【正文】 ne tuned by controlling the relative ratio of each monomer. ABS is widely used in applications where toughness is required. One of the earliest applications was for football helmets, which are now made from polycarbonate. Today, ABS is most widely used for consumer electronics and business machine housings. General Motors introduced the Chevrolet Corvette in 1953. It was designed by GM’s chief stylist Harley Earl, who was intrigued with the use of glass fiber reinforced plastic as a body material. A total of 300 Corvettes were produced in the first year of production, each containing forty one glass fiber reinforced unsaturated polyester body parts. The 1953 Corvette was available only with a white body and red interior, and sold for $3,. While the Corvette has changed dramatically over its 50 year history, one thing that has not changed is the use of the glass fiber reinforced plastic body. 1953 Corvette 20xx 50th Anniversary Corvette Working independently, Hermann Schnell of Bayer . in Germany and Daniel Fox of the General Electric Company in the US, both discovered polycarbonate in 1953. This optically transparent engineering thermoplastic offers a great balance of stiffness and toughness, heat resistance and electrical insulating properties. It is widely used for durable products such as automotive headlights, tool housings, helmets and puter enclosures. In more recent years, special grades of polycarbonate have been developed for optical recording media. Virtually all CD’s, CDROM’s and DVD’s are manufactured using polycarbonate. A number of scientists have been named Nobel Laureates for their pioneering work in the field of polymers or macromolecules. They include: Hermann Staudinger for his many discoveries in the field of macromolecular chemistry. (1953) Karl Ziegler and Giulio Natta for their discoveries related to polymer chemistry and new polymerization technologies. (1963) Paul J. Flory for fundamental achievements, both theoretical and experimental, in the physical chemistry of macromolecules. (1974) . de Gennes for creating the reptation model of polymer dynamics used to predict polymer properties and viscosity. (1991) Alan J. Heeger, Alan G. MacDiarmid and H. Shirakawa for the discovery and development of inherently conductive polymers. (20xx) The Nobel Prize The Plastics Engineering Program at UMass Lowell (then known as Lowell Technological Institute) was founded by the late Russell W. Ehlers in 1954. High Density Polyethylene The thermoplastic known as ―high density polyethylene‖ (HDPE) was first produced mercially by Phillips Petroleum in 1955. It was given the tradename Marlex 174。Department of Plastics Engineering The History of Plastics Plastics are said to be the most versatile materials on earth. Almost all of the products we use in our daily lives contain plastics. This display chronicles some of the key discoveries, inventions, and people that have helped make the plastics industry what it is today. You will notice that many important developments related to plastics and rubber happened right here in Massachusetts, beginning with Charles Goodyear’s 1839 discovery of the vulcanization process for natural rubber in nearby Woburn. Also note that UMass Lowell (formerly Lowell Technological Institute) was the very first university in the nation to offer a degree in Plastics Engineering. Take a few minutes and learn more about the ―History of Plastics‖. Charles Goodyear spent most of his adult life trying to improve the properties of natural rubber. Working in Woburn, MA in 1839, Goodyear discovers that adding sulfur to natural rubber greatly enhances its elasticity and toughness. His ―sulfurized‖ rubber, later known as ―vulcanized‖ rubber, is still widely used today. While the Goodyear name is famous, Charles Goodyear never realized fortune from his invention. Charles Goodyear The mirror frames shown above are among the earliest molded ―plastic‖ parts ever made. They were pression molded from a shellac based plastic molding pound known as Florence Compound which was developed in Florence, MA. Its inventor, Alfred Critchlow, founded the Pro Molding Corporation in 1847. Pro is thought to be the very first plastics molding pany to be established in the United States. Molded plastic mirror frames and a hand made pression mold. (circa 1866) A new semisynthetic plastic was unveiled by Alexander Parkes at the 1862 Great International Exhibition in London, England. This new material, which the public dubbed Parkesine, was an anic material consisting of cellulose nitrate and a solvent. Parkesine could be heated, formed, and it retained its shape when cooled. The material could be molded or carved into products such as buttons, bs, picture frames and knife handles. However, Parkesine was never mercialized due its relatively high cost pared to vulcanized rubber. Alexander Parkes John Wesley Hyatt, a printer and inventor from Albany NY, blended nitrocellulose with camphor (sap from the laurel tree) to produce a durable, colorful, and moldable thermoplastic known as celluloid (also known as Pyroxylin) in 1868. Celluloid was the first mercially successful semisynthetic plastic. It was used for products such as billiard balls, shirt collars, eyeglass frames and pen housings. John Wesley Hyatt The first synthetic plastic was discovered in 1907 when a Belgian born chemist, Dr. Leo H. Baekeland, reacted phenol and formaldehyde under pressure using hexamethyleetramine as a catalyst for the reaction. The result was a thermosetting ―phenolic‖ plastic he named Bakelite. Compared to other plastics available at the time, such as celluloid, Baekeland’s thermosetting phenolic was more stable. Once molded, this new material would not burn or soften wh