Dr. Wu is a proven leader in the industry who has developed numerous technology platforms and successfully commercialized more than 20 new binders and rheology modifiers for applications in architectural coatings, personal care and aircraft anti-icing fluids. A certified Six Sigma Black Belt, she has also held positions such as Research Leader and Intellectual Capital Manager with leading global companies. Wu received B.S. and M.S. degrees from Peking University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California. She was a postdoctoral researcher at Henkel Corp. from 1995 to 1996.

Wu is the recipient of many other industry honors, including the Best Paper Award at the 2019 European Coatings Show with coauthor Dr. Christopher Miller of Arkema, the Siltech Best Paper for Innovation Award at the 46^th Waterborne Symposium, the American Coatings Show Best Paper Award, the European Coatings Show Best Paper Award, a Roon Foundation Award, and Society of Cosmetic Chemist Award. In addition, Wu has received 41 internal awards including two-time Arkema CEO Performance Awards and two technology center awards from The Dow Chemical Co. She is a recognized expert on emulsion polymerization, colloid and surface science and latex polymer characterization, as well as design of experiment (DOE) and statistical analysis.

KING OF PRUSSIA, PA — The American Coatings Association (ACA) has named Dr. Wenjun Wu, Research Fellow at Arkema Coating Resins and global waterborne technology and innovation leader, as the recipient of the 2021 Mattiello Memorial Lecture Award. Wu will present her award-winning lecture at the 2021 CoatingsTech Conference, to be held Tuesday, June 29 at the Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh.

"Dr. Wu continues to lead both Arkema and the coatings industry in terms of innovation and product development," said Richard Jenkins, Senior Vice President and Member of the Executive Committee at Arkema. "Her efforts help our customers worldwide tackle some of the greatest challenges of our industry. There is no one more deserving of this award."

Wenjun Wu Selected for 2021 Mattiello Memorial Lecture Award

Custom-Matched Coatings by Sherwin-Williams Add Sparkle to Arkansas School

CLEVELAND — Designed by Marlon Blackwell Architects, three of the newest school buildings at the Thaden School in Bentonville, Arkansas, — "Reels," "Wheels" and the performing arts center — feature architectural coil coatings by Sherwin-Williams. The Reels and Wheels buildings exteriors are finished to match the iconic 1967 Mustang Shelby Cobra GT500 sports car's green-gold metallic finish. Sherwin-Williams provided the custom metallic color in its Fluropon^® SR coating system with solar-reflective pigments. The performing arts center also presents a dynamic Fluropon white-gold coating by Sherwin-Williams.

The school's whole student/whole body pedagogy features learning opportunities both indoors and outdoors, keeping sustainable connection to the natural and built environments. At full build-out, the campus and its structures will support as many as 600 students, although the size of each instructional section will not exceed 15 students on average.

In Reels, a 37,970-square-foot building completed in 2019, narrative and visual communication come alive through the production of film and video. In Wheels, a 30,285-square-foot building completed in 2020, the fields of physics and mechanics are brought to life through the construction and use of bicycles and other wheeled machines.

"Thaden School exists at an interesting intersection in Bentonville, Arkansas: It sits on the site of the former county fairgrounds and it is also tied to the historic downtown square. Within this urban, pastoral condition, the school buildings' design reflects this sense of being both nature-made and culture-made," observed Marlon Blackwell Architects' principal, Marlon Blackwell, FAIA.

He continued, "Exploring these dualities, we consider color that reflected both the surrounding prairie grasses and the automobile influences of the 1950s and '60s. In addition, the school's namesake, Louise Thaden, represents the golden age of aviation. We used this as a point of departure to further examine the colors and coatings of classic cars and planes, while creating a resonance with the Osage prairie that is planted around the building."

To identify the perfect color for Reels and Wheels, Marlon Blackwell took "a deep dive” and "extensively researched the colors of the automotive industry from the '50s and '60s." The search led to Carroll Shelby's 1967 Mustang Shelby Cobra GT500 and its green-gold metallic flake coating popularized by custom car painter Dean Jeffries.

Blackwell remembered this was only the first step. "The question was how close can we get to this classic look? Working with the team at Sherwin-Williams, the challenge wasn't so much on matching the color, but rather how much flake was needed to achieve the metallic effect. This was in 2017, before Sherwin-Williams introduced its Fluropon^® Effects Nova coatings. Our custom coating for Thaden was a precursor to those."

Fluropon SR 70% PVDF resin-based architectural coatings by Sherwin-Williams contain solar-reflective pigments that were combined with a metallic clear coat to achieve Thaden School's finish. Today, Sherwin-Williams also offers Fluropon Effects Nova coatings, which offer rich, deep hues with a gold or silver sparkle.

Applied to meet the most stringent industry specification, AAMA 2605, the finished metal panels added a specialty metallic clear topcoat to maximize sparkle and enhance color intensity. The solar-reflective pigments in Fluropon SR help to resist heat absorption, contributing to the buildings' energy efficiency. The energy-efficient coating also supports ENERGY STAR^®, U.S. Green Building Council's LEED^® and Cool Roof Rating Council program criteria. The school buildings' dashboards and other features enable students to monitor their consumption of energy, food and water, and to appreciate the global impact of local behavior.

Morin Corp. manufactured the finished metal roof and exterior wall panel systems. "Morin coordinated everything with the finisher to ensure the specified performance and appearance," said Blackwell. "The metal panels were finished in the same color and coating, then installed on the roof and exterior walls. The result is this protective green-gold outer metal shell, composed with syncopated ribs, over a softer underbelly of clear-coated plywood, carefully placed openings and large entry porches."

On the Reels building, Morin Corp. provided more than 37,000 square feet of aluminum panels, including its Matrix Series^® integrated concealed fastener rainscreen wall panel system. "We had four different panel profiles that were randomized to create the dynamic pattern on the building's roof and walls," Blackwell explained. "We worked closely with Morin and the Milestone Construction to make sure we achieved this great effect. The color of that green truly takes on a dynamic quality as it reflects light throughout the day."

Doug Matthews, regional sales manager for Morin Corp., noted, "The design impact of variable panels and the shadows and dimensional depth to these panels, as well as angular cuts, play well with the 'curiosity and creativity' theme of the overall campus."

Thaden School is named in honor of Iris Louise McPhetridge Thaden (1905-1979), one of the greatest aviators of her time. Her childhood home in Bentonville was renovated and now serves as the school's office of admissions.

During the last 25 years, the population in Northwest Arkansas has more than doubled, creating opportunities and challenges in planning and design. Endowed and structured to allow students from all socio-economic backgrounds to attend, Thaden School's unique curriculum combines academic excellence with learning-by-doing.

Report Predicts Architectural Coatings Demand to Drive Market for Polymer Binders

HYDERABAD, India — Market research firm Mordor Intelligence is offering a study of the global market for polymer binders, Polymer Binder Market — Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2021-2026). According the company, the market for polymer binders is expected to see a compound annual growth rate of over 7% during the forecast period of 2021 to 2026. The decreasing demand for these binders in the paper and carpet industries is presented as a possible hindrance to growth.

Mordor Intelligence reports that the demand for architectural coatings is driving growth in the polymer binders market. The company predicts that the architectural coatings sector will dominate the market from 2021 to 2026. Polymer binders are an important component of paints and coatings, helping to provide adhesion, flexibility, gloss and the binding of pigment particles. They are used in both interior and exterior architectural coatings. With the advancement of acrylic formulations, they help to provide weatherproofing.

The report segments the polymer binders market by type (vinyl acetate, acrylic, styrene acrylic and latex), by form (powder, liquid and high solids), by application (coatings, adhesives, textiles, inks, metals and other applications) and by region (Asia-Pacific, North America, Europe, South America, and Middle East and Africa). It also gives an overview of the global competitive market for polymer binders and lists the major players in this market, which include BASF SE, Dow, Celanese, Arkema and Wacker Chemie AG.

Regarding regional use, Mordor Intelligence predicts that Asia-Pacific will account for the largest amount of consumption of polymer binders during the forecast period. The growing construction industries in countries such as China and India are expected to drive demand, as well as demand in developing countries in the region. Infrastructure development in Asia-Pacific has also become a major focus area for governments, which will spur demand. Specifically, the company points to the government of India’s focus on infrastructure projects, with a goal to boost construction in the country by providing a "single window clearance facility" to facilitate fast approvals for construction projects. Additionally, China’s government is focusing on the development of its rail and road infrastructure — to support the country's growing industrial and service industries — and this will boost demand in China. The maturing of the Japanese architectural and infrastructure industries will also account for demand in the paints and coatings market, according to Mordor Intelligence.

NACD Asks Federal Maritime Commission to Address Shipping Challenges

ARLINGTON, VA — The National Association of Chemical Distributors (NACD) delivered a letter to the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) urging the agency to move beyond fact-finding to advancing solutions that protect U.S.-based importers and exporters from systemic shipping delays, price surges and unfair fees.

"Delays and price increases don’t only mean inconvenience and lost revenues, they also mean higher consumer prices and the potential for shortages of the inputs that go into some of our most critical industrial and consumer goods," said NACD President and CEO Eric R. Byer. "Longer transit times and frequent delays have a huge ripple effect on the overall economy, with enormous cost ramifications that threaten to drive smaller companies out of business and make America less competitive in the global marketplace."

NACD called on the FMC to work to ensure that neither ocean-liner shipping groups nor foreign government laws or regulations impose unfair costs on American exporters, importers or consumers. It also asked the FMC to prohibit indiscriminate and unscrupulous detention and demurrage charges to shippers when terminals/ports are not operating and unloading containers, are not open for business, or have considerable backlogs and delays lasting days and weeks. The association also called for FMC to advocate for a more modern supply chain.

NACD also called on the Biden Administration and Congress to invest dedicated infrastructure dollars in addressing freight bottlenecks, including investment in real-time tracking of vessels to customers from ship to port, truck and rail, in addition to supporting the U.S. manufacturing base for shipping containers and chassis to put more shipping containers into the system.

NACD reports U.S. port delays that arose at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic have only gotten worse. A recent NACD survey found that over 80% of respondents have experienced average delays of 11 days or more, with some delays reported to be as much as 150 days. Shipping costs are also up an average of over 80% since the outbreak of the pandemic. More than three-quarters of NACD members have lost revenue as a direct result of shipping delays, with half of respondents reporting that they have lost more than $100,000.

EPA Issues Interim Decision to Discontinue Use of Irgarol

WASHINGTON — The U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released an interim decision for irgarol, which finalizes the cancelation of its use as an active ingredient in antifoulant paint. After completing an ecological risk assessment, EPA determined that irgarol, which is used in antifoulant paint and as a materials preservative in algicidal paints, is toxic to both freshwater and marine plants, including causing the bleaching of coral.

The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) requires EPA to periodically review pesticides to ensure that risk assessments reflect the best available science. The interim decision is part of a multi-step process to identify risks as well as actions that can mitigate risks.

EPA uses interim decisions to finalize enforceable mitigation measures while conducting other longer-term assessments. EPA will make a final registration review decision after completing an endangered species determination.

The interim decision also requires irgarol powders — which are used to preserve sealants, vinyl roofing, cements, and other building materials — to be sold in packaging that reduces users' exposure.

EPA reported that its action is in line with the International Maritime Organization’s Marine Environment Protection Committee session 75 proposal to ban the antifoulant paint use associated with irgarol. EPA stated that it has also worked with manufacturers to identify a number of alternatives to irgarol.