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Dave Horwat has
worked in the adhesives industry for a total of 38 years since receiving his
Master’s Degree in Chemical Engineering in 1973. He has recently worked
as a Technical Service Engineer with Wacker Polymers where he provided
formulations development and technical service to the adhesives industry for
emulsion adhesive raw materials for the past 24 years. Markets served
within the adhesives market were the packaging market, the wood working
market, automotive adhesives, the insulation industry and other industrial
bonding markets.
Dave has a BS and an MS in Chemical Engineering from New
Jersey Institute of Technology in the
USA. Prior to his experience with
Wacker/ Air Products Polymers, Dave worked for 14 years as a solvent borne and
water borne polymer adhesives formulator for National Starch and Chemical, now
part of Henkel adhesives, a major international adhesives manufacturing
company. Dave began with experience in solvent based adhesives in the
construction markets with contact cement formulation development. Additional
work experience included wood and panel bonding, synthetic and natural
elastomer formulations development, pressure sensitive and acrylic adhesives
formulations and other polymer development.
At Air Products and
Chemicals, he headed up the adhesives raw material group. Polymer
development and adhesive formulations were studied from the vinyl acetate
homopolymer platform as well as the ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer platform.
Emphasis was in the conversion to vinyl acetate/ethylene water based
alternatives from solvent, hot melt and other non-aqueous systems.
A
frequent speaker on technology issues at the Adhesives and Sealants council
meetings, he has been published in North American and European adhesives
industry magazines. He is an author of the
industry standard training manual “Working with Vinyl
Acetate Based Polymers Adhesives Manual” published by Air Products Polymers.
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