When Dentronix, a Coltene/Whaledent subsidiary, was designing its new "High Heat" bite stick, it needed a material that could withstand the high temperature requirements of dry-heat sterilizers. It chose VICTREX® PEEK™, a high performance polymer used in many high-end medical applications, because of the material's superior combination of properties.

Behind the scenes at the Vancouver Olympics, from helmets and jerseys to the plumbing system of the Athletes' Village, from speed suits to the 'green' roof on the exhibition centre - plastics are playing a major role. Athletes from around the world will be pushing their limits and breaking records with state-of-the-art equipment made of plastic materials and composites.

Instituto Tecnologico Y De Estudios Superiores De Monterrey (ITESM), one of the largest and most respected universities in Mexico, announced its purchase of the world's most robust and qualitative 3D printer: the Connex500™ by Objet Geometries. ITESM is the first academic organization in Latin America to acquire the advanced rapid prototyping system.

Since the plastic film market is demanding ever higher flexibility and efficiency, processing companies can take full advantage of their lines only if they are able to produce multi-web film of wide layflat widths. Reifenhäuser Kiefel is providing both their three- and five-layer agricultural film lines with reversing haul-off units in widths of 4000m.

Unidym, Inc., a majority owned subsidiary of Arrowhead Research Corporation, has signed a definitive agreement to create a joint venture partnership with Wisepower, a publicly traded Korean company, to market and co-develop Unidym's proprietary film and electronic ink products into the Korean touch panel and display industries.

Cytec Industries announced that its Engineered Materials division has been awarded contracts to supply carbon fiber composite materials for major primary structures on Bombardier's new CSeries and Learjet 85 aircraft programs. Cytec was also awarded a contract to supply a suite of advanced materials for current Bombardier aircraft programs.

As the first commercial application for Buna CB21 neodymium polybutadiene rubber (Nd-BR) from specialty chemicals group LANXESS, the KIRA STAR golf ball is truly a revolution in golfers' sports gear. Making use of Buna CB21's ultra-high resilience, the KIRA STAR is well equipped to achieve greater flight distances even when hit at low head speeds and with a low impact.

Isotech Inc. announced the availability of a full line of cost effective, multi-use Laser Marking & Cutting Systems. Offered in two distinct configurations for either production line or desktop workstation use, the Systems offer versatile, multiple-purpose functionality including annealing, ablating, etching, thermo-chemical reaction application and engraving.

KFC selected Cardia's compostable bags following comprehensive in store trials that were completed in 2009 with first commercial orders received. The new bags meet Australian compostable plastics standard AS 4736 and are manufactured into finished compostable bags by Cardia using the company's own patented Compostable resin.

Arkema's Kynar® grades designed specifically for lithium-ion cells is on display at this year's Advanced Automotive Batteries Conference. Kynar® polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) resins are highly stable polymers that offer an exceptional balance of performance properties for use in both polymer and liquid cell lithium batteries.