Dear PSCT Members:

I would like to thank Dr. Romesh Kumar from Clariant Corporation.  Dr. Kumar gave a very interesting talk on Requirements for Colorants for Concrete Coatings, color trends and new market research data on a variety of end-user needs.

The April Meeting is the last technical meeting of the year and will be complimentary for past- presidents.  The speaker for April is Tom Van Kuren of Watson Standard.  Tom will be speaking on the broad variety of metal packaging currently used for food and beverages and will discuss the factors that drive change and innovation in packaging design.  I’m sure we will learn a lot from Tom’s talk.

In addition to Tom’s talk, the election of the PSCT Officers for the  2014 – 2015 year will be taking place.  Please see the section of the newsletter that outlines the current candidates and come to the April meeting prepared to vote.

At our previous meeting a vote was taken for the location of the May Social Event and a Pirate Game won the vote.  An e-mail went out to each of the members providing the details for the outing.  Please get your payment in to Tim Hurley.  Tim will be accepting money or checks at the April 14^th PSCT Meeting.  The May Social Event is on May 5^th, and will include a buffet dinner at 5:30 and the game at 7:05PM.

The 2014 Hiram P. Ball Memorial Scholarship winners will be welcomed free of charge to the May Social Event and the list of 13 recipients can be found in the newsletter including the student receiving the $500 Grant majoring in the Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics field.  This is the second year for this Grant.

The April meeting will be held at Domenicos in Cranberry Twp, 20550 RT 19N (Piazzo Plazo). The link to Domenicos website to preview the venue, or obtain directions is:

http://www.domenicoscranberry.com.  There is plenty of parking on-site. The meeting registration and payment is also available on The Pittsburgh Society for Coatings Technology website, paintsociety.com.

Cindy O’Malley
PSCT President 2013-2014

Dear PSCT Members:

I would like to thank Cliff Schoff for his presentation last month. Several attendees of the February meeting commented that his presentation on “Precision, What the Heck is That?” provided very useful information regarding data obtained from paint analysis. Our March speaker, Dr. Romesh Kumar, Senior Technical Sales Manager with Clariant Corp will be giving a talk on Requirements for Colorants for Concrete Coatings, color trends and new market research data on a variety of end-user needs. We are winding down the 2012-2013 season for the PSCT. There is a lot to be done before it comes to a close in May with our Social Event.

• First – I want to remind the PSCT Members with High School and College age Students to apply for the Hiram P. Ball Memorial Scholarship and the students majoring in the Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics field, please apply for the $500 Grant that is available. The deadline for the application is March 15th, please fill out those applications and send them to Julie Glover at jglover@kta.com or 115 Technology Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15275.

• Second – The election of officers will be taking place at the April meeting. Please consider nominating yourself or someone from our membership as a candidate for Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, or Director at Large. Secretary, Treasurer and Director are for terms of 1 year. The Vice President is a 3 year term as the VP is expected to be President the next year and serves as Past President the following year. Our current Society Representative is in the first year of a 2 year term. Please seriously consider serving as an officer for the PSCT.

• Third – The location of the May Social Event will be voted upon at this month’s meeting. Tim Hurley has put together the various suggested options that were brought up by the members. Those options are described within this newsletter. Please look over the venues and either vote at the meeting or if you cannot attend this month, send your preference in advance of the March meeting to Tim Hurley at thurley@ppg.com or 724-274-3493.

The speaker for the April meeting is Tom Van Kuren Technical Director – Rigid Packaging, from Watson Standard Company.

Cindy O’Malley
PSCT President 2013-2014

Dear PSCT Members:

I would like to thank Dr. Zamanzadeh of MATCO Services, Dr. Zee, as he is affectionately known, for the interesting and enlightening discussion on “Optimizing Corrosion Protection by Coatings”.   Hopefully the weather allows for our next couple of meetings as this winter has produced some exceptionally challenging road conditions to navigate. This month we have Cliff Schoff from PPG who will be giving a talk titled, “Precision, What the Heck is That?”

In March, Dr. Romesh Kumar, Senior Technical Sales Manager with Clariant Corp will be giving a talk on Requirements for Colorants for Concrete Coatings, color treads and new market research data on a variety of end-user needs.

In April, Tom Van Kuren Technical Director – Rigid Packaging, from Watson Standard Company will be giving a talk.

The May meeting is our social event.  Again, Tim Hurley took on the responsibility of organizing the event this year.  If you remember, Tim did a wonderful job last year organizing the brewery tour at Penn Brewery.  I am sure Tim will make the May social event equally successful this year.  If there is a location and/or activity that you would like to suggest, please contact Tim Hurley at thurley@ppg.com or 724-274-3493.

Finally, I would like to remind the PSCT Members with High School and College age children to apply for the Hiram P. Ball Memorial Scholarship and the students majoring in the Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics fields, please remember to also apply for the Grant that is available.  Please review the requirements and deadline (March 15^th) which are provided in this newsletter.

Cindy O’Malley

PSCT President 2013 – 2014

Dear PSCT Members:

I hope all of you had an enjoyable Holiday Season, and celebrated the beginning of a wonderful New Year.  Sorry to say the Steelers will not be in the playoffs for the second year in a row so we will have to practice patience. They say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger so let’s hope the Steelers are a stronger team than ever in 2014.

Returning to the business at hand, I would like to thank Bayer Material Science for sponsoring the December meeting at Freddie’s and Nexeo Solutions for providing the libations for the meeting.  All of the revenue raised from the December meeting will be going to the Scholarship Fund.

I would also like to thank Dr. Eric Fernandez, Director of Business Development for Coatings and Antiblock at EP Minerals.  Dr. Fernandez, an expert on the uses of diatomite in coatings, spoke to us on “Diatomite as a Matting or Flatting agent; Mechanisms and Properties”.

Our next meeting is January 13^th and will be held at Domenicos in Cranberry Twp, 20550 RT 19N (Piazzo Plazo). The link to Domenicos website to preview the venue, or obtain directions is: http://www.domenicoscranberry.com/. Our speaker for this month is Dr. Zamanzadeh of MATCO Services, Inc.  Dr. Zee, as he is affectionately known, will be speaking on “Optimizing Corrosion Protection by Coatings”.

Cindy O’Malley
PSCT President 2013-2014

Dear PSCT Members:

The holiday season is here and I hope everyone takes the opportunity to enjoy festivities, relax, and reflect on the many blessings of the past year. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and hope to personally do so at the December meeting.

I would like to thank last months’ speaker – Jim Gauntner of Q-Lab Corporation for his presentation on exterior coatings on wood which was very informative.  By the number of attendees, Jim’s presentation was well received.

I also owe a special thank you to our PSCT Treasurer, Christina Marlier for her clear and succinct report on the society financials at the November meeting.   

Bayer Material Science will again be sponsoring the December meeting on the Bayer Corporation Campus.  The meeting will be at Freddie’s – Building #6 on the Bayer Campus in Robinson Township.  If you have never been to the Bayer Campus, Building #6 is the building to the left of Building #4, which is the building with the giant “Bayer” sign.  All of the funds raised from the December meeting will be applied to the Scholarship Fund for the children of eligible PSCT members.  Please make an extra effort to attend. Our December speaker is Dr. Eric Fernandez, Director of Business Development for Coatings and Antiblock at EP Minerals.  Dr. Fernandez is an expert on the uses of diatomite in coatings, and will be speaking on “Diatomite as a Matting or Flatting agent; Mechanisms and Properties”.  

The meeting registration and payment is now available on The Pittsburgh Society for Coatings Technology website, paintsociety.com or paintsociety.org. The meeting notice and president’s message will be available and updated each month.

The PSCT Membership Application and Dues Renewal Form are available in this newsletter for convenience.  Please note that if you have renewed and have not received a membership certificate please let us know by contacting Britney Grabigel – Membership Chair. Britney can be reached at 724-274-3548 or grabigel@ppg.com.. We always welcome new faces, new insights, and fresh perspectives.

Finally, if you have a High School Senior or College level student, and plan on meeting the requirement for the Hiram P. Ball Memorial Scholarship by attending at least four meetings please be advised that there are four meetings including December before the March 2014 submission deadline. 

Cindy O’Malley
PSCT President 2013-2014

Dear PSCT Members,

I would like to thank Jim Wasik for the presentation in October on the history and current objectives of our society.  I received several positive comments regarding his walk down memory lane and I am very sorry to have missed it.  I also want to thank Chrissy Stewart who filled in for me at the last minute because of a personal emergency.

Our next meeting is November 11^th and Jim Gauntner will be giving a presentation on exterior coatings on wood.  The November meeting will be held at Domenico’s in Cranberry Twp, 20550 RT 19N (Piazzo Plazo). The link to Domenico’s website to preview the venue or obtain directions is: http://www.domenicoscranberry.com/.  Based upon feedback from those attending the October meeting we will continue to hold meetings at Domenico’s. There is plenty of parking on-site. The meeting registration and payment is also available on The Pittsburgh Society for Coatings Technology website, paintsociety.com, which has been updated with a fresh look. The meeting notice and president’s message will be available and updated each month.

I would also like to inform you that the total number of PSCT members is presently up to 50.  Please ask your friends and or colleagues to sign up and join the PSCT if they haven’t already.  The PSCT Membership Application and Dues Renewal Form are in the back of the newsletter.  The contact for Membership and Renewals is Britney Grabigel who  can be reached at 724-274-3548.  We always welcome new faces.  I would also like to make sure people get to know other members by wearing name tags.  All of us meet many people in our daily business travels and it is easy to forget a name that you haven’t seen in a while.  We will provide them for the November meeting. 

Finally, if you have a High School Senior or College level student, please review the requirements for the Hiram P. Ball Memorial Scholarship.  In addition to the Scholarship award, a grant of $500 will be offered to one student who is enrolled in their third or fourth year of the Science, Technology, Math or Engineering Program. This grant is in addition to the Hiram P. Ball Memorial Scholarship award.  All of the information will be in this newsletter

Cindy O’Malley
PSCT President 2013-2014