Marking Minute: Behind the Scenes in The Presco Lab

 

Dr. Stephen Hutcheson, Technical Director, Presco Polymers and Stephen Janak, Chemical Engineer, Presco popped by Marking Minute to give host James Kent an insider’s perspective on the research & development process of many of Presco’s products. Dr. Hutcheson, a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, found his love of STEM at an early age. His father was, and still is, a high school biology teacher. Dr. Hutcheson pursued an engineering degree in college and discovered his interest in polymers, which eventually led a pathway to Presco.

A chance meeting with Joe Hardt, CEO of Presco, led chemical engineering undergraduate, Janak, to an eventual position as a chemical engineer working in R&D under Dr. Hutcheson at Presco.

What’s it like working in R&D at Presco? “It depends on the day,” Janak said. “A day can include traveling to a customer location to provide technical support, or I can spend an entire day on the production lines scale up a project. But most of my time is spent in the labs developing new colors or materials for our customers.”

Dr. Hutcheson agreed with the varying nature of each day. “I focus on formulating specific customer requirements. We are a lean organization, and that allows us to move fast when it comes to developing products. It also allows us to get information back to the customer quickly.” Although many of the projects that keep R&D busy are quick turnarounds for customers, the team also works on a steady mix of long-term product solutions.

The team has a lab extruder that allows them to turn around fast projects and provide small lab samples to the customer, which mimics what the final delivery project will be. “I like it because it lets us create a base formulation that will have all the properties of the materials a customer will need and create a lot of variation of colors for them,” Janak said.

For the latest news, videos, and podcasts in the Engineering & Construction Industry, be sure to subscribe to our industry publication.

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Twitter – @MarketScale
Facebook – facebook.com/marketscale
LinkedIn – linkedin.com/company/marketscale

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

mobile gaming
From Flip Phones to Free-to-Play Empires: How Mobile Gaming Reshaped Business Models, Communities, and Esports
September 17, 2025

Mobile gaming has quietly become the largest segment of the global gaming industry, generating about $92 billion annually—more than both PC and console games. Yet for decades, many brands and agencies underestimated its reach, focusing instead on arena-filling esports tournaments or blockbuster console titles. With nearly everyone carrying a smartphone, however, mobile has become…

Read More
Revenue Cycle
Transformation Without Disruption: How Access Healthcare Is Rewiring the Revenue Cycle with Agentic AI
September 17, 2025

Hospitals are juggling shrinking margins and rising costs while denial volumes remain stubbornly high. In the revenue cycle alone, hundreds of billions are lost annually to preventable errors and inefficiencies—in fact, Access Healthcare CEO Shaji Ravi cites more than $250 billion wasted each year. Meanwhile, payers have accelerated their use of AI to adjudicate…

Read More
leading with intention
Making Meaning Out of Life’s Pause: Billie Whitehouse on Finding Strength, Setting Boundaries, and Leading With Intention
September 17, 2025

In June, Forbes profiled Billie Whitehouse, CEO and Creative Director of Wearable X, as she broke her silence about leading through a devastating health crisis. Diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer at 27 while 22 weeks pregnant, Whitehouse underwent emergency surgery that ensured her survival, but came with the profound heartbreak of losing her…

Read More
Critical Care
Transforming the ICU Through Technology: Advances in Critical Care Telehealth Delivering Gold-Standard Care Anywhere
September 17, 2025

Critical care in the United States faces a mounting crisis. With a shortage of board-certified intensivists and younger, less experienced nurses filling ICUs, hospitals often struggle to provide timely, gold-standard care. Studies show that hospitals with board-certified intensivists in their ICUs see a 30% reduction in patient mortality, yet thousands of facilities still lack…

Read More