New President Takes Helm at Paulson
New Paulson President, Karen Paulson, flanked by her brothers and father. Scott Paulson, left, Don Paulson, and Craig Paulson, right.
Being the youngest of five children usually means fending for yourself or being dismissed as the baby but not for this Paulson sibling. Even as a young child Karen Paulson was the family member everyone turned to for information and direction. You could count on Karen to organize it and get it done, whatever “it” was. When out-going Paulson president, Craig Paulson, needed a successor it was only natural that he would name his youngest sister and fellow owner Karen Paulson.
Ms. Paulson’s new post makes her the first female president of this 40-year-old iconic plastics training company, a company founded by her father, and veteran educator, Donald C. Paulson. After graduating Quinnipiac College, Summa Cum Laude, with a double major in Math and Computer Science, Ms. Paulson began her professional career in the graphics department of Paulson Training. Here, she created animations and developed the Study guides for Paulson’s interactive lessons. This was the late eighties in the era before computers were used to create layouts and where each page of every Study guide had to be “pasted-up” by hand. Ms. Paulson has since worked in every facet of company operations, from accounting to technical support to office manager and as recently as product and content developer managing and using specialized software to build the interactive training lessons.
In short, Ms. Paulson is and has been responsible for the features and delivery technologies Paulson customers experience in their online lessons. And it’s her goal to continue improving Paulson’s courses by exploring the latest available technologies.
“The mission statement, in my mind, for Paulson is to serve the plastics processor by providing them with superior scientific training delivered anytime, anywhere, on any device–essentially making training convenient for individuals and their employer,” said Ms. Paulson.
Adding, “As I think about what’s important to the business, I’ll start with making sure our customers have direct, flexible access to our training and lab lessons. We just completed an update to our proprietary lab lesson platform called SkillBuilder™, which integrates each interactive lesson right into the courses. Before, you had to go through the lessons and then open up another program to access the SkillBuilder lab portion,” explained Ms. Paulson.
“Having this flexibility will make training more fluid on the plant floor. Our customers couldn’t be happier with our new improved feature.”
She’s also excited to launch the latest version of SimTech™, Paulson’s proprietary injection molding machine simulator. SimTech™ was developed by her father and company founder, Donald Paulson and oldest brother AI Developer Chuck Paulson. It’s built on decades of Don’s research, data, and his thousands of scientific formulas.
“My goal with SimTech is to get this dynamic simulation tool into every molding plant to revolutionize how companies train their employees. It’s a powerful way to train for a fraction of the cost of using actual molding machines,” said Ms. Paulson.
Adding, “We will be releasing ongoing molding challenges that companies can use to compete with themselves or even better, against people from other companies. Challenges are fun and, I believe, they are one of the best ways to really learn something.”
Speaking of challenges, Ms. Paulson is embarking on her own challenge in becoming President of her family’s company, and given her past duties, she’s well prepared for the job. While there are some aspects of this new role that will be challenging, she’s well-poised and ready to carry the company to the next level.
Paulson Training Programs, Inc., is the leading provider of technical training for the plastics industry. All of the Paulson programs are based on the Paulson Method, a logical step-by-step approach that teaches processing from the “plastics point of view,” (PPV) a term coined by Donald C. Paulson well over 40 years ago; and builds processing knowledge by focusing on the four variables that control the molding process: heat, flow, pressure and cooling.
Paulson training programs are currently in use by thousands of plastics processors and over a hundred colleges and universities worldwide. Paulson’s philosophy of investing in people, not just machinery, has become a proven model of success.
For additional information about Paulson Training products and Paulson Plastics Academy seminars, visit PaulsonTraining.com or call 1-800-826-1901; or via email sales@paulsontraining.com.
