Kerry Pianoforte, Editor02.26.24
The School of Polymers and High Performance Materials at the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) held the 50th Annual International Waterborne, High-Solids and Powder Coatings Symposium February 6-9 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Waterborne Symposium is a technical forum for environmentally friendly coatings technologies. Proceeds from the symposium are used by USM for various elements of academic program development including junior faculty development, graduate student stipends, equipment acquisition and maintenance, and especially scholarships for undergraduate students majoring in Polymer Science. Most of these students enter the coatings or related polymer industries upon graduation. These scholarships are key to USM’s efforts to recruit the highest-achieving students into their Polymer program.
This year’s event featured 39 talks organized into several sessions related to various aspects of surface coatings: general, corrosion, resins, waterborne, pigments, additives and high solids.
Keynote Speaker, Brent Sumerlin of The University of Florida presented “Photocatalysis to Deactivate, Depolymerize and Degrade Polymers.”
The Sidney Lauren Memorial Lecture was given by Jim Reader, Senior Technical Manager, Automotive Coatings, Americas, Evonik Corp. and was titled “Sustainability: An Additive Supplier Perspective.”
The Evonik Student Poster Awards were given to the following individuals:
Undergraduate:
First Place: Issac Fisher and Jonathan Buris, USM for “Influence of Purity and Mechanical Properties of Aromatic Diamine Based Polybenzoazines.”
Second Place: Elaina Booker, USM for “Investigating Solvent Effects on thiol-ene Network Formation.”
Graduate:
First Place: Nick Enos, USM for “Influence of Carbon Nanotubes on Poly (phenolene sulfide) Crystallization Kinetics and Multiscale Semi-Crystalline Morphology.”
Second Place: Virgina Mullins, USM for “Phase Development of Polymer-Derived Ceramics.”
Third Place: Moustafa Zagho, USM for “Surface Modification of Poly(vinyldene fluoride) Microfiltration Membranes Using Polydopamine in Combination with Organic or Inorganic Hydrophilic Agent to Improve Oil Fouling Resistance.”
Thames-Mendon Best Student Paper Award:
Tahereh Hayeri, Eastern Michigan University for “Eco-Friendly Topcoats: VOCs/HAPS-Free Solutions with a High Bio-Renewable Content, Grounded in Organic/Inorganic Hybrid Technology.”
PCI Award for Technical Excellence:
Artur Palasz, Spektrochem for “Phyllsilicate Thickeners as One Family of Clays in Each of Them is Different.”
Siltech Best Paper Award for Innovation:
Matthew Burge, BYK-Chemie for “The Higher the Better? What Does Zeta Potential Tell About Design of Wetting and Dispersing Additives.”
Next year’s Symposium will be held Feb. 23-28th.
This year’s event featured 39 talks organized into several sessions related to various aspects of surface coatings: general, corrosion, resins, waterborne, pigments, additives and high solids.
Plenary Speaker, Panel Discussion, Keynote Address and Memorial Lecture
The first session commenced with plenary speakers, Sharon Feng, Global Directory of Corporate R&D, PPG (retired) and Daniel Moyano, Head of PPG’s Science and Technology Digital Team presenting “Accelerating Innovation in Chemical Industry: Promises and Challenges of Digital Transformation.”Keynote Speaker, Brent Sumerlin of The University of Florida presented “Photocatalysis to Deactivate, Depolymerize and Degrade Polymers.”
The Sidney Lauren Memorial Lecture was given by Jim Reader, Senior Technical Manager, Automotive Coatings, Americas, Evonik Corp. and was titled “Sustainability: An Additive Supplier Perspective.”
Technology Showcase
In addition to the main technical program, the Waterborne Symposium also included a three-day Technology Showcase. Now in its 26th year, the showcase had 22 exhibitors who focused on emerging technologies, new materials, innovative services and equipment for the coatings industry.Student Poster Sessions/Awards
This year there were 28Student Posters from both graduate and undergraduate students.The Evonik Student Poster Awards were given to the following individuals:
Undergraduate:
First Place: Issac Fisher and Jonathan Buris, USM for “Influence of Purity and Mechanical Properties of Aromatic Diamine Based Polybenzoazines.”
Second Place: Elaina Booker, USM for “Investigating Solvent Effects on thiol-ene Network Formation.”
Graduate:
First Place: Nick Enos, USM for “Influence of Carbon Nanotubes on Poly (phenolene sulfide) Crystallization Kinetics and Multiscale Semi-Crystalline Morphology.”
Second Place: Virgina Mullins, USM for “Phase Development of Polymer-Derived Ceramics.”
Third Place: Moustafa Zagho, USM for “Surface Modification of Poly(vinyldene fluoride) Microfiltration Membranes Using Polydopamine in Combination with Organic or Inorganic Hydrophilic Agent to Improve Oil Fouling Resistance.”
Thames-Mendon Best Student Paper Award:
Tahereh Hayeri, Eastern Michigan University for “Eco-Friendly Topcoats: VOCs/HAPS-Free Solutions with a High Bio-Renewable Content, Grounded in Organic/Inorganic Hybrid Technology.”
PCI Award for Technical Excellence:
Artur Palasz, Spektrochem for “Phyllsilicate Thickeners as One Family of Clays in Each of Them is Different.”
Siltech Best Paper Award for Innovation:
Matthew Burge, BYK-Chemie for “The Higher the Better? What Does Zeta Potential Tell About Design of Wetting and Dispersing Additives.”
Next year’s Symposium will be held Feb. 23-28th.