection and qualification, pilot plant and manufacturing trials, and experimental programs that connect material choices and processing conditions to both product performance and consumer perception.
In prior global leadership roles, Sam managed and mentored international technical teams while overseeing broad innovation portfolios. He has a strong track record of aligning R&D investment with business priorities—sustaining profitability in mature product lines while enabling growth through differentiated, protected technologies.
Known as a collaborative and disciplined leader, Sam builds effective partnerships across R&D, operations, suppliers, and OEMs to address complex technical challenges. He brings a strong commitment to safety, quality, data‑driven decision‑making, and operational rigor, particularly in environments shaped by global supply chains and manufacturing variability.
Director
Technical Program Chair SPE ANTEC
Mehdi Pakravan is Vice President, Quality and Customer Success at Invera Flexibles, where he supports quality leadership, customer-facing technical excellence, and continuous improvement across flexible packaging operations. He brings nearly 25 years of polymer engineering experience, including more than 15 years in the North American flexible packaging industry.
Mehdi’s expertise spans polymer materials, multilayer blown film coextrusion, lamination, product development, quality systems, and sustainable packaging design. His technical work has focused on structure-property-process relationships and the development of practical, scalable flexible packaging solutions, including high-performance polyethylene films, mono-material recyclable structures, high-PCR content films, and compostable film systems.
Throughout his career, Mehdi has led cross-functional technical, quality, and product development teams in fast-paced manufacturing environments. He is known for combining analytical rigor with collaborative leadership, helping teams translate material science and processing knowledge into commercially relevant packaging solutions.
Mehdi holds a Ph.D. in Polymer Engineering and is passionate about advancing flexible packaging through education, technical collaboration, innovation, and circular economy strategies. He is committed to supporting the flexible packaging community by connecting resin suppliers, converters, brand owners, recyclers, composting stakeholders, and technical professionals around practical solutions that improve both performance and sustainability.
Communications Committee Chair
Pablo Garcia is a Market Developer for Kuraray America’s EVAL Business Unit. In his role, he spearheads EVOH innovation in high gas barrier plastics and paper applications, focusing on advancing sustainable packaging solutions across the Americas.
With a background in Chemical and Materials Engineering, Pablo holds a Doctorate and an Executive MBA, reflecting his blend of technical and strategic expertise. He holds degrees from Rice University in Texas, the University of British Columbia in Canada, and the University of Auckland in New Zealand.
Pablo brings deep experience in research and development, quality management, and continuous improvement. His contributions span the EVAL™ EVOH and PVOH product lines at Kuraray, where he helps customers meet evolving performance and sustainability goals.
A multilingual professional fluent in English and Spanish, Pablo brings a global perspective to his work, shaped by time spent living in Chile, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States.
Director
Jong-Young Lee is a Senior Research Scientist in High Pressure Copolymer R&D of Packaging & Specialty Plastics of Dow, Inc. He has been working on materials science fundamental, application and product development of polyolefins in the market segments of flexible packaging, polymer modification and compatibilization. He developed multiple new technologies from conception through commercialization.
Before joining Dow, Inc., he worked in Procter & Gamble company in Cincinnati, OH. His role in R&D of Beauty Care was to build empirical models of correlating physical properties of products to end-use performance and to develop consumer-relevant test methods. The role in R&D of Materials Science & Technology was to identify the root cause of issues in packaging process.
Jong-Young Lee received his PhD in Polymer Science and Engineering from University of Massachusetts in Amherst, M.S. in Chemical Engineering from National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan, and B.S. in Chemical Engineering from National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan. He has published five peer-reviewed papers and filed twenty patent applications.
Awards Committee Chair
Dr. Ying (Lora) Liang is a Research Principal at the global packaging core technology group in Mondelēz International, working on Research & Development and commercialization of enabling innovative technologies spanning multiple food package formats/categories. Dr. Liang earned her Ph.D. from Michigan State & MBA from DePaul University. With more than 20 years industry experience, she actively advocates industrial collaboration across the supply chain to deliver breakthrough innovations. Prior to Mondelēz, Dr. Liang worked 11 years at Nanocor, where she spearheaded nanocomposite technology development & commercialization. Dr. Liang’s patents range from polymer composite to barrier/sealant technologies. She is a frequent speaker at numerous conferences. Dr. Liang currently serves as treasurer for SPE Bioplastics & Renewable Technologies Division, and Board of Directors of the Flexible Packaging Division. She is also the editor for Plastic Film and Sheeting. Sponsored by SPE Engineering & Property Structure division.
Past Chair
Scholarship Chair
Barry A. Morris is retired from Dow as an R&D Fellow with over 35 years of experience in material science, extrusion and packaging innovation and technology. He held a variety of technology roles supporting the ethylene copolymer business at Dow (formerly DuPont). Barry is a holder of 12 U.S. granted patents and has written for over 125 publications, including his recently published 2nd edition to his comprehensive book, The science and technology of flexible packaging (Elsevier, 2022). He excels at applying scientific principles to complex technical issues and explaining it in a way that the practitioner can understand and use. In 2022 he formed BA Morris Consulting LLC to continue to offer his expertise to the packaging and plastics industries. In 2022 he also assumed the role of Chief Technology Advisor at VOID Technologies, a company developing solutions for more sustainable packaging.
Barry is a Fellow of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE). He has been an active member of the Flexible Packaging Division since its inception. As a director and past chair, he helped establish the division’s scholarship and organize many conferences. He is currently serving as Chair and Scholarship Chair. He is also a long-time director of the SPE Extrusion Division, a past-chair, and councilor.
Director
Chair FlexPackCon®
Pierre Sarazin is the Vice President of R&D and Sustainability at Polyexpert a company in the manufacturing of blown films. Pierre has been working for over twenty years in the development of plastics for sustainable applications. He holds a Ph.D in Chemical Engineering from Polytechnique Montreal. Over the years, he has gained a vast experience in the field of bioplastics and plastics along with an in-depth understanding of formulations tailored for various processing technologies. This experience combines both academic and industrial research. Pierre is the co-author of 20 journal publications cited more than 850 times and 2 patents.
Amongst his activities on the Flexible Packaging Division Board, Pierre organized and chaired FlexPackCon® 2023 which superseded expectations for attendance and feedback. He engaged the SPE Montreal Section along with strong student participation. He similarly championed FPD through the AIMCAL partnership during the pandemic era.
Director
Nilesh Savargaonkar has a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Iowa State University. He is currently a Principal Customer Application Development Engineer at ExxonMobil Technology and Engineering Company.
His primary expertise is in flexible food packaging where he has supported customers in the industry. His area of focus is food packaging, meat and cheese packaging (barrier films), LLDPE and HDPE resin developments, MDO-PE and BOPE film applications. He has been with Exxon Mobil for 8 years, and prior to that he was at PrintPack, Inc. for 2 years, Dow Chemical for 8 years and Ampacet Corporation for 10 years. He has 10 granted patents and 27 patent applications.
Director
Ranga Soundararajan is an experienced Plastics Industry professional with over 30 years’ experience. He has extensive experience in Polymers, Additives, Compounding, Film processing (blown, cast, MDO), Product Development and Design of Flexible Packaging, and Customer relationships. His experiences were acquired over his work at DuPont, Sealed Air and currently ISOFlex Packaging. It has resulted in several commercial products and patents spanning performance masterbatches, fibers, laminates, multilayer films, and multilayer foams. He is currently the Vice President for Sustainability and Regulatory Compliance at ISOFlex Packaging (Division of the Sigma Plastics Group), a producer of custom engineered films for a variety of markets such as food, pet food, shrink, and medical packaging. In his current role, Ranga wears multiple hats and is responsible for Product development, Customer growth, Sustainability, and Regulatory. He has an extensive professional network within the polymer industry, academia and professional organizations.
As part of developing a Sustainable Strategy and Films Portfolio for ISOFlex Packaging, Ranga is currently on the APR Films Committee. He is also closely involved with the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC)’s How2Recycle Program.
Ranga holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Director
Astrid Torres is a Senior Manager of Global Sustainability for Thermoformed & Flexible Packaging at TOPPAN Packaging Americas. Astrid has nearly 15 years of experience in the flexible packaging industry, spanning research and development, innovation, sustainability, and regulatory roles. She has worked across leading organizations, including Kuraray, Berry Global (now Amcor), and PepsiCo.
Her work spans polyolefins and bioplastics, polymer processing, packaging design, research and development, converting, end of life pathways such as recyclability and compostability, as well as regulatory packaging compliance across global markets. She has also contributed to packaging development initiatives beyond the U.S., including Mexico, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Canada.
Astrid actively contributes to advancing sustainability in the packaging industry through her involvement with associations including the Flexible Packaging Association (FPA), Poly Coated Paper Alliance (PCPA), Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR), Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC), and others. She currently serves as a Steering Committee Member for several SPC Collaboratives such as SDO Film Recovery Collaborative, Paper Packaging Recycling, and Recycled Content. She is also an Advisory Board member for Sustainability in Packaging U.S. at Smithers, and an Advisory Board for the Producer Responsibility Program for Statewide Recycling for the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment. She also served as a Steering Committee Member for the Compostable by Design Platform from June 2024 to June 2025.
Astrid holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, an MS in Chemical Engineering, and an MBA.
Membership Committee Chair
Sean Zhou is a a Research Fellow at Hollister Inc. working on barrier film platform for ostomy pouch portfolios, responsible for research and product development and commercialization.
Dr. Zhou earned his Ph.D. in Polymer Engineering from The University of Akron, and Team Leading and Project Management Certificates from MIT Sloan School of Management. He has more than 30 years of research and product development experience in the plastics industry. Prior to joining Hollister, Dr. Zhou held senior professional positions with increased responsibilities including Sr. Principal Scientist, Product Development Manager, Sr. Research Associate, R&D Scientist in Loparex, Silberlin, and Saint-Gobain focused on research and product development in polymer blends and alloys, film and profile extrusion and applications, compatibilization, joining and bonding of plastics ranging from polyolefins, high performance and high temperature polymers, and barrier polymers.
Dr. Zhou has more than 80 patents and publications and is an active SPE member and presenter with several awards in corporate technical communities and plastics associations including a Best Technical Paper Award from SPE EPS Division. As a member of Flexible Packaging Division board, Sean is interested in contributing to outreach and membership programs that support and strengthen the growth of the organization from both industries and universities.