PC Symposium
Posted on Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Throughout my career,
delivering the message of
powder coating technology
has been a passion for me. My
version of “Powder Coating 101”
(how original) serves as my foray
into this quest back in 1997. An old
friend at a large powder company
had asked me to provide a oncea-
month tutorial for their junior
formulators. I created a number of
training modules spanning most
aspects of powder formulation from
resin chemistry to pigmentation,
additives and more. Through the
years this mission has morphed from
a purely formulating perspective
to a more comprehensive coverage
of technology fundamentals
combined with insight into emerging
innovation.
The purpose of these events was
to focus solely on advanced technical
aspects of powder finishing. We left
the introductory tutoring in the able
hands of our PCI colleagues with
their regular Powder Coating 101
and 202 workshops, informative
webinars and the technical sessions
at the powder shows. Alternately
my contribution has mainly been to
inspire and educate the chemists,
engineers and scientists in our
fascinating technology.
Most recently this has taken
the form of the PC Summit. For
the past few years, it has embodied
the theme of “Bringing New
Technology to Market” as we have
always maintained a keen sense of
converting science into a commercial
reality. After some careful thought
and helpful input from a number
of esteemed colleagues, we have
decided to evolve this event into the
Powder Coating Symposium. We felt
that a “summit” denoted more of a
convocation of heads of state and
dignitaries and didn’t really capture
the spirit of the gathering. Hence,
the transition.
So how will the PC Symposium
differ from past events? The PC
Symposium will integrate academic
and institutional energy as well
as the traditional formulation,
engineering and operational aspects
of technology into the conference.
We’ll still provide a short course
of powder coating fundamentals
and an engaging live laboratory
demonstration that presents the
latest in instrumentation and
application technologies. And the
top talent in the chemical, raw
material, equipment and product
fields will continue to deliver the
message of innovation to key powder
users from the OEM and custom
coating arenas. We’re just bringing
professionals from universities
and research institutes to the same table for discussion of the future of
powder coatings.
This year’s PC Symposium will
be held on October 13-14, 2015, at
our traditional venue in Columbus,
Ohio. Tutorials and papers will be
delivered in the ballroom at the
Westin Hotel and the lab demo will
again be hosted by The Powder
Coating Research Group. Our new
guests from academia and research
will be invited to present posters
and papers that detail their efforts
as well as the astute presentations
from industry experts that have
historically defined these powder
coating affairs. And of course, the
evening networking reception will
consist of dazzling tabletop exhibits
and delicious refreshments.
So, which definition should we
apply to the event? Will we have
a “drinking party” as Wikipedia
designates or will we conform
to dictionary.com’s definition of
“a meeting or conference for the
discussion of some subject”? I guess
I’ll leave that up to you.
Kevin Biller is technical editor of
Powder Coated Tough and the
president of The Powder Coating
Research Group. He can be reached at kevinbiller@yahoo.com