The 13th International Surface Engineering, Paints & Coating Symposium and Expo 2017 held in Pune last month discussed new research, products, developments and technologies.

An interesting, informative and animated panel discussion in three groups: paint manufacturers, paint contractors, equipment/raw material manufacturers, and academics, researchers and consultants was an innovative highlight of the gala inaugural function of the 13th International Symposium on Surface Engineering & Paint Coatings with Expo 2017 that concluded in the vibrant city of Pune recently.

“This is a new change in the regular format of opening ceremonies,” said Prof Anand Khanna, Chairman, The Society for Surface Protective Coatings India. The discussions centered around: where does the paint industry stand, especially with growing real estate market in India with smart cities, metros, flyovers, airports, etc., with wide participation from the audience.

Another major highlight of the inaugural function was an illustrated lecture-cum-report on the global paint market with a focus on the Indian market by Ms Mamta Wadhwa, Vice President, Frost & Sullivan, a renowned global research and consulting organisation.

The three-day symposium and expo was held in Pune during February 15-17, 2017. “SSPC has just entered its teens and is trying to maintain excitation to establish itself as one of the leading technical oriented body focusing on the latest in surface modification technologies. Though paint coatings appear to have a greater lead over other surface modification techniques and continued to be focused on, the spotlight on other surface modification techniques such as laser, PVD/CVD, thermal spray is increasing every year,” said Prof Khanna. “The aim of this symposium is to highlight the new trends. We are therefore, also, now focusing on other specific areas such as coatings for solar panels, automobile coatings, smart coatings and green coatings. The focus on traditional topics such as pipeline and high performance coatings is as popular as it was earlier.”

The symposium saw nearly 80 paper presentations across the 16 technical sessions that formed part of the three-day event. “Besides excellent networking opportunities, the symposium spurred the intellectual side too,” said Prof Khanna. The technical sessions was divided into two tracks: organic paint coatings and surface engineering. The organic paint coatings sessions consisted of topics such as green coatings, graphene and specialty coatings, pipeline coatings, training and testing, high performance coatings, raw materials, new products and high value coatings. Nano technology, automotive coatings, advanced coating techniques, thermal spray, characterization, testing and modeling, laser / microwave applications, the effect of nano pigments, etc., formed part of the sessions on surface engineering. “

The sessions were well time with informed and illuminating discussions immediately thereafter,” said Prof Khanna.

In the segment on green coatings, Mr Pranjal Pandey, Product Manager, Refinish – Asia Pacific, Axalta Coating System India Pvt Ltd, Vadodara, discussed Axalta’s innovations in green waterborne coatings and processes that reduce VOC emissions. Dr R S Mishra, Manager – Technology, Asian Paints Ltd, gave a brief insight about the next generation of protective coatings, its necessities and applications. The focus, he said, would be on tackling the main concerns of the coatings industry like skyrocketing material, energy and labor costs, more stringent environmental regulations and implementation of green products with high performance.

The segment of pipeline coatings had Dr Sankara Papavinasam, appraise the delegates the new standard set by the Canadian Standard Association CSA Z245.30. Several standards and best practices are available to develop strategies to maintain the integrity of the pipeline coating. The new standard covers the qualification, application, inspection testing, handling, and storage of materials required for coatings applied externally to steel piping in the field or a shop. This standard emphasizes the importance of manufacturers’ qualified application procedure (MAQP) of log book to determine and ensure applicators competency, and of field operators’ ‘inspection and testing plan (ITP).

Mr Rakesh Bhan, Managing Director (India & Middle East), Fischer Measurement Technologies India Pvt Ltd, Pune spoke about the importance, new technologies and automation trends in surface measurement technologies, while Mr Craig Woolhouse, Elcometer Ltd, described the company’s ongoing mobile app developments n the acquisition, transfer, storage and reporting of coating inspection data.

Prof Sanjay Mathur, Chair, Inorganic and Material Chemistry, University of Cologne, Germany, in his talk presented how chemically grown and designed nanoparticles, nanowires, and nanocomposites of different metals and metal oxides opened up new vistas of material properties, which could be transformed into advanced material technologies.

Mr V P Ingale, Senior Manager, Technical (Auto Finishes), Kansai Nerolac Paints Ltd, described recent developments in the top coat segments on how the coatings evolved from low solids to high solids, solvent based to water base paints and high performance clear coatings. He also spoke about the development of lean process concept resulting into energy conservation, time and space saving and value addition to the customer.

The wide lineup of international speakers, specialists in their field of activity included Prof Sanjay Mathur, Chair – Inorganic Chemistry, University of Cologne who spoke on Chemical Processing of Nanomaterials for Energy Applications; Mr Simon Brigham, Director, Glassflake Group, Australia who presented his paper on Recent Developments and Advancements in Glass Flake Pigments; Dr Rishi Pillai, Research Associate, Institut fur Energie – und Klima forschung, Forschungszentrum Julich, Germany presented a paper on Modelling Microstructural Evolution and Predicting Residual Lifetime of Overlay and Diffusion Coatings; and Dr T Fischer, University of Cologne, Germany spoke on Atomic Layer Deposition of Metallic and Oxide Nanolaminates, amongst others.

Two full-day technical workshops were also conducted. A crash course on paint coating inspection and quality control was taken by Mr S Ravichandran, Berger Paints, and Prof A S Khanna. The pipeline integrity management workshop was taken by Dr Sankara Papavinasam.

The concurrent expo had over 40 exhibitors displaying their latest in services and products. Some of the major participants included 3M India Ltd, Aimil Ltd, AkzoNobel India Ltd, Asian Paints PPG Pvt Ltd, Blastline India Pvt Ltd, Caltech Engineering Services, Cera Chem Pvt Ltd, Chembond Chemicals Ltd, Demech Chemical Products Pvt Ltd, Fischer Measurement Technologies (India) Pvt Ltd, Grand Polycoats Co Pvt Ltd, Grauer & Weil (India) Ltd, Hempel Paints India Pvt Ltd, J K Surface Coatings Pvt Ltd, J Wagner, GmbH, Kansai Nerolac Paints Ltd, Khushboo Scientific Pvt Ltd, Keepsake Engineering Consultancy Pvt Ltd, Kusumoto Chemicals Ltd, Mangirish Enterprises, Metcon Coatings & Chemicals (India) Pvt Ltd, Multi Chem Colorants Pvt Ltd, Raj Scientific Company, Samriddhi International Inc, Seal for Life India Pvt Ltd, Shalimar Paints Ltd, Statfield Equipments Pvt Ltd, V R Coatings Pvt Ltd, Voxco Pigments & Chemicals Pvt Ltd, Winn & Coales (Denso) Ltd, etc.

One of the most important aspects of this conference was the participation of 178 students from different colleges and universities across India. There were 20 poster presentations for Masters and Ph.D students and the best posters were given certificates and awards.

In addition, there was an enthusiastic quiz competition and a debate on some of the recent topics on coatings competed by eight groups.

The banquet function on February 17, 2015 was followed by a glittering awards ceremony.