www.american-coatings-show.com 2
AC CONFERENCE
mers for ultra-low-VOC architectural
coatings in the first architectural coatings session on Tuesday morning. In the
direct-to-metal coatings session, a lecture on block resistance of low-VOC water-borne direct-to-metal coatings will be
given by Aditi Chavannavar from BASF.
THIRD CONFERENCE DAY
The last conference day on Wednesday, April 13, is dedicated to industrial
coatings, alkyds, bio-based coatings,
as well as protective coatings. One of
the papers included in the bio-based
coatings session is entitled “Effects of
solvents on the curing and properties of
fully bio-based thermosets for coatings,”
to be presented by Ma Songqi, North
Dakota State University.
The conference is held in conjunction
with the American Coatings SHOW and
also includes a poster session. About
20 posters on different topics will be on
display.
Please visit
www.american-coatings-show.com/
conference
for more information.
Abundance Demands Tough Decisions
AMERICAN COATINGS CONFERENCE PROVIDES AN ABUNDANCE OF UP-TO-DATE RESEARCH INSIGHTS
The program committee of the American Coatings CONFERENCE 2016 was once
again forced to make tough decisions: 96
lectures had to be selected from more than
200 submissions. Eventually, the jury determined the best papers, covering latest
research findings of both industry and
academia on today’s most critical coating
topics. Sixteen sessions, arranged according to topics, were formed and spread
over three conference days.
FIRST CONFERENCE DAY
The first conference session “Science
Today – Coatings Tomorrow” on Monday,
April 11 will discuss up-to-date coatings
research by academia. The papers have
been selected in cooperation with the
National Science Foundation (NSF). By
way of example, David Grewll from Iowa
State University will present his work on
bio-based adhesives and coatings.
Sessions on additives, pigments, as well as functional
and smart coatings, will complete the program on Monday. As part of the functional
and smart coatings session,
W. Marshall Ming, Polymer
Exploration Group LLC, will
look at ice-release coatings.
SECOND CONFERENCE DAY
On Tuesday, April 12, attendees can look forward
to high-quality lectures on
architectural coatings, polyurethanes, radiation curing,
measuring & testing, direct-to-metal coatings, and novel
materials.
Devin Busse, Specialty
Polymers Inc., for one, will
talk about all-acrylic poly-
As in previous years, conference speakers are top-class representatives of the coatings industry, universities and
institutes.
lar simulation, synthesis, characterizations, fabrication, engineering design)
regardless of their disciplinary identification (physicist, chemist, biologists,
physicians, etc.).
With this highly unusual setup, the institute is aiming at some of the most ambitious discoveries of next generation
material and systems for computing, energy and water management, as well as
disease diagnosis and treatment. Sharon Feng will discuss her perspective on
the implications that this mega trend
has on industrial R&D, the impact on the
future talent pipeline to industry, and
how it can potentially enable new materials discovery with exceptional time
and cost efficiency, if companies can establish strategic and mutually beneficial
collaborations with academic partners
through open innovation.
Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration: An
Imperative for Breakthrough Materials Discovery
INCREDIBLY REWARDING AND POTENTIALLY LEADING TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF GAME CHANGERS
The keynote presentation kicking
off the American Coatings CONFERENCE
2016 will be given by Dr. Sharon Feng,
Senior Associate Dean of the Institute
for Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago.
In a traditional scientific research
model, the success of a research pro-
gram often heavily depends on the in-
depth expertise, insights and creativity
of one principal investigator and/or a
team of researchers in a particular dis-
cipline. The explosion of scientific dis-
covery and new technologies in the 21st
century, however, is turning this model
on its head because of the increased
complexity of the problems that are left
unaddressed and the sheer scale of the
challenges mankind is now facing col-
lectively in areas such as energy, water
and sustainability. As a result, there has
been a large movement toward cross-
disciplinary collaboration in scientific
research transcending the boundaries
of organizations, institutions and even
nations.
There are also more funding sources
that specifically encourage interdisci-
plinary collaboration from both govern-
ment agencies and private philanthro-
pies. This research model is not for the
faint-hearted because it requires the
courage of researchers to step out of
their comfort zones and develop empa-
thy toward an entirely different way of
thinking, as well as unfamiliar jargon.
However, the outcome can be incredibly
rewarding and can potentially lead to
the development of game changers and/
or disruptive technologies.
The University of Chicago’s Institute
for Molecular Engineering is established
based on this research model. With its
unique organizational structure, it institutionalizes the concept of cross disciplinary collaboration by completely
breaking down the traditional departmental structures based on disciplines
and organizing faculty based on problems they are trying to address as a
team: energy harvest and storage, water
re-use and treatment, next generation
information technologies and new therapeutics, just to name a few. The faculty
is recruited based on the expertise she
or he brings to the table (e.g., molecu-
Dr. Sharon Feng,
University of
Chicago
The conference will take place at the
Indiana Convention Center on April 11-13,
2016. It will open with a plenary session
on Monday, April 11 – one day before the
start of the American Coatings SHOW.
As in previous years, four parallel sessions will be held on each day of the
conference. Speakers are top-class representatives of the coatings industry,
universities and institutes.
