The American Coatings Show and Conference will be held April 11-14 at the Indianapolis Convention Center in Indianapolis, IN.

Held in partnership with the American Coatings Association (ACA) and Vincentz Network – the organizer of the European Coatings Show and Conference – the American Coatings Show and Conference (ACS/ACC) is an exhibition and technical conference designed as a sister event to the European event. The conference is a three-day event providing a forum for the foremost scientific minds in the industry, featuring scientific papers and speakers. The show is a marketplace for presentation of products and services for the production of high-grade and competitive paint and coatings.

American Coatings Conference

Held April 11-13, the American Coatings Conference (ACC) will feature 96 presentations in 16 sessions as well as a poster session and a plenary session, where the American Coatings Award will be presented. The conference will also feature the Mattiello Lecture, an interactive poster session, 11 focused pre-conference tutorials, and the presentation of the American Coatings Award and the Roon Award.

The American Coatings Award will be bestowed upon the most outstanding technical presentation at the American Coatings Conference. Selected and sponsored by ACA and Vincentz Network, it is endowed with a $2,500 cash award along with an attractive sculpture. The winner of the American Coatings Award 2016 will be presented at the conference Plenary Session on April 11.

The ACC will commence with a keynote presentation given by Dr. Sharon Feng, Ph.D., senior associate dean of the Institute for Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago titled “Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration: An Imperative for Breakthrough Materials Discovery.”

According to Dr. Feng, 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 increasing funding sources that specifically encourage interdisciplinary collaboration from both government agencies and private philanthropies,” said Feng. “This ‘new’ research model is not for the faint-hearted because it requires the courage of researchers to step out of their comfort zones, but the outcome can be incredibly rewarding and lead to the development of game changers and/or disruptive technologies.”

The University of Chicago’s Institute for Molecular Engineering was established based on this research model. With its unique organizational structure, it institutionalizes the concept of cross-disciplinary collaboration by completely breaking down traditional departmental structures based on disciplines, organizing faculty, and aiming at some of the most ambitious discoveries of the next generation of material science.

Dr. Feng will discuss her perspective on implications this mega-trend has on industrial R&D, and the impact on the future talent pipeline to industry. She will also provide insight on how it can potentially enable new materials discovery, with exceptional time and cost efficiency, when companies establish strategic and mutually beneficial collaborations with academic partners through open innovation.

Another highlight of the ACC will be the Mattiello Lecture, which will be given Wednesday, April 13. This year’s Lecture, “Towards an Understanding of How Complex Latex Particles Are Formed: What Do We Know and When Did We Know It?” will be given by Donald C. Sundberg, Ph.D., director, Nanostructured Polymers Research Center at the University of New Hampshire.

“Today we have a great variety of synthetic latices composed of nano-particles that are homogeneous, structured, hollow, multi-lobed or hybridized with other materials,” said Dr. Sundberg. “They have huge specific surface areas presenting opportunities for special surface chemistries, but challenges for colloidal stability. They are made with as many as five or more monomers resulting in polymer chains that may be linear, branched, grafted and/or crosslinked. These chains are ‘born’ in the water and ‘die’ in the particles.

“Searching for the chemical and physical mechanisms that determine the final properties of the latex has involved the application of organic and physical chemistry, surface chemistry, reaction kinetics, thermodynamics, molecular diffusion and engineering,” Dr. Sundberg added. “What we know about these mechanisms, what tools we used to assist us in learning about them, and when during the past 75 years we decided we understood some of these mechanisms, form the basis for this presentation.”

New Features at ACS 2016

ACS 2016 will have more than 500 exhibitors on hand this year,who will be showcasing the latest products and services for the paint and coatings and ink industries. ACS serves as a platform for the paint and coatings and ink industries to showcase new products and cutting edge technology and network with new and existing customers.

This year’s show has a couple of new features. A 5K Fun Run will be held Wednesday, April 13. The race will be held in the downtown area and will begin at 7:15am. Proceeds from the run will be will be used to fund student participation at future AC Conferences. Show attendees, exhibitors and conference delegates are all invited to attend a networking lunch on Wednesday at 12:30pm on the show floor.