CHEVY CHASE, MD — With a focus on high-tech manufacturing, efficiency, energy savings and sustainability, the RadTech 2018 Conference and Exhibition recognized several contributions to the development of emerging and novel ultraviolet and electron beam technologies.

MicroTau Pty Ltd, New South Wales, Australia, was presented with one of the event’s Emerging Technology Awards for its low-cost, printed “shark-skin” surface. The surface reduces drag and improves efficiency for airplanes, cars, other vehicles and wind turbines. It also provides biocide-free antifouling materials for marine vessels, antibacterial surfaces in hospitals and aircraft tray tables, and self-cleaning paints and microfluidic devices.

Lumii Inc. was recognized for its hologram-like imagery using standard presses, media and inks for security and brand protection. This is achieved by applying sophisticated tera-scale computation to model billions to trillions of light rays as they interact with high-resolution printed material. The Lumii process disrupts many of the conventions associated with traditional security devices.

DENTSPLY Sirona has patented highly effective antimicrobial/antibacterial resins. Such resins can be readily formulated in a variety of compositions, such as composites, adhesives, sealants and coatings, to provide high-performance, non-leaching active surfaces to effectively kill a wide range of bacterium. It could also be used to potentially dramatically ease biofilm removal.

A special Collegiate Emerging Technology Award went to a team from the Coatings Research Institute at Eastern Michigan University for the development of “green” UV-LED curable nail gel polishes from bio-renewable materials. In this innovation, novel polymers are synthesized from bio-renewable materials such as plant oils (soybean oil, corn oil, canola oil), itaconic acid, gum rosin and bio-based succinic acid.

The event also featured lively cutting-edge topical panel discussions and a technical conference with well over 100 presentations. The best paper award for the event went to Natasha Banke, INX International Ink Co., for the presentation, Residual Building Block Chemicals in Raw Materials and Finished Printing Inks — A risk Assessment Approach to Manufacturing and Detection Limits, and best student paper was given to Forough Zareanshahraki, from the Coatings Research Institute at Eastern Michigan University, and her advisor Professor Vijay Mannari for “Green” UV-LED Gel Nail Polishes from Bio-Based Materials.

In a partnership with the Technical Association of the Arts Graphics (TAGA) the event also held a student poster competition, asking students to develop a well-designed, impactful poster touting UV+EB Technology. First place went to Olivia Blandford, from High Point University, and second place went to Ryan Hutson, from California Polytechnic State University. RadTech will feature these posters in its UV+EB Technology magazine and website.

RadTech also formally introduced its class of 2018 RadLaunch Accelerator. Members of the accelerator include the following:

• Trio Labs for Rapid UV 3D printing to create metal and ceramic parts with the same characteristics achieved through standard powder injection molding processes;
• Reboot Medical Inc. for PhotoCast Casting Tape, light-cured composite tape that hardens on-demand, producing a rigid splint or cast;
• A team from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem for nanocrystal photocatalysts, which fill an unmet need for efficient water-soluble photoinitiators for coatings and 2D and 3D printing;
• moi composites for a new, patented process that merges the performances of thermosetting composite materials with the potentialities of additive manufacturing, opening the world of advance composites to features today unimaginable;
• The Foam Printing Project for lightweight parts from resin that is foamed using a patent-pending process and solidified using a UV DLP 3D printer, creating parts that have up to 75% gas fractions, are lighter weight and less expensive to produce;
• Dynamic Matter LLC for a UV curable thermosetting polymer that can be remolded, relax stress, or repurposed following polymerization for use in optical applications and composites to reduce shrinkage and environmental stresses;
• A team from the University of Iowa for Transferrable Shadow Cure that decouples initiation and propagation mechanisms in cationic photopolymerization to address light penetration problems, thus providing full cure regardless of geometry, pigment and filler content, and sensitivity of material to light and heat.