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 Carpets
John McClurken
John is currently the Senior Application, Development and Technical Service (ADTS) Chemist for the Carpet Team responsible for ADTS for U.S. carpet customers and the WACKER ACADEMIES in Dalton, GA. He joined WACKER in 1997 after spending 15 years at Reichold Chemicals and 7 years at Dow Chemicals. John holds a BS in Chemistry and a BS in Biology both from Winthrop University.
Florentino Rodriguez
Florentino started at WACKER in 2019, joining the Consumer & Industrial Polymers business unit as a lab chemist for the Middle Americas. Florentino obtained his Chemical Engineering degree from the Metropolitan Autonomous University and has 7 years’ chemical-industry experience in R&D, developing paints, inks and adhesives. Today, he oversees the development and implementation of production processes. He is also responsible for providing technical support to WACKER’s customers in the coatings, adhesives and solid resin markets of the Middle Americas region.
Ilse Vargas
Ilse joined WACKER in 2019 as a sales manager in the Consumer & Industrial Polymers business unit. Her responsibilities cover Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. Her primary focus is on the adhesives and coatings markets. Ilse has 10 years’ technical and commercial experience of developing industrial and architectural coatings. She holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from the Nacional Polytechnic Institute and an MBA from the National Autonomous University of Mexico.