Apoorva Kulkarni is a Senior Research Engineer at Saint-Gobain Research Center, where she leads work on polymer sustainability, recycling, and biobased materials. A significant portion of her work supports CertainTeed Siding —Saint-Gobain’s building products division, where her focus is on advancing materials and processes for exterior building applications. Her work includes leading efforts on recycled PVC utilization for siding applications, with a goal of scaling
reuse to tens of millions of pounds while significantly reducing carbon footprint.
Apoorva completed her Ph.D. at Michigan State University, focusing on biodegradable polymers and reactive extrusion technologies. She has authored multiple peer-reviewed publications, presented at international conferences, and actively contributes as a reviewer and guest editor for leading journals.
Apoorva has been an SPE member since 2017. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the SPE Bioplastics and Renewable Technologies Division as Communications Chair. In this role, she manages that division’s LinkedIn Channel, curates technical content for the division’s newsletter, and works to strengthen member engagement. She also created and hosts the “Women in Bioplastics” interview series to promote visibility and inclusion within the plastics community.
Through her current role, Apoorva is deeply engaged in projects related to building materials, recycling, and sustainable product development within CertainTeed. These experiences have strengthened her interest in the building and infrastructure sector, and she is motivated to increase her involvement in this space through SPE.
Dr. Manuel Garcia-Leiner is a Principal in the Polymers & Chemistry Practice at Exponent, where he provides scientific and technical consulting services in all aspects of polymer science and engineering, and chemical engineering. Dr. Garcia-Leiner holds a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) and a Masters in Science (M.S.) in Polymer Science and Engineering from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, along with a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) a Masters in Engineering (M. Eng.) in Chemical Engineering from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
Dr. Garcia-Leiner has been practicing in the field of polymer science and engineering for more than 25 years, and during his career, he has evaluated, developed, and patented industrial materials used for building and construction and other applications, such as biomedical devices, food packaging, electronics and displays, aerospace, oil and gas, tire and rubber, modified asphalt, point of purchase, signs, sports technology, and alternative energy technologies. Prior
to joining Exponent, Dr. Garcia-Leiner spent almost a decade in the plastics industry at Arkema where he held several R&D positions among various business units.
As a consultant at Exponent, Dr. Garcia-Leiner has assisted several clients as a testifying expert in litigation and international arbitration matters related to intellectual property (patent and trade secrets disputes), product liability, and toxic torts, associated with the use of polymers, plastics, rubbers and elastomers, and their use in multiple applications and technologies.
Dr. Garcia-Leiner’s interest in supporting the Building & Infrastructure Division stems from his extensive work in polymer formulations and plastics systems in the building, construction, and infrastructure areas. Dr. Garcia-Leiner’s practice in this field covers the analysis and development of plastics formulations, in addition to the analytical evaluation of the properties in plastic-based end products (compounds, pipe, flooring, siding, decking, railing, etc.).
Over the years, Dr. Garcia-Leiner’s work has also paid significant attention to the manufacturing processes utilized to create these end products, including compounding, injection molding, along with various extrusion processes to produce profiles, sheets, films, pipes, etc.