Precision Color touch-up coatings from The Raabe Co., LLC, can now be ordered in a lacquer for plastic surfaces. The new platform combines the properties of drying very quickly, toughness, and exterior durability.

LA409I, a new water-based exterior coating from ICA Group specifically designed for the coating of exterior fixtures, taps the potential offered by the application of nanomaterials (miniscule particles measuring up to 20 nanometers) to deliver perfect transparency and excellent resistance to external agents.

Picometrix, LLC, a subsidiary of Advanced Photonix, Inc. has received a follow-on $750,000 Phase II SBIR contract from the Air Force for further nondestructive testing (NDT) application development for the in-process cure monitoring of specialty material coatings applied to military aircraft, using the T-Ray™ 4000 tetrahertz method.

Advanced Electron Beams (AEB) has entered into a sponsored research agreement with the Department of Plastics Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Considered the premier plastics engineering program in the United States, the UMass department will explore the effect of low energy electron beams on polymers and plastics. <

PPG Industries has acquired the assets and intellectual property of NanoProducts Corp., Longmont, Colo., a producer of nanoproduct materials and a developer of nanoproduct technology.

LORD Corp., manufacturer of MetalJacket® coatings, has added a new MetalJacket custom coater to its team. The coater, AquaArmour France of Bernay, France, will help LORD Corp. customers meet the growing demand for the coatings for both automotive and industrial applications.

Sherwin-Williams Co. has signed a definitive agreement to buy the liquid coating division of Inchem Holdings International Ltd., expanding the paint producer's reach in Southeast Asia. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Dr. Stefan Marcinowski, member of the board of executive directors of BASF SE, took over the chairmanship of the supervisory board of BASF Coatings AG on January 1, 2008.

The National Paint & Coatings Association (NPCA) and the Federation of Societies for Coatings Technology (FSCT) have signed a Memorandum of Agreement, which outlines the details of a prospective merger of the two organizations.

WSI Industries, LLC, has developed an affordable, turnkey process to recondition small parts and hooks using N-Terpinal. According to the company, the drum stripping kit is supplied with all the components, modifications and specifications needed for easy assembly.