United States. After 26 years of service, engineer Tom Powell announced his retirement this fall from the chemical company Orion Engineered Carbons.
"Tom, you'll be sorely missed in Orion and in the industry," said Henry Brooks, vice president of carbon black specialties in the Americas. "He was instrumental in developing several new grades of carbon black for the U.S. packaging ink market and also developed the first DyC Black #2 sold to the cosmetics industry."
Powell joined Orion, predecessor Degussa Corporation, in 1989 as an application chemist after working as a tire scientist at BF Goodrich Tire Co. He held increasingly important positions at successor companies Degussa-Hüls, Evonik Corporation and finally Orion Engineered Carbons as technical director of market. In this role, he has been responsible for all technical aspects related to the ink and adhesive industry for the Americas.
Powell was a member of the U.S. Carbon Black delegation of the ISO TC45 technical committee on rubber/rubber products, the Rubber Division of the American Chemical Society, and the Ruber Akron Group. He served as secretary of the D24 ASTM Committee on Carbon Blacks. Powell was awarded the ASTM Distinguished Service Award in 2002 and the Printing Ink Production Service Award in 2010.
