Learning is a lifelong process. A saying to live by in the scientific arena and one Dow Research Scientist Sylvie Vervoort, Ph.D., takes to heart.
As a rheology expert who has been perfecting her craft for more than 20 years, Vervoort has studied flow behavior of many different types of materials – from cake batter to windshield glue – using a variety of experiments. For the last six years she has specialized in plastics, including lamination and extrusion processes.
Which is precisely how she recently got involved in updating TAPPI’s T702 Standard as Working Group Chair.
As an attendee of TAPPI’s European PLACE Conferences, Vervoort was familiar with TAPPI and the Standards produced for the industry, but not the actual process itself. “We use TAPPI and other Standards all the time,” Vervoort said. “They are one of those things you just take for granted as being available, without really understanding how they become available.” But, in the summer of 2020 during the height of the pandemic, Vervoort was contacted by TAPPI via member Bernard Fehr asking if she would be interested and available to help with an extrusion standard that was up for review.
Science is a Process
“Bernard referred TAPPI to me because of my expertise in rheology and because Standard T 702 om-14 uses rheological measurements for characterization of polyolefins, low-density polyethylene (LDPE), for extrusion coating,” she said. “In the simplest of terms, it defines a way to measure the flowability of polymers using standardized conditions.”
After learning what the approval process entailed, Vervoort signed on to help. “The timing during the pandemic was good since the process lends itself to a virtual environment. Every Standard has a Standard-Specific Interest Group (SSIG) that participates in the review and approval chain. As the Working Group Chair, I was responsible for getting the current Standard reviewed and for incorporating any necessary revisions. Once that was completed, the Standards Office initiated the voting process.”
Vervoort found the review process to be a great learning experience. “It’s amazing how one person looking at a Standard can pinpoint an improvement or correction that no one else sees. In this case there was an equation error that, once pointed out, became very obvious,” she said. “That clearly demonstrated the importance of being engaged and involved in something whose benefits span the industry.” Once the update had been verified and incorporated, Vervoort found herself learning once again.
Challenge Brings Reward
To approve a Standard, 51% of the SSIG must vote for the ballot and in this case, only 33% had responded. Vervoort discovered that some of the non-respondents included individuals no longer in the industry. Reaching out to her internal research and development network at Dow, she was able to recruit willing SSIG participants eager to learn something new, but she was still shy of the necessary voting percentage. Turning to LinkedIn, Vervoort posted a message to the extrusion community inviting them to get involved since participants need not be members of TAPPI. As a result of her creative outreach, the amount of votes received for the ballot jumped from 33% to 75%, with nine new members added to the SSIG. With all votes affirmative, the Standard is now on its way to confirmation and publication as a new version in 2022.
As a first-time participant, Vervoort notes, “it encouraged me to think about Standards more, and the value they bring to the industry. Even representing different technical fields, Standards help us communicate in the same language about material properties across the value chain.”
Would she take up the challenge again? Absolutely, says Vervoort. “Now, when I see something that I really believe can be improved, I know I can reach out to TAPPI to discuss. I would not have thought of that before getting involved. As a professional community, we all use Standards and have a personal interest in them being correct, accurate and relevant.”
To learn more about TAPPI Standards (Test Methods, Specifications, Guidelines and Glossaries), or to recommend and/or update one, please contact TAPPI Standards Manager Brittaney Lovett at 770-209-7249.
TAPPI
http://www.tappi.org/