The 48th Annual International Waterborne, High-solids and Powder Coatings Symposium moved to a virtual venue this year, offering attendees a one-day interactive symposium of technical presentations, networking, and opportunities to connect with exhibitors.

More than 225 coatings industry formulators, scientists, chemists, and technical managers came together February 10, 2021, for the online event streamed live from the University of Southern Mississippi Hattiesburg campus. Using an interactive event space and video chat, they joined more than a dozen students and professors from the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) School of Polymer Science and Engineering, which hosts the event.

Following opening remarks from Dr. Robson Storey of USM, Juliane Pereira Santos of Oxiteno kicked off the technical presentations with the Sidney Lauren Memorial Lecture, the tenth since its inception in 2012. Santos’ presentation, “Improving Resistance of Waterborne Coatings,” addressed several approaches for improving water resistance, including the use of Hansen Solubility Parameter to design and develop additives more compatible with latexes used in waterborne coatings.

In addition to the technical presentations, USM students shared their research during the student poster sessions. Twenty-one posters were on display with members of the research teams available via video chat to answer questions about their work. Following the conference, three graduate and three undergraduate posters were honored:

  • “Hydrolytically Degradable Poly(β-thioether ester ketal) Thermosets via Radical-Mediated Thiol-ene Photopolymerization” by
    Benjamin M. Alameda
  • “Efficacy of Zinc Salts as Flame-Retardant Additives for Epoxy Amine Networks” by Karina J. Reynolds
  • “Oxygen Barrier Properties of Polyisobutylene-Grafted Graphene Oxide in a Styrene-Butadiene-Styrene Matrix” by Dana Pinson
  • “Command-destruct Poly(thioether acetal) Networks with Tailorable Degradation Kinetics” by Tony M. Buster
  • “Aryl-Ether-Ketone Diamine Cured Phthalonitrile Polymerization” by Johnathan T. Moore
  • “Oxygen Barrier Properties of Polyisobutylene-Grafted Graphene Oxide in a Styrene-Butadiene-Styrene Matrix” by Sarah Landrum

The Waterborne Symposium plays an important part in the USM academic program and has a central role in supplying the industry with qualified candidates to fill technical positions. Proceeds help the university recruit and retain students who show promise as future coatings industry innovators, supporting graduate student stipends, and undergraduate student scholarships, acquisition and maintenance of equipment, and more. USM reports that the Waterborne Symposium has funded more than $240,000 in undergraduate scholarships over the past eight academic years.

The 49th Waterborne Symposium will return to New Orleans in 2022 from February 20 to 25. USM is expected to issue a call for papers this spring. For more information, visit the Waterborne Symposium website, www.waterbornesymposium.com.