Ralph A. Noble
Synergistics Industries
Inducted 2009
Ralph Noble (1928 – 2017) was a chemical engineer who became a Canadian plastics industry leader, specializing in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) compounds and additives. He also served as the first president of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) from outside the United States.
Noble was born in Oshawa, Ontario, and graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in chemical engineering in 1950. After graduation, he became a sales engineer for the B.F. Goodrich Corporation, Sherwin Williams, and then joined the Canadian subsidiary of the Imperial Chemical Company. An entrepreneur, Noble, and two partners founded the Carlew Chemical company in 1958, a supplier of plastic compounds. The company produces PVC compounds and plasticizers for flexible packaging, hoses, and wire and cable coatings. The company was renamed Synergistics Industries. Noble became the president and Chief Executive Officer of the corporation in 1983. Noble had been described as having a long-term approach to business while maintaining integrity and the highest ethical standards. Synergistics was then acquired by the PolyOne Corporation in 1988.
Noble, a member of SPE since 1951, served in various capacities in SPE’s Quebec section and was named SPE International’s President in 1970. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the SPE Canadian Division in 1996 and was awarded SPE’s Businessman of the Year Award in 1991. Ralph was also active in industry associations, receiving the CanPlast Award in 1971 and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Plastics Industry Association in 1996.
Areas of Expertise:
Plastic materials, Business Management