Dr. Sonja Schulte, Editor in Chief, Science and Technology, for the European Coatings Journal, offered the welcome address at the opening of the European Coatings Congress on Monday, March 28. Dr. Schulte presented results of a delegate survey that looks at future trends of our industry. Waterborne technology was the clear leader when delegates were asked which technologies are the most important for future development. Functional/smart coatings came in second, followed by powder, high solids and UV/EB curing technology. Market demands was the number-one driver of R&D activities, followed by care/responsibility for society, raw material prices and legislation. Delegates also answered that binders/resins are the raw material class that will lead the effort to develop renewable products, followed by additives, fillers and pigments.

Shortly after her remarks, Dr. Shulte announced that the winner of the 2011 European Coatings Award for Best Paper is Marc Entenmann of the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation, Germany. Entenmann’s paper, titled “Corrosion Protection with Nanoscale Anti-Corrosive Pigments in Coatings”, was co-authored by Heinz Greisiger, Roman Maurer and Thadeus Schauer.