Preparations are gathering speed for the first International Plastics Design Competition (IPDC), certain to be a celebrated highlight of NPE2009, it was announced this week by the Alliance of Plastics Processors (APP). NPE2009, the most extensive and diversified international plastics event, will take place June 22-26 at Chicago's McCormick Place. 

An online entry capability is now 'live' at the IPDC website, www.plasticsdesign.org, enabling companies or design professionals to instantly submit all required information about their plastic products or components and pay entry fees. The application deadline is April 1, 2009. Until now, entrants have submitted applications using the downloadable form on the website. 

After the April 1 deadline, information and photos of all products in the competition will be displayed on the website, and visitors will be able to vote online for the winner of a 'People's Choice' award. Other winners in a variety of categories will be selected at NPE2009 by an expert panel of judges.  

Throughout NPE week, all product entries will be on display at an IPDC pavilion in the West Hall of McCormick Place. Winners will be announced at a special awards event during NPE2009, with full information on winning entries made available to the press. 

The IPDC is supported by Design News, GlobalSpec, the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), Plastics News Global Group, and Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. (UL). 

"The first IPDC has attracted broad industry involvement and is taking shape as a milestone in the history of plastics design," said Kevin Brady, chairman of the IPDC planning committee. "This is the first plastics design competition to be open to entrants from every country in the world and every industry sector, ranging from appliance and automotive components to consumer products to medical devices to packaging." 

The APP, organizer of the IPDC, is a unit of The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. (SPI), which produces the triennial NPE. The group is the successor to SPI's Structural Plastics Division and for 35 years has sponsored a design competition renowned in North America as a showplace for innovative plastic products. The IPDC expands the scope of the competition to include products of all types and from any country. 

The IPDC is open to designers, processors, moldmakers, material suppliers, OEMs, and other parties involved in the development of an innovative product. Full information on award categories, judging criteria, and entry fees is available at www.plasticsdesign.org or by clicking on the IPDC logo at the NPE2009 website, www.npe.org.  

Besides selecting winners in a range of end-use market categories, the IPDC judges will present awards for overall achievement, advancements in sustainability, and innovations in emerging technologies such as bioplastics or nanotechnology.