 | Sandra (Sandy) Niks
Sandra L. Niks, retired November 2008, was manager of engineering standards for General Motors Corp. in Warren, Mich. She recorded information about and published GM'S worldwide engineering standards, and she was in the process of building standards expertise within the company. Niks, who was GM's standards expert, also oversaw external engineering standards activities for GM. Prior to her role in engineering standards, she worked several years at GM Research on adhesive formulation and adhesion theory, then evaluating potential adhesive candidates for automotive applications.
An ASTM member since 1986, Niks chaired (2008-2011) Committee D14 on Adhesives, which includes about 150 members who are responsible for more than 130 standards. In addition, she serves as chair of Subcommittee D14.40 on Adhesives for Plastics and is vice chair of D14.60 on Adhesive Material Classification System. Niks served as D14 secretary from 1995 to 2000.
A longtime member of the American Chemical Society, Niks is also an active member of SAE International, where she works on the Automotive Adhesives & Sealants Committee (current acting Chair) and the Materials, Parts, and Processes Council (past Chair). She has also worked on the SAE Technical Standards Board.
Niks began her career with GM as a science assistant in 1976, the year after she earned her B.Sc. in chemistry from Wayne State University in Detroit, Mich. While at GM, she completed her Master of Science in the economic aspects of chemistry at the University of Detroit. Niks became a project engineer in 1985 and a senior project engineer in 1992.
From 1988 to 1993, Niks chaired the GM Corporate Adhesives Committee. As the chair, she facilitated a committee responsible for updating corporate adhesive specifications, establishing standard specification templates, organizing technology development information to facilitate communication between divisions and compiling corporate adhesive specifications into one publication. |