The Hydraulic Institute (HI) recognized and honored A. Bruce Ticknor, Director of Engineering, National Pump Co., as the first recipient of its Young Engineer of the Year award.

Chromaflo Technologies Corp., Ashtabula, OH, a supplier of pigment and chemical dispersions to the thermoset composites and industrial coatings industries, has been actively hiring individuals with expertise in the sciences, particularly chemistry and engineering.

Carsten Reinhardt, Professor of the history of science at Bielefeld University, Germany, will become President and CEO of the Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF), effective August 1, 2013.

The Valspar Corp., Minneapolis, reported second-quarter 2013 net sales of $1.03 billion, equal to the prior year.

Ashland Specialty Ingredients, a commercial unit of Ashland Inc., recently received a Ringier 2013 Coatings Technology Innovation Award for its Natrosol^TM Performax paint thickening technology.

Gelest Inc., Morrisville, PA, has extended its reach into Europe through the acquisition of a warehouse and logistics center located in Industriepark Griesheim, Frankfurt, Germany.

Evonik Industries has started basic engineering for a production plant for precipitated silica in Brazil.

Beckers Group has issued its first Sustainability Report.

Momentive Specialty Chemicals Inc. has successfully started up a new plant in Chonburi, Thailand.

Solazyme Inc., a renewable oil and bioproducts company headquartered in South San Francisco, CA, and AkzoNobel have entered into an agreement targeting the development of advanced tailored oils and their commercial sales for near-term product supply.