The Southern Society for Coatings Technology held their 74th Annual Meeting and Technology Conference at the Hilton Daytona Beach Resort on September 26–29, 2010. The theme of “Racing to New Technology in Coatings” was highlighted in the 16 technical presentations and also the keynote speech by Tom Sasse from BASF, on the current chemical raw material market impacting coatings, and an overview by George Schmitz covering the Coatings Industry Education Foundation (CIEF). Over 225 were in attendance at the conference that also included a golf outing, fishing outing, guest program and table top exhibits by over 35 suppliers.

The meeting began with a review of the 2010 annual meeting which was held in May to meet by-law requirements and the introduction of the 2010-2011 SSCT officers which include Randy Waldman, president; Terry Barrett, vice president; Ursula Thomas, treasurer and Kip Sharp, secretary. The current board of directors was also introduced. The SSCT also announced their 2010 scholarship winners which represents a $1,000 scholarship to the following: Casey Aultman, daughter of Phillip Aultman, Aultman Technical Sales, LLC; Nigum Dave, son of Dilip Dave, Benjamin Moore & Company; Christiana Mattice, daughter of Chuck Mattice, Permite Corporation; Lauren Waldman, daughter of Randy Waldman, Lintech International LLC.

The meeting banquet was also highlighted by SSCT recognition awards to Steve Cooper, Dow Coatings/R&H; Dr. Jerry Matson, University of Florida and Steve Halliday, Marine-Industrial Coatings. The SSCT also recognized 27 members for over 25 years of membership in the SSCT, several members were also recognized with over 40 years membership.

The 75th SSCT “Diamond” Annual Meeting and Technical Conference will be held at The Mills House Hotel, Charleston, SC on May 22-25, 2011. The theme for the 2011 meeting is “Beginnings of the Coatings Revolution”. A Call for Papers has been announced and anyone interested in presenting can contact Terry Barrett at [email protected].