The WACKER ACADEMY Team of Instructors
Theoretical expertise and practical experience are the cornerstones of the WACKER ACADEMY team. With backgrounds in sales or technology, our experts come to the table with extensive application knowledge. They are also trained instructors and moderators with a sixth sense for current trends and market developments.
Instructors for Automotive and Transport Applications
Daniel Deng
Daniel Deng obtained a master’s degree in Material Science from East China University of Science and Technology in 2009. He joined the Rubber Solutions business team at WACKER China in 2012 and is a technical manager at the WACKER Shanghai technical center, responsible for promotion and technical support of silicone rubbers in healthcare, baby care, and textile coating applications in China.
Todd Kamyszek
Todd joined WACKER in 2005 and spent 10 years at the Adrian, Michigan site in various technical roles. He relocated to the SILMIX® Ohio site in 2015 and is presently the Technical Manager focusing on high consistency silicone rubber compounds. He holds a BS degree in Rubber Engineering Technology and BS degree in Plastics Engineering Technology from Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan, and a Master of Engineering degree in Engineering Management from the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
DooJin Kang
DooJin Kang joined WACKER in 2006 as a technical manager for silicone elastomers. Before joining WACKER, DooJin Kang gained technical experience in developing chemical products for display and optoelectronics applications. He now heads a product development and technical service team for automotive, electronics and medical applications at WACKER.
Kyung-Hak Kim
Kyung-Hak Kim joined the silicones engineering team at Wacker Chemicals Korea in 2012.From 2012 to 2018, he developed electrical and electronic materials for automotive and consumer electronics applications.Now, he is developing silicone rubber for general industry and provides technical support to customers.
Adolfo Larrazabal
Adolfo joined WACKER in 1999 as a textiles sales manager and for 13 years was responsible for various WACKER SILICONES market segments. He developed the region’s personal care business and, in 2008, lived in Colombia, where he helped establish the Colombia office by conducting a market study of the region. In 2012, he moved to Brenntag Latam (a champion WACKER distributor) for 4 years, developing the silicone and polymer markets. Adolfo rejoined WACKER in 2016 and is currently the senior sales manager for rubber and elastomers in the Middle Americas region. He has a BS in Chemical Engineering from the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
Seung-A Lee
Seung-A Lee has more than 20 years of experience in electronic material R&D with silicone, acrylates, epoxy and urethane. She joined the CoEE (Center of Excellence Electronics) at WACKER in 2014 and developed optical bonding material for industrial, automotive, and consumer electronics from 2014 to 2018.
She is now head of the CoEE (Center of Excellence Electronics), the global silicone R&D center for electronics.
Lara Liu
Lara Liu joined WACKER in 2014. She worked as senior technical manager and now she is a marketing manager of Silicone Rubber Solutions business team, and has extensive experience in silicone rubber market, products and application. She is currently responsible for the promotion of ACEO® silicone 3D printing in China.
Lucy Oldfield
Lucy is a Michigander through and through. Her bachelor’s degree is from Siena Heights University and has spent her career at Wacker Chemical Corp. and the realm of silicones. She started out her early years as a Lab Technician in the Silicone Elastomers Department working on Automotive sealants and room temperature vulcanizates in either one or two components. For a couple of years, Lucy worked in Elastomers QA testing a multitude of silicones including RTV-1, 2, gums, bases and LSR’s. Lucy worked up to Technical Service Manager in 2005 and has served Wacker Silicones in various fields including Automotive, Industrial, Mold-Making and Advanced Wound Care. Lucy enjoys helping the customer and new employees learn the intricacies of Silicones and their uses.
Laura Polchinski
Laura is a Chemist at Wacker Chemical Corporation. She has 25 years experience in the chemical industry, which includes 10 years of silicone-specific experience in the areas automotive and electronics. Laura has a specialization in RTV chemistry.
Yuichiro Takeda
Yuichiro Takeda joined Asahi Kasei Wacker Silicone’s technical department in 2013 after completing his master's degree in chemistry.From 2013 to 2018, he was in charge of product development and technical support for silicone emulsions, mainly in cosmetics and release film applications.From 2019 to 2023, he worked in Quality Control and was in charge of handling quality complaints for silicone products. Since September 2023, he has worked in product development and technical support for silicones in automotive and semiconductor applications.
Akiyoshi Takehira
Akiyoshi Takehira holds a post graduate degree in synthetic chemistry. He joined WACKER in 1991 as a technical service manager for elastomers in automotive, medical, electronics and general rubber applications. He has been head of Technology Management since 2015, covers a wide range of technical fields, and leads WACKER ACADEMY Japan.
Chong Keong Tan
Chong Keong holds a Bachelor’s degree (Hons) in Polymer Technology from the University of Science in Malaysia. With years of experience in the rubber industry, he joined WACKER in 2015 and is currently in charge of the technical center for silicone elastomers and supports the growing healthcare and electronics industries.
Yamato Tateishi
Yamato Tateishi holds a bachelor’s degree in applied chemistry. He joined WACKER in 2012 and has over 10 years’ experience in silicone rubber. Since 2024, he has been involved in customer training and seminars and can provide the latest information on trends in the silicone rubber industry, and applications in the energy, automotive, healthcare and general industry segments.
Taishi Uchida
Taishi Uchida majored in chemistry and conducted research in silicone chemistry (mainly, synthesis of monomolecular siloxanes).After completing his master's degree, he joined Wacker Asahi Kasei Silicone’s technical department in 2018.From 2018 to 2022, he engaged in product development and technical support for liquid silicone rubber, and since 2022, he has worked in product development and technical support for silicone gels, optical clear adhesives, and thermal conductive potting materials.
Nick White
Dr. Nick White joined WACKER in 2016 as an R&D Scientist, becoming part of the newly established Silicones R&D team for North America. He currently serves as the Technical Manager for Automotive within the Silicone Elastomers team. Before his time at Wacker, Dr. White taught chemistry courses at Mott Community College in Flint, Michigan. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Michigan Technological University and a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from Michigan State University.