Thomas E. Brady
Plastic Technologies, Inc. (PTI)
Inducted 2012
A pioneer in the PET packaging industry, Dr. Tom Brady (1944 – ) joined Owens-Illinois, Inc. (O-I) in 1972 where as Vice President and Technical Director for O-I’s Plastics Group, he directed the technical activities for all O-I’s plastic product lines and led the development of the first PET plastic beverage bottle.
Other pioneering achievements of Dr. Brady’s O-I team included the first use of short-wavelength infrared reheat systems for blow molding machines, the commercialization of rotary continuous-motion blow molding systems, the evolution of injection molding cavitation from 8 to 72 cavities, and the commercialization of in-mold labeling, spill-back spouted containers, and secondary “carrier” packaging.
Dr. Brady left O-I in 1985 to found Plastic Technologies, Inc. (PTI) and five other PTI Companies, which are still internationally recognized for their expertise in plastic packaging, plastic product and process technology development, plastics recycling, and specialty product manufacturing. Dr. Brady is retired but remains Founder and Chairman Emeritus.
In 2021 PTI-USA, PTI-Europe, and PTI Operations were acquired by SIPA Solutions, an Italian supplier of plastic processing equipment with operations in China, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, and Brazil.
In 2019 Phoenix Technologies International, LLC, a leading PET recycling company, was acquired by Far Eastern New Century, a Taiwanese supplier of virgin and recycled PET with operations in Japan, the Philippines, and China.
In 2017 The Packaging Conference, created in 2008 as a joint venture between PTI and SBA-CCI to serve the packaging industry, was acquired by SBA-CCI.
A sixth PTI subsidiary company founded in 2017, Guardian Medical USA, remains an independent Toledo-based startup that supplies proprietary sterile medical packaging.
Dr. Brady received BA and MS in Engineering from Dartmouth College and a Ph.D. in Plastic Materials Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1972. He was recognized as the INC Magazine and Arthur Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 1989 and was inducted into the Society of Plastics Industry Hall of Fame in 2012. PTI received the Small Business of the Year Award in 1995.
In 2022 Tom published three books summarizing his career at O-I and PTI, including Impact of Owens-Illinois on the World, History of the PET Bottle, and Plastic Technologies, Inc: Our Story. His books are available at BookBaby, Amazon, and most bookstores.
Dr. Brady has served on boards for the Ohio Department of Development, I-Corp Ohio, NW Ohio Regional Growth Partnership, Toledo Technology Academy, Toledo Early College, Toledo School for the Arts, Lourdes University, University of Toledo Medical College, University of Toledo, Imagination Station’s Science Society, Toledo Museum of Art Business Council, Toledo Alliance for the Performing Arts, UT Medical Research Society, and was appointed Interim Dean for the Judith Herb College of Education at The University of Toledo from 2009-2011.
https://adapetation.net/dr-tom-brady/