NEW ORLEANS - The School of Polymers and High-Performance Materials at The University of Southern Mississippi announced a new feature for the 2015 Waterborne, High-Solids and Powder Coatings Symposium, taking place February 8-13, 2015 in New Orleans.

The PCI Special Session Sponsored by PCI Magazine will cover the theme of emerging technologies. This session features three speakers and will be held Thursday morning from 8:00–9:30 in Track 2. The three speakers during this session will discuss ideas and technologies that are evolving in the industry and that will be helpful to coatings formulators and manufacturers.

Bob Richard, Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at LabelMaster, will present “How to Handle the GHS Conversion Challenge.” The coatings industry faces a June 1, 2015 deadline for GHS compliance, and it is essential that coatings manufacturers know about the meaning and procedure of MSDS to GHS SDS conversion.

The properties of diamonds are now available to the coatings industry through functionalized nanodiamond materials. James Meriano, USA Representative for Carbodeon, will offer information on this technology in his presentation, “Nanodiamond Modification of Surface Coatings to Improve Wear and Friction Properties.”

Anthony Carignano, Director of Business Development at Heat Technologies Inc., will present “Good Vibrations: Ultrasonic Acoustically Assisted Inline Drying for Waterborne Wood Coatings.” The presentation will offer insight into a new technology that has the ability to reduce waterborne coating dry times from 10 minutes to 30 seconds, while maintaining gloss and leveling using substantially less energy.

For additional information about the symposium, visit www.waterbornesymposium.com.