The American Coatings Association (ACA) has announced that Dr. Dean Webster, chair of the Coatings and Polymeric Materials Department at North Dakota State University (NDSU), will deliver the Mattiello Memorial Lecture at its CoatingsTech Conference, March 11- 13, 2013, at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare in Rosemont, Illinois.The CoatingsTech Conference is the coatings industry’s leading technical event, and will embrace the theme, “Leaps and Bounds: Re-energizing the Coatings Industry,” underscoring the importance of continued innovation in the coatings industry through education and networking.

Webster joined NDSU’s Department of Coatings and Polymeric Materials in 2001, becoming chair of the department in January 2012. Prior to arriving at NDSU, he worked for 17 years in the coatings industry, beginning in 1984 at The Sherwin-Williams Company’s Central Research Laboratories in Chicago where he was involved in resin development for industrial coatings, as well as long-range research in new resins and crosslinking chemistry. While in Chicago, he helped develop the Coatings Technology program at DePaul University and taught a course in coatings resin technology. In 1993, he moved to Eastman Chemical Company in Kingsport, Tennessee, where he led project teams in the areas of applications development for new monomers, new chemistry for coatings systems, and polymer development for coatings. Webster has a B.S. in Chemistry and a Ph.D. in Materials Engineering Science from Virginia Tech.

Webster’s current research interests include the use of biobased chemicals in high performance
materials, design of new high performance polymer and coating systems; use of high throughput methods in the development of new materials; low surface energy coatings; use of nanoreinforcements; and radiation curable polymer systems. Webster has been recognized with numerous awards and citations: he is a five-time recipient of the Roon Foundation Award, and won the American Chemical Society’s prestigious Roy W. Tess Award; he has published 86 peer-reviewed articles, contributed six book-chapters, and holds 17 patents. Webster is a member of ACA, the American Chemical Society, the American Oil Chemists’ Society, and Radtech. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief of Progress in Organic Coatings.

In addition to the Mattiello Memorial Lecture, the CoatingsTech Conference will include the Roon Award competition papers, Gordon Best Paper competition, student poster presentations and feature a multi-track forum. Leading the conference will be three Technology Short Courses, to be offered on Monday. In addition, tabletop exhibits held during the event will feature displays of the most innovations in products and services offered to the industry.

For more information on the 2013 CotatingsTech Conference and Short Courses, visit www.paint.org/events.coatingstech.html or contact Starsha Valentine at 202-462-6272; e-mail: [email protected].