CAD RETEC® 2018

Allen Zielnek

Senior Consultant – Weathering Science

Atlas Material Testing Technology LLC

Biography

Current role within the plastics industry:

Allen currently serves two roles within Atlas in the polymer field. First, he is a senior weathering scientific consultant supporting commercial testing and weathering instrument customers. In addition, he also has engaged in over 100 high profile technical consulting projects for products involving polymer and coating weather durability. Secondly, Allen is Atlas’ Global Applications Manager responsible for developing new applications and testing methodologies, performing applications tests such as standards round robins, and verifying instrument performance in running global test standards.

Brief professional background:

Allen spent the first 19 years of his career with various analytical instrument manufacturers specializing in several fields including polymer molecular weight analysis via gel permeation liquid chromatography, low angle laser light scattering photometry, and kinematic intrinsic viscosity techniques. Joining Atlas in 1995 he served as the GM of Atlas’ then Polymer Evaluation Products, Fire Science and Analytical divisions developing instruments for polymer physical and flammability testing, as well as chemiluminescence for detecting polymer degradation.  

Allen has authored over 150 publications in the field, including co-authoring the chapter on Weathering of Polymer Materials in the Encyclopedia of Polymer Science and Technology. An area of particular current focus is on the durability of polymer materials used in solar and renewable energy such as solar panels (photovoltaics).