Names in the News: PTI’s Tom Brady recognized by SPE blowmolding group

Thomas Brady, founder of Plastic Technologies Inc. (PTI; Holland, OH), was recently awarded the 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award by the Society of Plastic Engineers’ (SPE) Blow Molding Division in recognition of achievements large and larger over the past decades.

Brady’s work at PTI may well have merited the recognition on its own. Formed in 1985, PTI has grown to be recognized as one of the plastics packaging industry’s leading technical development services for companies interested in starting or expanding their use of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) packaging, especially blowmolded bottles. The companies he started employ 200 from locations in Holland and Bowling Green, OH, as well as Yverdon, Switzerland. A spin-off company has become one of the country’s leaders in PET recycling.

Thomas Brady

Prior to founding PTI, Brady was vice president of plastics technology for Owen-Illinois, Inc. (O-I), where he led the development of the first PET soft drink containers. His team was critical in study of molecular orientation in PET during stretch blowmolding. The culmination of this pioneering work was the introduction of the first continuous rotary reheat stretch blowmolding machine in the U.S., which effectively cleared a path for PET to replace metal cans and glass jars and bottles.

“I thank SPE for this prestigious honor. I also would like to thank all of the employees at PTI who have made the company the plastics packaging thought leader it is today. My family also has played an important contribution. Their continued support throughout my career encouraged me to forge new paths,” Brady said.

Phoenix Technologies was formed in 1992 and is now one of the largest global recyclers of PET for bottle and blowmolding applications.

Brady, who earned his Ph. D. in plastic materials engineering from the University of Michigan and his master’s and bachelor’s engineering science degrees from Dartmouth College, is now serving as interim dean of the University of Toledo’s Judith Herb College of Education. —[email protected]