On Thursday, June 4th, 2015, the Eastern Coatings Show will host a Special Breakfast, in Ballroom B of the Taj Mahal, which will highlight Jeff Spillane of the Benjamin Moore Company as the Keynote Presenter.  His presentation will be followed by a panel discussion featuring  Christopher Wohl, Jr. and Frank Palmieri, both members of NASA.

Mr. Spillane began his career in the coatings industry working in a paint store in 1971 but joined the Benjamin Moore Company and, now, after thirty-nine years, he is part of the company’s training group.  In the course of his upward movement in the company, he has worn many hats beginning with the corporate office in Montvale, NJ, as a sales representative covering territories in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York.  In 1994 he advanced to Coatings Engineer followed shortly after by the attaining the status of a NACE Certified Coatings Inspector.  He returned to corporate in 1999 as a Product Manager managing much of the Benjamin Moore Product Portfolio for thirteen years.

The future, according to Mr. Spillane, is directed by the accomplishments of the past.  His presentation will look at Then and Now, What Has Changed and What’s Next.  He will analyze
the paint business from the year 1957 emphasizing the changes and what has gone unchanged in the Market, the Customers, the Technology and even the Paint itself.  The urge to do things differently, sometimes successful, other times a failure, has driven the Coatings industry forward.
Changes are around the corner; the question is who will bring them to the fore.

After Mr. Spillane’s keynote, a panel will convene to answer questions posed by the attendees.  David White, the Chair of the Technical Committee, has already garnered two outstanding members from NASA., Dr. Christopher Wohl, Jr., and Dr. Frank Palmieri as panel members.

To give a little background about the responsibilities of Drs. Wohl and Palmieri, they work together on several projects and independently on others, focusing on surface and interfacial science, predominantly adhesion promotion or prevention.  One big task has been the generation of coatings for mitigation of surface contamination (foreign debris, insects, ice, etc.) in a variety of aerospace applications.  They also work with surface modification of metal and composite surfaces for adhesion promotion.  They are both involved in polymer synthesis and characterization.  Dr. Palmieri has a strong background in lithography and Dr. Wohl has experience with various spectroscopic and laser techniques.

Dr. Wohl, who holds his Doctorate from Virginia Commonwealth University, is a senior research scientist in the Advanced Materials and Processing Branch at the NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA.  He has experience in a variety of fields including physical, polymeric, and organic chemistry, laser spectroscopy, kinetics, and surface and interfacial sciences.  He has

researched the generation, characterization, and modification of novel materials for adhesion mitigation involving surface engineering and self-organizing systems.  He has also been involved with process identification and modification for surface preparation of adhesively bonded interfaces including both composite and metallic substrates. He is the author or coauthor of 19 reviewed journal articles, 34 other referenceable publications (conference proceedings), 12 invention disclosures and 5 patent applications.  Dr. Wohl is the Co-Chair of NASA Langley’s Potentially Hazardous Materials Committee which is responsible for creating policy related to hazardous materials and their handling on the center.

Frank L. Palmieri, Ph.D. is a Research Materials Engineer, AST, in the Advance Materials and Processing Branch (AMPB) of the NASA Langley Research Center. His research focuses on engineering and interfacial science with applications in the assembly of composite and metallic structures.  He has most recently published work in the area of laser surface preparation of titanium, aluminum and epoxy composites for adhesive bonding.  He was previously employed by the National Institute of Aerospace where he focused on high precision surface chemical and topographical modification for next generation bonding technologies.  In 2008 and 2009, Dr. Palmieri worked in Wetzlar, Germany for The Photonik Zentrum Hessen to develop and produce nano-optical components using a nano-imprint lithography technique known as Step and Flash Imprint Lithography (S-FIL).  Dr. Palmieri received his Ph.D. and B.S. degrees in chemical engineering from The University of Texas at Austin in 2008 and Virginia Commonwealth University in 2002, respectively.  Dr. Palmieri’s graduate research was advised by C. Grant Willson in the field of top-down, nano-fabrication technologies including semi-conductor microlithography and nano-imprint lithography with an emphasis on novel photoresist and imprint materials. Dr. Palmieri is an author on over 20 technical publications and 5 patents.

For additional information about the eastern Coatings Show, visit the web site at www.easterncoatingsshow.com or call the ECF office at 732-291-0168; ask for Ann Fody or Joe Wedick.