Conference Committee Members
Conference Chairs
Neil Fuenmayor
LyondellBasell (Retired)
SPE Detroit Section Past President & Director
nfuenmayor (at) auto-tpo.com
Rob Philp
SPE Detroit Section President
rphilp (at) auto-tpo.com
Michael Balow
Auxin Consulting
mbalow (at) auto-tpo.com
Technical Program Chairs
Michael Balow
Auxin Consulting
Mark Allen
Dow Chemical
David Helmer
General Motors
Dr. Pravin Sitaram
The Haartz Corporation
Emeritus Technical Program Chair
Dr. Norm Kakarala
SPE Fellow & Honored Service Member
SPE TPO Global Automotive Conference Founding Member
Sponsorship/Exhibit Chair
Dr. Sassan Tarahomi
Mid Michigan Plastics & Tooling, LLC
starahomi (at) auto-tpo.com
SPE Detroit Section / Conference Coordinator
Karen Rhodes-Parker
SPE Detroit Section
Phone: +1.248.244.8993 ext. 3
karen (at) auto-tpo.com
Operations, A/V, and Website Lead
Rob Philp
SPE Detroit Section President
rphilp (at) auto-tpo.com
House / Venue Management
Rob Philp
SPE Detroit Section President
rphilp (at) auto-tpo.com
2026 Technical Program Sessions & Co-Chairs
Materials Development Session
- Dr. Birat KC, Magna International
- John Walling, LyondellBasell
Innovations in Interiors Session
- Dr. Raziyeh Mohammadi, Ford Motor Company
- Austin Wagenhals, Ford Motor Company
- Kevin O’Malley, Hyundai-Kia America Technical Center, Inc. (HATCI)
Sustainability Session
- Dr. Murali Reddy, CCC Plastics
- Dr. Sharad Thakkar, Niche Polymer
- Josh Cram, Continental Surface Solutions
Process Enabling & Additive Manufacturing Session
- Paul Sieradzki, Toray Plastics (America)
- Stuart Kapp, Leistritz Extrusion
Exterior Trim & Structural Applications
- Mark Pilette, Magna (Retired)
- Charlie Yang, LyondellBasell
- Kevin Degrood, Borealis
Polyolefin Elastomers & Vulcanizates Session
- Dr. Bhavesh Shah, Lion Elastomers
- Dr. Dave Patel, GuruTech Systems, Inc.
Performance Additives & Colorants Session
- Dr. John Mara, Amfine
- Heejung Kwon, SONGWON
- Christian Aho, Americhem
