outreach program, “Captain
Current vs. The Electricity
Vampires,” powered by LG&E
“PPG is thrilled to help expand ‘Ion
Jones’ to the Kentucky Science Center. We
are strongly committed to enhancing edu-
cational initiatives that garner interest in
science, technology, engineering and math
(STEM) such as the Kentucky Science
Center programs,” said Sue Sloan, execu-
tive director, PPG Industries Foundation.
“We are excited to bring this program to
Bloom Elementary and other schools in
the Louisville area, and we hope it helps
students experience how fun and exciting
science and technology can be.”
“Ion Jones & the Lost Castle of
Chemistry includes up to 10 hands-on ac-
tivity stations where students explore and
learn chemical processes, reactions, and
how to use chemicals safely. The program
also incorporates curriculum connections
relevant for grades K- 8 and can be tai-
lored to each audience’s needs.
The program is offered at various pricing levels for experiences serving up to
500 students. For booking and additional information, visit KYScienceCenter.
org or call 502-561-6100, ext. 6111.
Axalta Releases New Color
Accuracy Tool in China
Axalta Coating Systems has launched
Acquire Plus EFX to the Chinese market, a high technology-based hand-held
spectrophotometer that measures color
with precision. The Acquire Plus EFX is
already in use by some of the premium
body shops across the world, particularly
in the U.S., Europe and Japan.
The Acquire Plus EFX is a third generation, German-engineered spectrophotometer specifically designed for
waterborne refinish systems to improve
the accuracy of the color match. It can
measure the sparkle of flakes in coating
in addition to the respective light or darkness and color of the paint.
The Acquire Plus EFX has been de-
signed with body shop customers in mind,
and is especially useful for those in the col-
lision repair industry who need colors that
are ready to spray quickly. It is designed
to enable the testing and adjustment of
difficult colors to be performed faster and
easier, it has a more user-friendly interface
that comes complete with an update in ad-
joining software that works with the tool
for color testing and matching.
Cromax Bike Team
Netherlands Cycles for
Make-A-Wish
Cromax, one of the three global refinish
brands of Axalta Coating Systems, has
started a new initiative in the Netherlands:
the Cromax Bike Team. The team’s aim is to
offer Cromax customers in the Netherlands
an accessible, easy and fun way to give back
to the community. It offers busy bodyshop
owners the opportunity to help fulfill their
corporate social responsibility.
The newly formed Cromax Bike Team
will take part in regional cycling tours every year. Then, once a year, a larger event
for the cyclists will be organized: the
Cromax Ultimate Challenge. This will see
participants setting their own individual
performance goals, racing to improve personal bests. But the real winner of all the
events will be Make-A-Wish Netherlands,
for which the team will raise money
through its corporate sponsorship, participants’ sponsorship and other fundraising
activities. Make-A-Wish is a non-profit
organization that fulfills the wishes of children aged between 3 and 18 years old who
suffer from life-threatening illnesses.
Tonio Amaddeo, sales manager for
Cromax in the Netherlands, says, “The
original idea for the Cromax Bike Team
was born out of two pieces of informa-
tion. First, we know from our experience
with our customers that we can create
positivity if we join our efforts. And sec-
ondly, many of our customers are avid
cyclists. So the aim is to get all these en-
thusiastic people together and organize
activities to achieve meaningful goals,
personally and for our community. From
the start, our ambition was to donate any
money we raised to a good cause.”
Christel Bockting, Netherlands
Regional Action Coordinator, Make-A-
Wish, says, “We are very grateful for ev-
ery company’s work. It is so important
Make-a-Wish is fantastic. The Cromax
Bike Team initiative really has the poten-
tial to grow into something beautiful. It
looks like, thanks to the team’s efforts,
we can make many children happy. And
we have witnessed so much enthusiasm
from Cromax already, there is a clear
feeling that we are working together to
help the children.”
The first Cromax Ultimate Challenge
was held in Veluwe, a central location in
the Netherlands, on Wednesday, October
29. At the event, Amaddeo presented a
check for € 10,560 for the charity, on be-
half of Cromax, to former leukemia suf-
ferer and ambassador for Make-A-Wish
Netherlands, Juliette.
The following companies have supported the initiative and are sponsors
of the Cromax Bike Team: A.A.S., Gebr.
Ferwerda, Geeraets Autolak, Heuvelland
Autoschade, Inducar Protection Coating,
Luijten-VVZ, N3Wstrategy, Roks
Autoschade en Vanesch Verf.
Axalta Presents Advances in Powder
Coatings for Corrosion Protection and
Visual Appeal
Chemists Christopher Lopez and
Reena Reddy from Axalta Coating
Systems presented their work on powder
coatings at FABTECH 2014 in Atlanta,
Georgia. The metal forming, fabricating,
welding, and finishing event is estimated
to attract 27,000 attendees. Lopez’s talk
showcased the use of Axalta’s fusion
bonded epoxy (FBE) powder coatings
that are designed to help protect metal
pipelines for transporting oil, gas or
water. Reddy’s presentation focused on
Axalta’s powder coatings that have me-
tallic visual effects for exterior and inte-
rior applications.
FBE powder coatings are widely used
to help protect pipeline structures from
corrosion, given that they are formulated
to offer enhanced physical and chemical
stability, resistance to soil stress, adhesion
to metal, and resistance to abrasion and
corrosion mitigation.
“Properties of the FBE are affected by
selection of epoxy resin and other components, such as curing agents, pigments
and additives,” described Lopez. “When
we develop our FBE coatings, we consider not only the coating properties that
