Chris Rauwendaal

Chris Rauwendaal, president of Rauwendaal Extrusion Engineering, Inc., (REE, Inc) earned a postgraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from Delft University and a Doctorate in Polymer Processing from Twente University, both in the Netherlands.

Chris has worked in the plastics extrusion industry since 1973. Four years in the man-made fiber industry at American Enka Co. (now BASF Fibers), where he was involved in process development in the area of melt spinning. He worked over twelve years at Raychem Corporation, where he was manager of Process Research in Corporate R&D.

Chris has experience in a wide range of extrusion operations, including fiber spinning, film, sheet, tubing, medical tubing, pipe, and profile extrusion, coextrusion, and reactive extrusion.  Chris holds several patents in the field of polymer processing.  He has worked on both practical and theoretical problems such as screw & die design, trouble shooting, modeling and computer simulation, material analysis, failure analysis, etc.  He has been involved in several important legal cases as an expert witness.

Since 1979 Chris has been one of the premier extrusion seminar instructors.  He has taught with the SPE and UWM and for the UC at Berkeley, University of Twenty(U of T) and Pennsylvania College of Technology (PCT).  He continues to teach seminars through his company and with SPE, U of T and PCT and through REE, Inc. Chris has presented lectures around the world, in countries such as China, Japan, Australia, Brazil, Columbia, Canada, England, the Netherlands, South Africa, Germany, etc.

Chris is the author of the book "Polymer Extrusion," the most widely used book on the subject and updated in 2001.  Additional books he has written are: "Polymer Mixing - A Self-Study Guide," , "Understanding Extrusion" and "Statistical Process Control in Injection Molding and Extrusion" and "Troubleshooting the Extrusion Process: A Systematic Approach to Solving Plastic Extrusion Problems" these are published by Hanser and distributed in the USA by Hanser Gardner Publications. Chris was the editor and a contributor of "Mixing in Polymer Processing" published by Marcel Dekker. In addition Chris has authored over one hundred twenty papers on extrusion related topics. 

Chris wrote the video training program "Extrusion Technology," available from Paulson Training Programs and the video training program "Statistical Process Control in Extrusion," available from the SPE.  He also developed the interactive, computer based training program in extrusion, ITX©, available from Paulson Training Programs, Routsis and Associates and REE, Inc.  He has also produced the interactive training program "Statistical Process Control in Injection Molding."

Chris has served on the Board of the Extrusion Division of SPE.  He was Technical program Chairman for the 1987 ANTEC and Chairman of the Extrusion Division in 1988.  Dr. Rauwendaal has received several awards for outstanding contributions, among those the President's Award at American Enka Co., best extrusion paper awards at SPE ANTEC in several times, inducted in Raychem Thermofit's Division Hall of Fame, and elected SPE Fellow, one of the youngest persons ever to receive this award.