SPE Mold Technologies Division names moldmaker and mold designer of the year

The SPE Mold Technologies Division (Bethel, CT) presented its annual Mold Maker and Mold Designer of the Year awards to two deserving and well-respected people in their fields.

Wes Cobb, owner of Technical Design Associates Inc. (Brevard, NC), was named Mold Designer of the Year. Cobb began his career at Alliance Mold Co. in Rochester, NY, in 1973. He relocated to Brevard in 1979, where he worked at several different shops as a chief mold design engineer before starting his own firm in 1989. Cobb also was instrumental in assisting many young and upcoming mold designers in the area through an apprenticeship program he started at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College. That program has been key in nurturing mold designers since the late 1980s in the region.

Cobb’s experience and expertise in mold design spans many different types of molds. Over the 27 years he has owned his business, Cobb noted that there are not many plastic products he has encountered for which he could not design a mold. “If a mold is needed to mold parts, I have seen it,” Cobb said.

Cobb has been an SPE member for more than 20 years.

Mold Maker of the Year was awarded to Geoff Luther, a member of the team at A1 Tool (Melrose Park, IL). Luther is highly respected in the moldmaking community as the leader of one of the largest and most technologically advanced mold shops in the Midwest. In addition to his extensive skills and expertise in moldmaking, Luther is active on the American Mold Builders Association’s Chicago Education Committee charged with promoting careers in mold manufacturing to high school students and educators.

As if all of that isn’t enough to keep him busy, Luther spends countless hours working with his local high schools on their machining programs. He also serves on a community committee with East and West Lyndon high schools, providing guidance and employment to many students from the area with internships and full-time apprenticeships.

Congratulations to both Cobb and Luther for their many contributions to the mold design and manufacturing industry, and their tireless efforts in promoting the trade.