By the time this issue deploys, our Coatings Trends & Technologies Summit will be underway in Lombard, IL. If you are not able to join us this year, you are still able to enjoy a handful of technical presentations virtually (and download content), at no charge. We will be broadcasting six sessions live on September 7, and then immediately archiving them on our website for the next 12 months. The available sessions and their registration links are listed below.

September 7, 10:20 am CDT

The Advent of Digital Color Standards in Automotive and Industrial Coatings

Jeralyn Camp, BYK Gardner

Fast and accurate color matching, quality control and overall costs are critical for automotive and industrial coating manufacturers. In product design and development, the right color reflects mood and style, and captures attention. During design, a standard can speed design approval and set color expectations. In production, certified reference standards are used to ensure that the color continues to match throughout the process. The true benefit of using digital color standards comes from a singular point of control and distribution of that master standard, so that everyone is checking their product to the master. Digital color standards are one of the most effective tools to match colors and produce accurate color faster, with less waste.

REGISTER HERE 

September 7, 11:30 am CDT

Optimizing Opacity, Performance, and Carbon Footprint in Powder Coatings

Romesh Kumar, Heubach Group

Powder coatings are durable finishes for industrial, selective automotive and architectural applications. These are VOC free, environmentally friendly, and formulated with lead-free inorganic and organic pigments. Powder coatings processed at up to 450° require high-heat-stability pigments. Also needed are durability, opacity, and cost effectiveness for competitive market needs. Organic pigments have much lower opacity than inorganic pigments. Most formulations are a blend of organic and inorganic pigments to match the shade and opacity. There are other ways to improve such properties without compromising performance (cost, hue, gloss, and chroma), and will be presented.

REGISTER HERE

September 7, 01:05 pm CDT

AI is Here! Are You Ready?

Sasha Novakovich, Alchemy Cloud Inc.

AI-powered formulating is finally here and ready for prime time. It’s being used to dramatically accelerate fundamental discovery. It is speeding new and derivative product development. AI is dramatically speeding our understanding of cause-and-effect relationships between ingredients, and functional and technical performance. AI can also assist with formula optimization, efficiently recommending formulations that meet specific targets. The business benefits of such advances are tremendous: reduce product development timelines, increase market responsiveness, and accelerate time to revenue. This presentation will cover: how to set your AI strategy; discuss the factors that have historically made AI hard to actualize; determine how best to overcome these challenges in your organization; provide an actionable roadmap to make AI a reality.

REGISTER HERE

September 7, 01:40 pm CDT

Creating the Proper Infrastructure for AI-Driven Development

Noel Hollingsworth, Uncountable

AI is transforming the way R&D organizations operate, offering immense opportunities to streamline research processes, optimize formulation design, and accelerate development of new products. However, to fully utilize AI, and improve productivity and innovation in coatings development, it is crucial that scientific data is captured and structured properly. Today, end-to-end software solutions offer intuitive platforms for data entry, analysis, automation, reporting, in addition to real time and historical performance dashboards. When it comes to optimizing efficiency and efficacy, AI has the potential to revolutionize coatings development. As such, by implementing an end-to-end data management platform, organizations in the coatings industry can unlock the full value of AI, allowing them to stay ahead of competition.

REGISTER HERE

September 7, 02:15 pm CDT

Applied Machine Learning Strategies for Rapid Reformulation

William Erwin, Citrine Informatics

To meet ever-shifting market, customer, and supply demands, leaders in the coatings industry have adopted materials informatics (MI) to accelerate formulation development. Through MI-driven product development, historical data alongside expert domain knowledge is captured, preserved, and deployed in the service of accelerated new product development. In this presentation, we discuss the core concepts enabling the successful deployment of MI to coatings problems. We provide an example of the application of materials informatics to address a common coatings reformulation problem: removing harmful materials, in this case outdated surfactants, to achieve regulatory compliance while maintaining product performance in solution and on application.

REGISTER HERE

September 7, 04:10 pm CDT

How to Control the Air/Liquid Interface to Produce the Perfect Coating

John Du, Patcham Ltd.

Air, more specifically air/coating formulation interfacial interactions, can cause manufacturing challenges as well as compromise a coating’s performance. This presentation will discuss the unfavorable air/liquid interactions that cause air entrapment and its stabilization in coatings. The additives used to correct these issues and the consequences of under or over usage will also be covered in detail. Finally, how to properly select the type, dosage, and point of addition will be discussed with the goal of sufficient deforming for manufacturing, storage, application and film formation without creating or causing coatings defects.

REGISTER HERE

I hope that coatings formulators and manufacturers around the world will glean new and valuable information from these presentations. Please share the links with anyone at your company who you think might benefit from the information presented!