John Delmonte
Furane Plastics
Inducted 1976
John Delmonte (1913 – 1992) was a materials engineer and an influential author whose achievements centered on the ever-expanding technology of modern-day plastics. Delmonte earned his B.S. degree at the New York University College of Engineering and an M.S. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Later in life, he earned a Certificate in Archaeology from UCLA (1984).
His early career was in research at the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia, the Sunbeam Electric Company in Chicago, and the Plastics Industries Technical Institute in Los Angeles. In 1957, Delmonte founded Delsen Testing Laboratories in Glendale, California, and Furane Plastics Inc. in Los Angeles. His career as president of Furane Plastics spanned 25 years, during which time he built Furane into one of the world’s leading specialty plastic resin companies. Delsen, now Element Materials Technology, remains a leading independent laboratory engaged in engineering composites’ mechanical, electrical, and flammability testing.
Delmonte’s books include Metal Filled Plastics (Reinhold Publishing Company, 1961); Plastics in Engineering (Penton Publishing, 1942 and later editions); Plastics Molding (Wiley & Sons Publishing, 1952); Technology of Adhesives (Reinhold Publishing, 1966); Technology of Carbon/Glass Fiber Composites (Van Nostrand Reinhold Publishing, 1981); and Origins of Materials and Processes (Technomic Publishing Company Inc., 1985).
Delmonte was active as a member and officer in many professional societies, including the California Institute of Technology Associates, the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, the Society of the Plastics Industry (now PLASTICS), the Society of Plastics Engineers, the Society for the Advancement of Materials and Process Engineering (where he was a Fellow), the American Chemical Society, the American Society for Testing of Materials (ASTM), Rotary International, Adventurers Club, Plastics Pioneers, and the Explorer’s Club in New York City.
During retirement, Mr. Delmonte and his wife, Janet, had more time to devote to research and writing, particularly in identifying materials resources worldwide and the processes which introduced them into our cultural activities. They have traveled to rarely-visited areas worldwide, including the Burma/China border, the ‘Stone Forest’ near Kunming, and more accessible sites all over Europe, the Near East, and Australia, where they examined aboriginal cave art.
Areas of Expertise:
Plastic processing, Plastic management