Hall of Fame

Richard Tucker, Sr. and Wm. T. Burnett Company

Richard Tucker, Sr. led Wm. T. Burnett Company's venture from garneted cotton batting into early polyurethane foam products. While he ardently shares credit with all Wm. T. Burnett employees, Richard Tucker is a true pioneer and was a leader in the development of commercially viable polyurethane foam products.

While still in his early 20's, Tucker saw the development of the first continuous pouring machine, built in 1954 for Burnett in the Bayer laboratories in Germany. The massive equipment had a reciprocating pour head and laid the prepolymer mixture into waxed pans that traveled beneath the pouring head on a conveyor.

While in Germany, Tucker observed flexible polyurethane foam being used in many different types of consumer and industrial applications. Richard Tucker saw big potential for polyurethane foam in the United States. He came back from Germany and approached major U.S. upholstered furniture companies with the idea of using flexible polyurethane foam as a cushioning material.

Furniture manufacturers did not see the potential. The problem was that early polyester-based prepolymer flexible foam products weren't very flexible. Compared to today's flexible polyurethane foam products, Tucker's early samples were boardy and stiff. So, Tucker redirected his market development efforts toward the U.S. mattress industry, where a relatively stiff, boardy cushioning material might be better received. Tucker's success grew and Wm. T. Burnett grew to become one of the leading suppliers of "new" flexible polyurethane foam cushioning materials.

Walter Baughman

In the days before Plastomer Corporation was founded, Walter Baughman invented and patented a variable ratio proportioning mixer which he called the "Blendometer."

In 1953, Sun Plastics and Mobay, approached Walter about the Blendometer. They were interested to see if the device could mix various chemicals to make a new type of material named "Polyurethane Foam".

With some machine modifications, Walter was successful. The Blendometer made the first American flexible foam that Baughman described as a plastic elastomer.

Plastomer's first office was slightly larger than a two car garage. Chemical evaluations and mixing were conducted both there and at Walter's home in Detroit.

Walter's brother George, who had planned on pursuing a different career, was convinced to join this new business venture which led to the manufacturing and marketing of polyurethane foam.

Eventually in 1955 and 1956, Walter and George Baughman were able to develop reliable prepolymer foam formulations and they began marketing their "new" material nationally.

The original prepolymer foam machine, with the Blendometer mixer, poured foam into large trays that Walter and George shifted back and forth until enough foam was produced.

Using this primitive technology, the Baughman brothers pioneered many of the original applications for polyurethane foam such as, replacing natural sea sponges, air conditioner insulation, floor wax applicators, dish scrubbers, coat hanger covers, acoustical sound absorbers and automotive gasket and seal applications.

Plastomer's first automotive part was a defroster nozzle gasket for a Ford Thunderbird. Once the automotive design engineers became comfortable with using "foam", they began to develop heater and air conditioner gaskets out of flexible polyurethane foam to replace felt and rubber products.

Mobay Chemical Company

Mobay Chemical Company was a leader in commercializing flexible polyurethane foam within the United States. Mobay's leadership team, including David Eynon, Heinz Wollthan, Edgar Hardy and Jim Saunders, formed the senior management team in 1954 that spearheaded support for Wm. T Burnett, Plastomer Corporation and other companies working on the development of polyurethane foam.

It was Mobay's spirit of total collaboration, open sharing of ideas, and a willingness to build customer production equipment and to travel senior research personnel across the Atlantic for customer support that contributed to the launching the U.S. flexible polyurethane foam business.

The prepolymer polyester experience honed U.S. formulation and production skills. When polyethers became available, U.S. FPF manufacturers were able to quickly capitalize on the opportunity.

Louis H. Peters

A true leader and driving force in the flexible polyurethane foam industry, Lou Peters made considerable impact on the growth and development of not only the Polyurethane Foam Association but also the industry as a whole. Peters, who retired as Executive Director of the Polyurethane Foam Association December 31, 2004, is credited with building the PFA from a loose association of manufacturers and suppliers into a strong and credible voice for the industry.

Peters began his role as the PFA Executive Director in 1986. During his 18-year tenure, Peters and the PFA became the principal sources for information on flexible polyurethane foam for manufacturers of products containing FPF, raw material suppliers, legislators, regulators, the press and consumers. Under Peters' leadership, the PFA developed a solid foundation of knowledge and expertise surrounding the manufacture and sale of flexible polyurethane foam making the association an uncommonly valuable resource to its membership.

Prior to taking the helm at the PFA, Peters had a long and distinguished career at Union Carbide Corporation. He began his career at Carbide in 1955 after receiving his Chemical Engineering degree from Lehigh University. Peters spent the next 30 years at Union Carbide, serving in a variety of Research and Development, Sales and Marketing roles. He was also very active in the Polyurethane Foam Division of the Society of the Plastics Industry.

While at Union Carbide, Peters received numerous patents. He is best known and respected for his patent associated with the yellow highway crash barrels seen on highways throughout the country. It was Peters’ team that developed and patented this technology that “has saved countless thousand of lives” according to Peters.

Peters was one of the founding members of the PFA in 1980. After his retirement from Union Carbide, Peters was hired by the PFA’s Executive Committee as Executive Director in 1986. Under his leadership, PFA has produced scores of reference materials, award winning publications, technical programs, Internet resources and other products and services that make the PFA the strong and healthy association it is today.

While serving as the PFA Executive Director, Peters championed the cause of fire safety and environmental responsibility. He is a member and current chairman of the Residential Fire Safety Institute, an organization largely funded by the United States Fire Administration and a number of private organizations. He is also President and Chairman of the Board of the newly formed Fire Prevention Alliance. Peters has spoken widely in the U.S. and abroad on the importance of fire safety and environmental responsibility.

Peters' election into the Polyurethane Foam Association Hall of Fame is testament to his impact, not only on the PFA, but the flexible polyurethane foam industry as a whole.

Dr. Harris W. Bradley

Dr. Harris W. "Ace" Bradley was inducted into the Flexible Polyurethane Foam Hall of Fame in recognition of his contribution to the "One-Shot" method for producing flexible polyurethane foam (FPF). "One-Shot" technology is now the standard method in the United States for producing FPF products. It allows a continuous production process of simultaneous polymer formation and expansion to form the foam. The original prepolymer process utilized a polymer formation step in a reactor vessel with later expansion of the formed polymer into the foam product.

Ace originally worked in DuPont's plastics development area. During World War II, Ace was recruited to work on the Manhattan Project and left DuPont. Even to close friends, Ace never revealed his role in Project and kept whatever contributions he made to himself.

After the end of the war, Ace returned to DuPont where he worked on developing the "One-Shot" process. He was convinced that the concept held great commercial potential and was technically feasible. Ace left DuPont and joined E.R. Carpenter Company. It was at Carpenter where the "One-Shot" process began to take shape. In 1960, Carpenter management chose to pursue the prepolymer method. Ace was convinced that the "One-Shot" method was the superior way to go, so Ace left Carpenter to join Essex Wire Corporation in Mt. Airy, North Carolina.

In 1964 Essex decided they would exit the foam business. But, Ace was confident of the viability of FPF business, and the "One-Shot" method as the best production process, and he was determined to stick with it.

Ace assembled a group of people and teamed with Barnhardt Manufacturing Company to establish North Carolina Foam Industries (NCFI), in 1964.

Finally in 1964, at NCFI, Ace perfected the "One-Shot" production method, which today has become the United States FPF manufacturing industry standard.

Ace served as NCFI's first president from 1964 until 1982. With a thorough understanding of "One-Shot" technology, NCFI quickly became a technology leader in the flexible polyurethane foam industry.

Dr. Bradley passed away in 2003.

Robert A. Volz

Bob Volz was a passionate contributor to the growth and technical development of the flexible polyurethane foam (FPF) industry. He is credited as the originator of the reticulated foam manufacturing process.

Volz began his career with Scott Paper Company in 1954 after graduating from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science (now the University of of the Sciences in Philadelphia).

Scott Paper was exploring polyurethane foam manufacturing. Bob was assigned to develop an understanding of the structure of polyurethane foam. He became curious whether the foam structure itself could be modified to yield flexible skeletal foam without membranes. Volz believed that such a modification would offer several unique advantages applicable to a variety of industries.

Bob's work in this area was instrumental to the development of the foam reticulation process in 1956. The same "open pore" manufacturing techniques, as Volz envisioned, are still used today to produce a flexible skeletal structure without membranes.

Shortly after the reticulation process was developed, Scott established its Foam Division and Volz became its first Director of Development.

Volz consulted with customers and fine-tuned reticulated foam technology for automotive, medical and military applications. He also developed innovative technologies for use in fuel cells.

Robert A. Volz passed away in 1996.

Union Carbide Corporation

Union Carbide Corporation was inducted into the Flexible Polyurethane Foam Hall of Fame to recognize the company's contribution to the development of the overall industry. Union Carbide's contributions began in the early 1960's and included the development of polyether polyols; the first general purpose silicone surfactant; the first fire retardant surfactant, the first High Resilience (HR) silicone surfactant - still used today to manufacture viscoelastic FPF products, and specialty modifiers that helped to eliminate dependence on CFCs in FPF manufacturing. Union Carbide's invention of the A-1 amine catalyst, that allowed the separate control of the gel vs. the blow reactions, proved to be vital to the production of high quality slabstock FPF.

Three events had much to do with the evolution of FPF production:

These events provided the technology that made continuous “One-Shot” production a reality. The technologies paved the way for volume production of foams well suited for cushioning applications with their unique combination of comfort, support and durability at affordable prices.

The timeline for Union Carbide innovations spanned the period from the early 1950s through 1993 when the last vestiges of the business were sold. An abbreviated version of that timeline shows the powerful role played by the company in the FPF business.

The legacy of Union Carbide lives on in the businesses that were started by Union Carbide and now are embodied at DOW, Bayer and GE.

Dow Chemical accepted the award on behalf of Union Carbide Corporation and the former Union Carbide employees who attended the award ceremony. Union Carbide is now a division of Dow Chemical.

Harry Kushnarov

Harry Kushnarov was a true pioneer in the flexible polyurethane foam business. While working for General Tire and Rubber, one of the early manufacturers of both slabstock and molded flexible polyurethane foam, he played a major role in the early adoption of the "one shot" method for slabstock foam production. Kushnarov also was a leader in the technical development and commercialization of High Resilience (HR) foam. The availability of HR foam supported the manufacturing and marketing of premium quality FPF cushion products for bedding, upholstered furniture, and automotive seating applications.

Kushnarov was largely responsible for the definition of HR foam based on density, firmness range, support factor and resilience. Once the definition was recognized, Kushnarov worked with officials from the National Association of Bedding Manufacturers (now known as ISPA) and with the Association of Bedding Law Officials (ABFLO) to achieve recognition for High Resilience (HR) foam products on mattress law labels.

In addition to his contributions to the development of the "one shot" technology and the commercialization of HR foam, Kushnarov had several inventions including an early patient for a foam cushioned automotive bucket seat.

Harry Kushnarov passed away in 1983.

Robert Schiffler

Robert Schiffler was a partner in Fecken-Kirfel, the family-owned German-based machine manufacturing company that developed and introduced much of the early foam cutting equipment which helped elevate value-added benefits for the United States FPF industry.

In the 1950s, the first polyester foams were stiff and firm with few cushioning characteristics. Through Fecken-Kirfel's introduction of the convoluter, this changed. By producing undulating profiles which effectively reduced surface area, the feel of the foam was softened.

In the 1960's foam was typically cut out of a bun into sheets and panels using a horizontal stacking saw. But, this method proved to be inefficient as the saw blade could not cut on the return stroke. With Robert Schiffler's guidance, Fecken-Kirfel developed and patented the carousel cutter. The circular cutting motion not only eliminated the wasted return stroke, but also increased productivity by the extra loading capacity of the machine.

Until the 1970s, contour parts were either molded or cut manually, which was a tedious and wasteful process. To add additional capability and efficiency to manual contour cutting, Fecken-Kirfel built the first automated contour cutting machine. The machine featured a patented continuous bandknife that was able to twist and turn with few restrictions, allowing many types of shapes that would have typically been molded, to be cut. Over the years, this machine evolved into the CAD-CNC machines so prevalent today. Had Schiffler not championed the introduction of contour cutting, the importance of slabstock versus molded foam may have been greatly diminished.

Robert Schiffler was an engineering innovator. He and his technical staff at Fecken-Kirfel, through their combined efforts, with creativity, ingenuity and vision contributed tremendously to the acceptance of new slabstock products, and thereby, the rapid growth of the flexible polyurethane foam industry.

Robert Schiffler passed away in 2000.

Robert J. Hay

Robert Hay began his career in the early 1950's as a chemist with Firestone Tire and Rubber Company. His early work concentrated on applied research and development related to latex foam. In 1955, Hay was assigned to a task group that developed vinyl covered polyester-based polyurethane foam dashboard pads for Ford and General Motors. This was one of the first large volume applications of prepolymer polyurethane foam in the U.S.

After switching to the one-shot foam manufacturing process, rapid growth occurred. By the late 1960's Firestone had become one of the largest producers of flexible polyurethane foam. And, Hay was assigned leadership of Firestone's polyurethane foam operation.

By the end of the 1970’s, Robert Hay was appointed president of Firestone’s Foam Products Division, generating about $20 million in annual sales. Soon after, the Firestone Foam Products Division was acquired and combined with General Felt Industries and Scott Foam. The new company was named Foamex with Hay at the helm as president and CEO. By 1993, under Robert Hay’s guidance, Foamex had developed into a $600 million company.

Robert Hay, with Dennis Peterson of Future Foam, James Hollars of Lear Siegler, Michael Blair of General Foam and Donald Bellew of Scott Foam, founded the Polyurethane Foam Association in April, 1980. Within PFA, Hay was instrumental in developing early proactive industry positions on flammability and various environmental safety matters. Robert Hay is an example of a true entrepreneur who began with a technical assignment, entered management and developed one of the world's largest flexible polyurethane foam enterprises. Hay has been a driving force for Foamex International and for the entire U.S. flexible polyurethane industry.