The VDI, the German Association of Engineers, has honoured the TPU expert Klaus Hilmer for his significant contributions to the plastics technology and inducted him as the 47th member of the VDI Strategy Circle for Plastics Technology. The honour was bestowed with the traditional symbolic accolade during the VDI Fall Symposium in Deidesheim, Germany in October 2021. During his many years at BASF Hilmer has provided extraordinary impetus for the processing of TPUs. He also made significant contributions to the VDI Guideline 2019 on adhesion testing of TPE on thermoplastic substrates in 2010. This guideline was a quantum leap for the TPE world, because it was possible for the first time to have comparable statements on the bond strength of TPEs. In 2011, Hilmer moved to Festo, where he was the driving force for the installation of the polymer technology unit. At Festo’s Sankt Ingbert, Germany, site, he established an award-winning state-of-the-art mould shop with an innovative automation concept. Today Hilmer works as consultant.
The VDI Plastics Technology Strategy Circle, whose beginnings date back to the 1970s, advises the VDI Plastics Technology Division on strategic issues relating to the plastics industry. The members of this circle are leading personalities from industry and the sciences. The aim of the strategy circle is the analysis and development of relevant trends in society, economy, research and education as well as networking in the field of plastics technology.