Department of the Sichuan
Province Administration for
Transportation; Jia Luncai, vice
director, Chengdu Economic
and Technological Development
Zone Management Commission;
Hao Jianping, chairman, Chengdu
Automotive Maintenance and Repair
Trade Association.
“The relocation of the southwest China
regional office to the Chengdu Economic
and Technological Development Zone
marks a major step forward in our ef-
forts to get closer to our customers and
improve our overall services in this re-
gion,” said Pauline Yuen, PPG vice presi-
dent, refinish coatings and light industrial
coatings, Asia. “The southwest region
has long been a focus for PPG’s business
in China, and the new training center in
Chengdu will enable us to respond faster
to the growing demand from customers
here and to accelerate PPG’s growth in
the China market.”
Covering 1,000 square meters, the new
Chengdu training center can host train-
ing programs for more than 1,200 people
each year. The center’s design incorpo-
rates eco-friendly, state-of-the-art equip-
ment such as a central vacuum system, a
centralized exhaust system and an intelli-
gent gas-powered room, providing train-
ees with an enhanced training experience
and high-efficiency repair experience in a
safe and comfortable environment.
“The new training center aims to bring
PPG’s leading technologies and train-
ing programs to the growing automo-
tive refinish market in China’s southwest
region,” said James Yang, PPG general
manager of automotive refinish and
light industrial coatings, Greater China.
“We are continuing to advance the gen-
eral knowledge and management skills of
spray-finishing professionals in China.”
Since it entered the China market in the
1980s, PPG’s automotive refinish business
has built training centers in Shanghai,
Beijing, Guangzhou and Chengdu, pro-
viding training for thousands of techni-
cians from automotive manufacturers,
automotive dealers and refinish distribu-
tors. PPG offers a wide array of refin-
ish brands such as DELTRON, NEXA
Autocolor, ACS, EMAXX and V-PRO
coatings. It was the first company to introduce waterborne automotive coatings
to China, offering AQUABASE Plus and
ENVIROBASE high performance coatings to help promote a “greener” automotive aftermarket in China.
Researchers at the
University of Rochester
Develop Foam Polymer
Coatings with Varying
Density and Pore Structures
A researcher at the University of
Rochester has developed a process to
grow highly customizable coatings of
foam-like polymers.
The process, developed by Mitchell
Anthamatten, an associate professor of
chemical engineering at the University’s
Hajim School of Engineering and Applied
Sciences, involves growing foam polymers directly from gases.
“With this process we can grow
polymer coatings in which the density
and pore structure varies in space,” said
Anthamatten. “My hope is that the re-
search leads to applications in a wide
variety of fields, including medical, manu-
facturing and high-tech research.”
Anthamatten, working closely with
graduate student Ran Tao, developed
a system in which a mixture of gases
is pumped into a low pressure reactor
containing a cold surface to encourage
condensation. One of the condensed
liquids actually forms the polymer
material, while the other one tempo-
rarily occupies the spaces that become
the pores in the foam material. But the
problem is that the liquids in the film
don’t mix well—very much like water
and oil. What’s required is to quickly
solidify the polymer film, just as the
two liquids begin to separate from one
another. By controlling the solidifica-
tion rate, they could control the size
and distribution of the pores; the faster
the coating is solidified, the smaller the
pores become.
Anthamatten and Tao found the an-
swer by adjusting the rate at which the
gases were fed into the system, changing
the temperature of the cold surface in the
reactor, and using a chemical agent that
helps solidify the coating. By adjusting all
those factors, they were able to coat foam
polymers with different densities, thick-
nesses, shapes, and hole-sizes.
AkzoNobel Showcased
Products, Sustainability
Platform and Education
Classes at SEMA
AkzoNobel Automotive and Aerospace
Coatings Americas (A&AC) showcased
its multi-brand refinish portfolio, industry sustainability platform, and exclusive
education classes at SEMA 2013.
SEMA week began for AkzoNobel with
a press conference announcing the collision repair industry’s first Sustainability
Education Challenge Grant.
The grant, sponsored by AkzoNobel
and administered by the Collision Repair
Education Foundation, was created to
stimulate the awareness, development,
and delivery of innovative sustainability
solutions within secondary and post-sec-ondary institutions.
The third annual AkzoNobel
Sustainability Leadership Symposium
was presented this year, for the first
time, as a learning component under
the SEMA Education Program. The
symposium was comprised of collision
repair industry stakeholders discussing
key issues and proposing strategies for
advancing sustainability. According to
AkzoNobel, the ultimate goal of this
endeavor is to create an independent
industry coalition dedicated to the advancement of sustainable business practices within collision repair. Facilitation
of the symposium was led by Mike
Shesterkin of What’s Next Sustainability
Consulting and Sara Tollin, AkzoNobel
Global Sustainability Specialist.
“We are very excited to have so many
unique opportunities to introduce show
attendees to our industry – leading refinish brands and sustainability initiatives,”
said Laura Costello, director of marketing for AkzoNobel Automotive and
Aerospace Coatings Americas. “With the
magnitude of SEMA’s global influence in
the automotive aftermarket segment, we
knew it was the perfect venue to showcase our ongoing commitment to products and practices that are designed to
help grow and prosper our industry.”CW
