Paint & Coatings Industry magazine has presented the 2024 PCI Lifetime Achievement Award to Joanne Hardy, who retired from Axalta Coating Systems in late 2023. The award recognizes an individual who, during the course of his or her career, has made outstanding contributions to the coatings industry. Nominations are reviewed by PCI’s Publisher and Editors, and the winner is announced at the annual Coatings Trends & Technologies Summit in Lombard, IL. Joanne was nominated by Robert K. Roop, Ph.D., Senior Vice President & Chief Technology Officer, at Axalta.

"I am deeply grateful for this incredible honor, and am truly humbled. Thank you to PCI, Axalta, and Robert Roop for this recognition. Receiving this award is a testament to the collaboration and teamwork I have experienced throughout my career. I feel privileged to have worked with so many amazing colleagues and am appreciative of their support and for the continued long-lasting friendships."

Joanne joined the coatings business at DuPont in Detroit in 1989 after completing her undergraduate degree in chemistry at D’Youville College and her master’s degree in chemistry at SUNY College at Buffalo. She worked across numerous automotive and commercial vehicle technology groups as a product support chemist, and then later as a technology leader with increasing levels of responsibility. In 2009, she moved to China to lead the automotive technical group in Changchun, bringing global waterborne products to the region and building out the technical capability of the team. She returned to the United States in 2011 to lead the North America refinish and industrial technology teams in Wilmington, DE. 

When DuPont Performance Coatings was acquired by the Carlyle Group and renamed Axalta Coating Systems, Joanne assumed leadership of the entire technology organization across North America. In 2018, she was instrumental in opening the Global Innovation Center in Philadelphia, which has become the nucleus of Axalta’s global Technology organization. Joanne led Axalta’s corporate Research & Development organization for three years, then assumed the role of Vice President of Technology Strategy & Raw Material Technology, where she helped shape the strategic direction of Axalta’s technology, and the coatings industry, until her retirement last September. 

As a chemist she invented new technologies, formulated, scaled-up, and launched new products to major global customers to address critical market needs. As a technology leader, she led R&D teams that developed and commercialized new products that moved the industry forward in terms of aesthetics, durability, and productivity across numerous coatings verticals. As an advocate for Women in STEM, she mentored and promoted the careers of women professionals. Her work has left a lasting mark on the coatings industry, and certainly on Axalta.

Joanne and her teams made many significant achievements that have advanced the coatings industry.  A few of these are:

• Improved productivity for Axalta’s customers through the commercialization of “3 wet” coating systems eliminating the need to “bake” between layers as well as improving sustainability. 
• Improved color measurement systems (Acquire EFX) offering “sparkle” measurement capability and devices that measure Radar transmission (ARTS) and LiDAR reflectivity (ALGRS) for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems.
• Axalta’s NextJet^TM Digital Paint Technology that enables rapid deposition of intricate graphics.
• Next Generation Imron^® Elite EY delivering a step-change improvement in cycle time and paint transfer efficiency for the heavy-duty truck market.   

“PCI is thrilled to honor Joanne with our Lifetime Achievement Award. Her dedication and commitment to the coatings industry can be seen in her leadership, research, and accomplishments over the last 30+ years. And her impact on those she worked with and mentored is evident in the letters of recommendation on her behalf that we received from several people at Axalta. She is exactly the type of person that we envisioned when we introduced this award in 2023,” said PCI’s Chief Editor and Associate Publisher, Kristin Johansson.

You can learn about Joanne’s career experiences, her research, favorite projects, and outlook for the coatings industry in PCI’s Coat It! Podcast here.