General Plastics Manufacturing Company has named Natalie Merrill Senior Research and Development Scientist. In this capacity, Merrill will bring her expertise in formulating and developing performance plastics to creating new high-performance cellular plastics for the aerospace industry and other commercial markets. She holds more than a dozen U.S. patents and brings 14 years of laboratory, new product development and commercialization experience to the General Plastics team.
“Natalie Merrill is an outstanding product development scientist with an impressive track record of bringing new polymeric products to market,” said General Plastics President Bruce Lind. “Her creativity and diverse skill sets will be a tremendous asset as we pursue the next generation of products to meet the demanding needs of our customers.”
Merrill came to General Plastics from Spartech Corporation, where she was a senior development scientist commercializing thermoplastic packaging foams. Prior to joining Spartech, she worked on composite materials and high performance plastics for Honeywell International’s Specialty Materials Division. Merrill previously spent 11 years at ExxonMobil Chemical as a senior polymer chemist. She earned her Thesis Master’s Degree in Polymer Science and Engineering from The University of Akron, and her B.S. in Chemistry and English from the University of California, Irvine.
About General Plastics Manufacturing Company
Tacoma, Washington-based General Plastics has been a leading innovator in the plastics industry for more than 70 years. The company develops and manufactures rigid and flexible polyurethane foam products, which include its signature LAST-A-FOAM® brand series and build-to-print composite parts. Through its network of distributors, General Plastics exports products to 25-plus countries for the aerospace and defense, nuclear containment, composite core, prototype and modeling, construction, dimensional signage, testing, marine, and renewable energies industries. General Plastics is certified to ISO 9001:2008/AS9100C and meets such demanding quality systems as NQA-1, Mil-I-45208A and Boeing Company D6-82479.