SPE Announces HSM Award Recipients for 2023

In January, SPE announced the 2023 recipients for its prestigious Honored Service Members (HSM) Award. The SPE HSM program started in 1992 with 354 members named Honored Service Members since the program was launched.

To be elected an Honored Service Member, a candidate shall have demonstrated long-term, outstanding service to, and support of, SPE and its objectives, and shall be sponsored, in writing, by the Board of Directors of at least one Section or Division.

The following professionals received the SPE HSM Award for 2023:

Bradley G. Johnson, Professor, Penn State Erie, The Behrend College
Nominated by the SPE Injection Molding Division
Brad Johnson has been teaching at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College's plastics engineering technology program since 1994.  Prior to joining Penn State, he accumulated over ten years of industrial experience and served in various roles in the plastics industry:  manufacturing engineer, manufacturing supervisor, design engineer, and program manager.  His primary expertise is in injection molding and process optimization. Along with developing some of the processing classes, he has also taught plastic materials, mold design, rheology, and quality control classes.  Brad also directs the Plastics Training Academy (PTA) at Penn State, which offers short non-credit classes on plastics-related topics.  He has taught many short classes on injection molding for the PTA, both at Penn State and on-site.  He also organizes and chairs the Innovation and Emerging Plastic Technologies conferences that are held in Erie.  Brad holds bachelor's and master's degrees in chemical engineering from Virginia Tech. He is also an active member and a past chair of SPE’s Injection Molding Division.

Elizabeth J. Puckerin, Color Technology Global Manager, Ampacet
Nominated by the SPE Color and Appearance Division
Elizabeth J. Puckerin was also elected to the Honored Service Member class of 2023.

Dr. Wei Zheng, Professor and Program Director of the Plastics Engineering Program, University of Wisconsin-Stout
Nominated by the SPE Applied Rheology Division
Dr. Zheng is a Professor and Program Director of the Plastics Engineering Program at University of Wisconsin-Stout.  She is the receipt of G. A. Taft Professorship of UW-Stout and the Outstanding Women of Color in Education Award of the University of Wisconsin-System. Dr. Zheng has worked on over 40 industry-sponsored Technical Assistant Projects, focusing on the sustainability of plastics materials. Dr. Zheng has been the Founder of the Applied Rheology Division and has served as the Councilor and Chair of the division.  She has also served the Chinese American Society of Plastics Engineers as the Vice President and President over the years.

More information about SPE’s Honored Service Member awards can be found at www.4spe.org/Awards.