Need to Know

• CTT Summit 2026 brings more than 50 technical presentations, 98 exhibitors and eight dedicated networking opportunities to The Westin Lombard from Sept. 15-17.
• The Sept. 16 opening program includes a PPG keynote, the reveal of PCI's 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient and a panel on internal R&D versus open innovation.
• Coatings formulators and manufacturers can use the event's buy-two, get-one-free group registration when all three attendees register together.

The main program opens Sept. 16 with Calum Munro of PPG presenting the keynote, “Coatings in the Era of Smart Manufacturing: Productivity and Sustainability Ahead.” The session will examine how digitalization, automation, advanced materials and application technologies are changing formulation, process control, productivity and sustainability.

PCI will reveal the recipient of its 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award immediately after the keynote. A panel featuring leaders from Sheboygan Paint Company, Akzo Nobel, The ChemQuest Group and North Dakota State University will then address a question facing many coatings R&D organizations: when should a company build technology internally, and when should it look outside through universities, consortia and other partners?

From there, the agenda divides into concurrent tracks. Sept. 16 topics include low-VOC soy-based wood coatings, UV coatings for metal, water-based concrete coatings, a silica-based alternative to PTFE texturing agents, thermal-management pigments, AI-driven formulation, waterborne alkyds, rheology and the use of drones and robotics in paint application.

The exhibit hall and student poster session are woven into the program rather than pushed to the margins. Attendees can compare materials and equipment with 98 exhibitors during lunches, breaks and the evening reception, then return to the technical sessions with questions grounded in the products and processes they have just seen.

Sept. 17 continues with sessions on flash-rust control in waterborne epoxies, superdurable powder coatings, PFAS-free washability and easy-clean additives, corrosion protection, silicone alternatives to fluorinated resins, Rule 1151 formulation strategies, laser curing and formulation-cost reduction.

For a sense of the conversations that happen outside the meeting rooms, PCI's Coat It! podcast has three recent episodes recorded from the 2025 show floor:

• A Student's View From the Show Floor, with Iowa State University graduate student Aneeba Chaudary.

• A Chemist's View From the Show Floor, with LSU's Dr. John Pojman.

• A View From the Show Floor, with two Tremco CPG representatives.

Select Sept. 16 sessions will also be streamed free for professionals who cannot travel. In-person registration, however, provides access to the complete technical program, exhibit hall, receptions and networking opportunities.

Coatings formulators and manufacturers can receive one complimentary registration when three colleagues register together through the event's buy-two, get-one-free group offer. All three registrations must be completed at the same time.

Review registration options and reserve a place at CTT Summit 2026.

CTT brings liquid and powder coatings professionals together around paint and coating resins and polymers, additives, application and scale-up challenges.