Chrysler LLC recently named PPG Industries the top-performing supplier of exterior systems in the automaker’s 2007 Supplier Pentastar Awards. PPG, a leading supplier of coatings and glass products to Chrysler, was honored for performance based on Chrysler’s External Balance Scorecard, which rates suppliers on quality, technology, cost and delivery.

DuBois Chemicals has earned recognition as a Partner-level supplier for 2007 in the John Deere Achieving Excellence Program. The Partner-level status is Deere & Co.’s highest supplier rating.

Polyurea Development Association (PDA) hosted its ninth Annual Conference February 12-15 at the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta, GA, with the theme, “Polyurea: Where Technology Shapes Solutions.” According to conference organizers, the event was a success, as 207 individuals from 35 different countries attended to learn about the increased use of polyurea technology.

Rohm and Haas Co. helped sponsor the “Sustainable Chemistry, Innovative and Competitive Companies conference held in Barcelona, Spain, February 21-22, 2008. During the conference, Dr. Andrew Trapani, technical leader of the Rohm and Haas Laboratories in Valbonne, France, and Dr. Houshang Kheradmand, manager for product stewardship and sustainable development at that site, presented a paper titled, “Innovation and Management Methodology for a Sustainable Paint and Coatings Market.”

MetoKote Corporation, Inc. has appointed Martha Horner as sales account manager. Horner will act as the primary liaison with current and future customers for the company’s new San Luis Potosi, Mexico Regional Coating Service Center, which is scheduled to start production in April 2008.

PPG Industries' industrial coatings business has promoted Howard Wright to general manager, global coil and extrusion products (COEX), and John Shaffer to business director, COEX Americas.

A team of Northwestern University researchers has developed a new anode coating strategy that significantly enhances the efficiency of solar energy power conversion. The technology uses a laser deposition technique that coats the anode of a plastic bulk-heterojunction cell with a very thin (5 to 10 nanometers thick) and smooth layer of nickel oxide.

Pitt-Tech Plus is a new waterborne acrylic topcoat from PPG Protective and Marine Coatings (PMC). The product has a VOC content under 100 g/L, making it ideal for areas with stringent regulations. It has been formulated for direct-to-metal application and primer use on multiple substrates, including steel and concrete.

FANUC Robotics America, Inc. recently introduced the Certified Education Robot Training (CERT) program, a new certification available to qualified high schools, community colleges and universities. The program certifies instructors at educational institutions to train their students to program FANUC robots.

Enthone Inc., a business of Cookson Electronics, recently celebrated the grand opening of its advanced plating applications laboratory located at the company’s West Haven, CT, facility.