Kicking Off the Coatings Trade Show Season with Mardi Gras!

The 2024 coatings trade show and conference season kicked off in February with the 51^st Annual International Waterborne, High-Solids, and Powder Coatings Symposium in New Orleans. From its inception, this event has been organized and executed by faculty, staff, and students of the School of Polymers and Engineering at the University of Southern Mississippi (USM). Proceeds from the Symposium are used for academic program development and scholarships for undergraduate students majoring in Polymer Science & Engineering, most of whom enter the coatings or related polymer industries upon graduation. Following the success of the first Symposium in 1973, the founders decided that the event would always take place at the start of Mardi Gras, which offers parade viewing on Canal Street and a festive atmosphere during the evening hours.

I always enjoy the high-caliber presentations at this event. I particularly enjoyed the Plenary Session, where Sharon Feng, Global Director of Corporate R&D at PPG (recently retired), and Daniel Moyano, Head of PPG’s Science and Technology Digital Team, delivered a presentation on “Accelerating Innovation in the Chemical Industry: Promises and Challenges of Digital Transformation.” They provided great information on the technical side of adopting AI and machine learning in the coatings lab, as well as the human side of this transformation, in terms of learning the new skills needed for these tools, as well as addressing organizational reluctance to change.

Another Symposium highlight are the award presentations. Judges (three attendees from various, non-affiliated companies) review the papers, presentations, and student posters for technological significance, scientific merit, and originality/novelty. PCI sponsors the Award for Technical Excellence, and this year we were thrilled to honor our industry colleague and PCI Editorial Advisory Board member, Artur Palasz of Spektrochem, who presented, “Phyllosilicate Thickeners as One Family of Clays. Each of Them is Different.” We will be publishing his paper in our June issue, so be on the lookout for it!

The winner of the Siltech Best Paper Award was Matthew Burge from BYK Chemie. He presented, "The Higher the Better? What Does Zeta Potential Tell About Design of Wetting and Dispersing Additives?" Congratulations to these presenters, as well as to all of the undergraduate and graduate students who won the various Evonik Student Poster Awards.

I especially enjoyed this year’s Women in Science Networking Event on the last evening of the Symposium. Sharon Feng gave a “fireside chat,” where she offered the young women chemists in the audience some valuable life and career advice. She discussed the difference in careers between academic and industrial research – including what they could expect in their day-to-day workload, and how each path fits in with raising a family. She shared the talents that companies are looking for, and what job-seeking chemists do and don’t need to include on their resumes. And she challenged them to have confidence in their knowledge, and to take risks with new opportunities.  

And, of course, it wouldn’t be The Waterborne Symposium without the amazing NOLA food and Mardi Gras festivities. This really is a valuable learning and networking event that the PCI staff is happy to attend each year. We made some important contacts, and appreciated all of the attendees that stopped by our exhibit to talk with us. I’m already excited for the 2025 event, which will be held February 23-28, 2025. Hope to see you there!