【正文】 use had four cantilevered wings floating above beautifully landscaped grounds and waterfalls. Like many concept designs, Monsanto’s House of the Future was never mass produced. However, today the building and construction industry is one of the largest and fastest growing markets for plastics. Working at the Milan Polytechnic Institute, Professor Guillo Natta had been examining propylene reactions attempting to find a new mercial polymer. The best efforts of other researchers had yielded only soft, gummy substances which showed no promise. His work was of great importance as it represented the first attempt to ―engineer‖ a polymer molecule to a predetermined specification using a designed polymerization technology. The first molecular mechanic succeeded in 1954, building a long chain stereoregular polypropylene molecule. Polypropylene went into production in 1957 and is now a modity plastic offering a very good balance of properties that include stiffness, toughness, chemical resistance, and translucent optics. One very unique characteristic of polypropylene is its ability function for thousands of cycles as an ―integral hinge‖. Polypropylene and its copolymers are among the most widely used thermoplastics. Professor Natta was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry for this work. The first student chapter of the Society of Plastics Engineers was established at the Lowell Technological Institute (now UMass Lowell) in 1959. Plastics Engineering Education Today, there are 112 student chapters chartered by the Society of Plastics Engineers around the world. Plastics are used extensively in the medical industry. One of the most interesting medical applications for plastics is the ―artificial hip‖. Each prosthesis is made up of two parts: the acetabular ponent (socket portion) that replaces the acetabulum, and the femoral ponent (stem portion) that replaces the femoral head. The femoral ponent is made of titanium, while the acetabular ponent is made of a metal shell with a plastic inner socket liner. The plastic liner is molded from Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene and acts like a bearing. The UHMWPE is extremely tough, abrasion resistant and has a very low coefficient of friction. This is a very good example of how plastics and metals work together to enhance our quality of life. UHMWPE acetabular Titanium stem Mr. McGuire: Come with me for a minute. I want to talk to you. I just want to say one word to you. Just one word. Ben: Yes, sir. Mr. McGuire: Are you listening ? Ben: Yes sir, I am. Mr. McGuire: PLASTICS. Ben: Exactly how do you mean ? Mr. McGuire: There is a great future in plastics. Think about it. Will you think about it ? Ben: Yes I will. The Graduate, starring Dustin Hoffman, is released by Embassy Pictures in 1967. A memorable poolside scene from the movie: On July 20, 1969 – the human race acplished its greatest technological achievement of all time when Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. This feat would not have been possible without many materials science developments. Plastics played an important roll. For example, the Apollo A7L space suits were a multilayer plastic structure prised of nylon fabric, neoprene coated nylon fabric, Dacron174。 (PET) film, Kapton174。 (PTFE) coated fabric. The “fish bowl” helmet was produced from transparent polycarbonate. The space suits of today make even more extensive use of plastics. Relying on experience and instinct, Stephanie Kwolek invented one of the modern world39。. Kwolek, a DuPont chemist, specialized in lowtemperature processes for the preparation of condensation polymers. In the 1960’s, she discovered an entirely new branch of synthetics known as liquid crystalline polymers. She discovered an aramid polymer that most researchers would have rejected, since it was fluid and cloudy, rather than viscous and clear. Kwolek, acting on instinct, insisted on spinning out the solution, and the result was astonishing: synthetic fibers much stiffer and stronger than any created before. The polymer fiber, named Kevlar174。 is best known to the public as the material from which bulletproof vests are made。 has dozens of important applications, including radial tire cord, brake pads, racing boat sails, aircraft ponents, and suspension bridge cables. Stephanie Kwolek Over the years, Battenfeld Gloucester, formerly Gloucester Engineering, has been responsible for a number of innovations related to film extrusion, especially in the area of multilayer film extrusion. The blown film extrusion process, such as that shown above, is used to produce everything from food packaging to agricultural film. The pany is also the sponsor of the Battenfeld Gloucester Film Extrusion Laboratory here at UMass Lowell. In the 1974, Edward Klobbie, a plastics process engineer from the Netherlands, developed a process that could be used to manufacture “plastic lumber” from waste post consumer plastic packaging. Plastic lumber can be manufactured from a variety of waste streams, however, it is most monly produced using post consumer HDPE milk or detergent bottles. Wood fiber or saw dust is often added to the plastic lumber as a reinforcing filler. Plastic lumber offers a number of advantages for outdoor applications where it petes with pressure treated wood lumber. Plastics lumber is used for applications such as porches or decks, park benches, landscape timbers, and even railroad ties. It is rot proof, durable, and virtually maintenance free. The Moldflow Corporation revolutionized the plastic part and mold design fields when it introduced “Injection Molding Simulation” software in 1978. Founded in Australia by Colin Austin, Moldflow was the first pany to produce software that allowed plastics engineers to opt