Preparing for Chance – The Coatings Industry’s Path to Innovation That Wins

By Sarah T. Eckersley

Chance favors the prepared mind.’ Louis Pasteur used this phrase to [describe the fact that many of the world’s human-made marvels are made possible through a combination of intellectual curiosity and timing not by pure chance alone. Take the telegraph, for example. We may associate Samuel Morse with its invention, but the telegraph’s development was enabled by a prior discovery Danish physicist Hans Christian Oersted made by “chance”-the realization that electricity and magnetism are linked. Intrigued by the idea that they might have a potential relationship, Oersted was able to show via experimentation that electric currents can affect the movement of nearby magnetic needles. This demonstration introduced the world to electrormagnetisrn, a force that ultimately made intercontinental communi­cation possible through the telegraph. Oersted made a connection that others missed because his mind was prepared to discover a relationship between the two forces – the chance encounter merely revealed the specific nature of their dynamic link.

THE PREPARED PAINT INDUSTRY

Even in its most primitive form paint has been a staple in the world for mil­lennia. In modern times, the paint and coatings industry has adapted to various technological advances and a l:i t of ever evolving societal and regulatory needs. Today, as the pace of change withi_n the coatings industry accelerates, paint can no longer merely protect or beautify; there are growing demands for paint to go above and beyond its normal call of duty. Like Oersted, chemists and for mu la:tors must have prepared minds as they work to develop breakthrough technologies that will meet evolving paint per­formance and functionality requirements. Today, several forces are driving a shift toward sustainable, multi-functional paint.