producing twice as much as it is meant to be, and cannot bear the load of future operation, according to the
company. The ground breaking ceremony for the new
factory took place April 18th.
A suitable site was found 20 km outside the city of
Busan, close to the airport, in order to plan for a new factory site. Production of coatings for the marine market is
the main goal for the new factory. Solvent-based production
will be carried out at the new plant with dissolvers and
mills. Technically, it will be similar to the factories in Dubai
and Zhangjiagang.
The construction of the facility is scheduled for completion in
March 2009 with advanced production facilities and an annual production capacity of approximately 37 million liters. Total
size for the plant is 47,000 m².
DR. JAMES W. RAWLINS RECEIVES
THE DEBUT AMERICAN COATINGS AWARD
During the plenary session of the American Coatings
Conference, the National Paint and Coatings Association
(NPCA) and the Vincentz Network presented Dr. James
W. Rawlins with the first-ever American Coatings Award
for his collaborative paper entitled, “Letting Mother
Nature Tackle the Dirty Work: The Future of Coatings
Additives.” The award-winning paper was contributed by
Rawlins, assistant professor of Polymer Science and
Engineering at the School of Polymers and High
Performance Materials at the University of Southern
Mississippi, and his co-authors Michael D. Blanton and
Pirro B. Cipi of the University of Southern Mississippi, as
well as C. Steven McDaniel, Melinda E. Wales, and Juan
Carlo Carvajal of Reactive Surfaces Ltd. It was selected
as the most outstanding from 72 finalists of over 170 submissions. The prestigious award is endowed with $2,500
and an attractive sculpture.
The award-winning paper explored how biological molecules such as enzymes and peptides have traditionally
been viewed as functionally restricted to very narrow environmental conditions, but how increased levels of understanding have led to the development of innovative, bio-engineered “smart” additives for paints and coatings. In
the presentation of the paper, Rawlins focused on three
areas: (1) the bio-engineered additive performance in envi-ronmentally-benign, self-decontaminating coating systems, specifically capable of catalytically decontaminating
chemical and biological agents on surfaces; (2) the performance of an engineered peptide developed for environmentally friendly control over microbial growth; and ( 3) the
results from a fundamental investigation of the variables
influencing enzyme activity, kinetics, and functionality in
functional films. CW
