Science and Technology of Fluoropolymers

Cost: $650 USD
Online Registration
CEU's: 2.5
Instructor: Dr. Sylvain Seif

Course Overview

Fluoropolymers are defined as a family of thermoplastic resins and elastomers in which some or all of the hydrogen atoms attached to the carbon chain are replaced by fluorine or fluorinated alkyl groups. In some cases, other halogens such as chlorine are also part of the molecule.

The resulting products are thermoplastic resins or elastomers with unique properties not readily achievable by other polymeric materials such as chemical inertness, resistance to elevated temperatures, resistance to ultraviolet radiation, excellent weather resistance, excellent dielectric properties, flame resistance, hydrophobicity, and low coefficients of friction.

In general, some material properties strictly depend on the chemical substance under investigation; others depend on the processing operation, which determines the shape, dimensions and orientation within the material.

Online Course Requirements

We want you to have a great experience participating in our remote (online) courses, and for that, you’ll need the right equipment and internet connection.

Minimum needs are:

• A broadband internet connection that has at least a 2 Mbps upload and download speed.
• A computer (PC or Mac) that can support the latest web browser versions.
• At least 4 GB of RAM and adequate hard drive space.
• A microphone and a speaker.
• International Students: For virtual (online) courses, an additional fee will be assessed to cover the cost of shipping the professional binder (presentation slides), to your address. The cost of international shipping can be significant.

For more information, visit our Online Course Requirements webpage.

Instructor Biography:

Dr. Sylvain Seif has over 15 years of industrial R&D experience in Polymer Engineering, spanning several different areas in the field, and over 12 years of academic teaching experience. He completed a BS in Mechanical Polymer Engineering in 2005 followed by a PhD in Polymer Engineering degree in 2009 from The University of Akron in OH, USA. After graduation, he joined INDEVCO Group, a multinational packaging and consumer goods firm, starting up an R&D Center called “PACT”- Polymer Application Center for Technology- for the entire flexible packaging and compounding divisions of INDEVCO, which consists of 10 manufacturing facilities spread across the globe. He has also taught several engineering courses at the university level, and started R&D collaborations with 5 different universities, refereeing over 30 Masters and Final Year Projects, and being a jury member on all these projects. In 2017, as Senior Technical and R&D Expert at PACT, he helped the INDEVCO R&D Center attain ISO 17025 accreditation for lab testing.

Since 2022, Dr. Seif has been working at an environmentally conscious start-up company, Novoloop, in California, managing the polymer processing lab; having expertise in operating the twin screw compounder, injection molding and co-extrusion cast film machines. Here, he optimized the processing and properties of various durometer TPUs, whereby the polyester polyols are derived from PE recycled waste. He is also very familiar with structure-processing-properties relationships of polymers and their composites, with a strong know-how in lab testing methods for mechanical, rheological, thermal and physical properties. Moreover, Dr. Seif has over 10 academic publications and 3 patents in the polymer field, and has a strong passion for teaching and doing research and development in sustainable solutions.