Dr. Mark Soucek, a professor in the Department of Polymer Engineering at The University of Akron, will be awarded the prestigious Roy W. Tess Award in Coatings by the American Chemical Society’s Division of Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering (PMSE).

Recipients of the Tess Award, which recognizes outstanding individual achievements and noteworthy contributions to coatings science, technology and engineering, are presented with $3,000 and an engraved plaque. The 30th Tess Award will be presented to Soucek at the Fall ACS Meeting in in Philadelphia, Pa. The meeting is being held in conjunction with a symposium and an evening reception to honor Soucek and other award winners.

Innovator and teacher

During Soucek’s career in the field of polymer coatings, he has made significant scientific contributions to the field, pioneered innovations and trained students in cutting-edge coatings technology. Many of those students are now leaders in the field.

Recognized as one of the leaders in drying oil technologies, especially with regard to bio-based feedstocks, he has published more than 25 scientific papers in that area. He also was a major contributor to the renaissance of alkyd technology. He is among the leading authorities in reactive diluent technologies, replacing VOCs with solvating bio-based liquids that dissolve the polymeric binder and then participate in the film formation by reactive crosslinking into the coating.

Soucek’s research contributions have twice been recognized with the Roon Award, once for his work with thermosetting latexes and also for developing a new class of alkyd coatings. He was the recipient of the inaugural Gordon Award by the Coatings Tech Conference in 2000, and he was selected as a Gordon Award finalist for his work in UV-curable bio-based polymers in 2003.

Recognized for contributions

In 2004 and 2005, Soucek received honorable mention for the Gordon Award for his core-shell latex work and UV-curing of unsaturated polyesters. Also in 2004, he was awarded the Innovation Award by Radtech (the European association for UV/EB technology) for his work in UV-curable coatings. Soucek received The Society for Protective Coatings Editor’s Award for his work “Self-Stratifying Corrosion Resistant Coatings,” and has published more than 150 peer-reviewed technical papers on coating science, 15 book chapters.

Soucek, who has 15 issued U.S. patents and pending patent applications, also is a member of the faculty steering committee of UA’s National Center for Education and Research on Corrosion and Materials Performance.