The Polymer Study Tour is a FREE, two-day, residential course for Technology and Engineering Teachers designed to enhance subject knowledge relating to polymers, provide ideas for practical teaching and give an insight into the vibrant polymer industry in Ireland.

The programme will give you first hand experience of the polymer industry in action. It is a careful blend of lectures, practical sessions using readily available resources to demonstrate key polymer-related concepts, industry tours, and discussion opportunities based on detailed information sent out beforehand. We have liaised closely with Technology and Engineering teachers when devising the programme so that it links closely with the polymer topics in the post-primary curriculum.

Why Attend?

The aim of this programme is to really open your eyes to the world of polymers and plastics and support you to include it in your teaching.  The Irish polymer industry plays a vitally important role in almost every area of our lives from life saving medical devices, to food packaging, through to the next generation air transport solutions and beyond.

The sector is made up of over 230 highly innovative companies across Ireland employing over 7,000 people. There are huge job opportunities for new graduates in a very diverse environment working across high tech industries like ICT, MedTech, automotive, aerospace and more. We need more great young engineering talent to enter the sector and be part of future innovation.

This programme is designed for professionals who wish to gain a comprehensive understanding of polymers materials, FDA requirements and processing technologies (including injection moulding, extrusion) and validation requirements of medical device products.

Safety Shoes – Required on this course

Who is the course for

• Those working in the medical supply industry, inc, production engineers, product engineers, processing technicians, tool and product design engineers, development engineers, etc.

Learning outcomes

Participants will gain a thorough understanding of;

• FDA Material Requirements
• Other Plastics Materials including Thermoplastic Polyurethanes
• Moulding & processing including all-electric machine technology, micro-moulding technology, multi-layer extrusion technology, etc.

Upon completion of this programme engineers will have the knowledge, skill and competence to understand the vast range of polymer materials available and to appropriately choose a cost-effective material for a given application, while considering processing characteristics and design considerations / limitations. Plastics are explained in terms of their chemical nature, physical properties, processing requirement and design use application. The course is supported by an extensive set of polymer descriptions, explanative notes, technical and processing data designed to support those selecting, processing and designing with plastics materials.

Under the topic of ‘material nature’ the trainer will be going into the chemical structure for each polymer, explaining its morphology and how this influences mechanical, chemical and flow properties of each polymer.

The aim is for course attendees to be able to predict certain properties of the polymer they are looking at from the chemical structure and rheological data by the end of the course. The trainer will explain how polymer properties are modified for commercial use applications (enhance properties for given applications), e.g. plasticisers, impact modification, reinforcement, ESD, fillers, extenders, anisotropy with high performance polymers, accuracy with cross linked polymers, etc. Importantly, day 5 will tie in the knowledge gained earlier in the course in the form of exercises and an examination. The mini-project after the course is an important learning tool and will effectively use the information gained in a practical context.

With regard to learning about thermoset, rubber and high performance polymers, this part of the course is very important with regard to expanding knowledge gained in the areas of use limitation for commodity and engineering polymers, e.g. rubber is used as an impact modifier in many polymers or to create an elastomeric blended material – a knowledge of rubber compound design would be beneficial in selection of the correct modified grade of polymer. PTFE as an additive / copolymer is becoming more popular for given applications, e.g., tribological, high temperature resistance, enhancing chemical resistance, etc, an understanding of PTFE materials and how they are used is important as this is an expanding area within polymer compound design, etc.

Course Schedule: 8 Sessions: Each session: 09.30 – 13.00

This Recycling of Polymers programme is delivered over 4 online morning sessions

Outside of the plastics industry, recycling of these materials is not understood. This course sets out to explain and identify what the EU requirements are for recycling, what polymers are effectively recycled, how they are used, identified, sorted, washed and reclaimed into re-useable materials. The course further explains how these materials are modified by the use of additives, gives examples of end use applications and how to design new plastic products from an ethical point of view, eg, selecting plastics with low carbon footprints, designing components which use less energy to process and convert into products, good and poor ethical design practices when designing with these materials are explained. The course introduces an ethical Design For Manufacture concept for plastic components. Design for Recycling, inc, Theory explained, carbon reducing design practice explained. Examples include redesigning an existing product to reduce carbon foot print.

Delivered in partnership with Ultrapolymers Ireland Limited, this course provides an introduction to polymers giving an overview of different polymer types, datasheet interpretation and processing basics (with a focus on injection moulding). It will include a mix of theory and interactive practical sessions to build technical knowledge and confidence in communicating effectively with other technical staff and team members.

It is specifically tailored for individuals in commercial and/or non-technical roles seeking to broaden their understanding of these subjects. It is also suitable for those in technical/design roles who do not have polymer materials or injection moulding experience.

This course is limited to two attendees per company.