SPE ANTEC® 2026

ANTEC® 2026 Recap

ANTEC® 2026, which took place March 9-12 at the Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh Downtown in Pittsburgh, PA, brought the global plastics community together for two and a half days of technical exchange, collaboration, and forward-looking discussion on the technologies shaping the plastics industry. Hosted by SPE, a division of PLASTICS, the event welcomed more than 450 attendees from around the world, including scientists, engineers, academics, and industry leaders.

The conference featured 200+ technical speakers, plenary presentations, and eight concurrent technical tracks covering polymer science, materials, processing, sustainability, bioplastics, product design, molding technologies, medical plastics, packaging, and infrastructure applications. Across sessions, speakers explored emerging advances in AI-enabled processing, sustainability, advanced recycling, additive manufacturing, polymer analysis, and materials performance, with an emphasis on solving real-world engineering and manufacturing challenges.

Tuesday's opening session began with an introduction by Lynzie Nebel, SPE's Chair, and remarks from Matt Seaholm, CEO of PLASTICS, who discussed the recently announced collaboration between PLASTICS and SPE and the opportunity to expand educational access and technical engagement across the global plastics community.

Making Connections

Monday, March 9

ANTEC® Kick-off Reception brought attendees together to mingle, reconnect with old friends, and spark new connections. It was an energy-filled evening with exciting conversations! Check out photos here.

Tuesday, March 10

Featured Keynotes. Check out photos here.

Student posters. Check out photos here.

General photos of the conference. Check them out here.

Everyone headed over to Shorty's Pins X Pints for a laid-back evening filled with great food and drinks, and plenty of facetime! Check out photos here.

Wednesday, March 11

SPE’s Awards Luncheon was an inspiring celebration recognizing the innovators and rising stars of SPE. Everyone honored the achievements of SPE’s Fellows of the Society, Honored Service Members, SPE Foundation Ambassador Giving Society, President’s Cup recipients, and standout Student Poster winners. Awards photos here.

Conference Activity and Sessions. Check out photos here.

Later Wednesday, everyone made their way over to an incredible reception hosted by the SPE Injection Molding Division. During the reception, IMPACT Awards winners were announced and honored. Whether a seasoned professional or new to the field, this reception was the perfect setting to build connections and celebrate the achievements of injection molding in the plastics community. Wednesday evening photos here.

Thursday, March 12

Morning sessions. Check out photos here.

View the ANTEC® 2026 Facebook Gallery

ANTEC® 2026, like every ANTEC that I attend provides the opportunity to learn and to enjoy meeting new people that can be technical support on some future project or situation in manufacturing. Having a broad and diverse patronage, ANTEC® is the one place to meet professionals from every step of the plastic part or product manufacturing section. Truly invaluable to any design engineer who works in the plastics manufacturing world.

~ Mark Maclean-Blevins, Consultant, SPE Fellow

Education and Knowledge Sharing

Five plenary presentations, as well as a symposium honoring Ica Manas-Zloczower, Professor, Case School of Engineering, highlighted major trends looking toward the industry's future—from sustainable materials used across all market sectors, packaging regulations, dynamic chemistries used for recycling, and global plastics legislation. Forward-looking plenaries also examined how materials engineering, sustainability, and artificial intelligence will influence the next generation of plastics innovation.

In addition, ANTEC® featured technical speakers covering polymer science, materials, processing, sustainability, bioplastics, product design, molding technologies, medical plastics, packaging, and infrastructure applications

Go here for session photos.

ANTEC® is important for the industry because this is where the future and present of plastics processors convene and discuss all topics relevant to plastics. There are not many places on earth were so many experts meet at once.

~ Edward R. Gay, Director of Process Technology - Extrusion Division, Krauss Maffei Berstorff