TROY, MI — The Electrocoat Association recently announced the winners of the 2022 George E.F. Brewer awards and the newly created Lifetime Achievement Award, which were presented at ECOAT22 in Orlando, Florida, on April 20. 

Dr. George E.F. Brewer is generally credited with the original idea of electrodeposition of paint through his work and research during the late 1950s at Ford Motor Co. The award in his name, given during the ECOAT Conference, honors recipients who stand out among the best in the field of electrocoating.

The new Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes those who have dedicated most of their career to the electrocoating industry, developing solutions to industry problems and creating an environment of innovation for new participants to learn. 

The association also honored one of its own at the conference. Anne Von Moll is retiring this year from her work at Gardner Business Media and has been a part of The Electrocoat Association since 1998. She has worked on every ECOAT Conference since she started at Gardner Business Media. Von Moll was presented with a Service Award in recognition of her service to the electrocoat industry and The Electrocoat Association at ECOAT22.

Rex Krohn of John Deere received the award for Market Promotion of Electrocoat Technology. Krohn is the Manager of Enterprise Facilities Services at Deere & Co. in Moline, Illinois. He leads the Paint Materials group responsible for innovation, specifications, standard processes, and qualification of paint and painters. In 2020, he took on additional responsibility for the Enterprise Facilities Competencies – Electrical, Mechanical, Environmental, Civil, and Structural Engineering. He began his career with John Deere in 2000 and has held positions at the WWHQ, Harvester Works, Waterloo Works, and at the John Deere Engine Works. Prior to joining John Deere, he held multiple manufacturing and materials engineering positions in the paint and coatings industry.

Gary Orosz of PPG received the award for Application of Electrocoat Technology. Orosz has over 25 years of experience in the electrocoat industry, all with PPG. In his current role, he supports the successful integration of PPG’s electrocoat and pretreatment products into new and existing systems by providing process and design specifications, engineering reviews, cost justification models, pilot system design and testing, and training to end users of electrocoat. He served on the Board of Directors for The Electrocoat Association from 2014 to 2019 and remains an active participant in the Association. 

Chad Andreae of Therma-Tron-X Inc. received the award for Development of Electrocoat Technology. Andreae is a member of the Chemical Coaters Association (CCAI), The Electrocoat Association, and the Powder Coat Association (PCI). He began his career as a Maintenance Engineer at Bemis Co. in New London, Wisconsin, a manufacturer of flexible packaging materials. After leaving Bemis Co., he was hired as a Mechanical Engineer at Kimberly-Clark Corp. in Neenah, Wisconsin. In 2004, he left Kimberly-Clark and joined TTX as a Design Engineer. He moved to sales for TTX in 2010 and is currently the V.P. of Sales, where he works with a small team of sales engineers to develop customized solutions for clients in need of complete paint finishing lines and water and wastewater treatment systems. As an industry leader, he enjoys giving technical presentations and holds multiple patents. 

David Myers of Modine Manufacturing received the Lifetime Achievement Award. Myers began his career in the finishing industry in 1973 as a superintendent for an industrial contractor. He was introduced to electrocoating when installing a system for PPG Elcoat Systems. Myers was intrigued by the process and, when approached by PPG about joining the team as a Project Manager, he accepted. He worked closely with the PPG materials and product development teams to design and build complete electrocoat systems. PPG eventually sold the Elcoat Systems division and Myers returned to Tennessee to fabricate, install, and provide start-up and maintenance services for himself and several major finishing equipment suppliers. 

After 15 years, Myers was invited by Mr. Lee Case at Elcoat Systems to assist in specifying and designing electrocoating systems and ancillary equipment. After another three years, Myers was approached by Milbank Systems to help them enter the electrocoating systems market. Myers accepted and remained at Milbank for approximately 10 years and left while in the position of Vice President of Operations. 

While at Milbank, Myers was asked to develop an electrocoating system for AST to process very large HVAC and refrigeration heat exchangers. After the success of the first system, he was invited by AST Electrofin to help with a new facility and another full system. Myers joined the team and built the company’s Texas facility and assumed responsibilities for its coating systems design and management and the Site Manager of the Texas facility. Myers later became Director of Operations for the company and managed the building of two new electrocoating facilities in Ramos, Mexico, and San Vito, Italy. He also assisted with opening three spray-applied facilities — two on the west coast and one in Florida. 

During Myer’s long career, he started attending the ECOAT Conference in 1984 and has continued to attend every conference since, and even was a recipient of the George E.F. Brewer award at the 2010 ECOAT Conference. In 1997, he was one of the founding members of The Electrocoat Association and has served on the board of directors since its founding and has held many Director positions, including President of The Association on three occasions. 

Learn more about the Electrocoat Association at http://electrocoat.org.