Summer is over. Everyone is home from vacation, the kids and grandkids have returned to school, and the coatings industry is back in full swing with a lineup of conferences and shows to keep us busy until the holidays. First up this September is our annual event, Coatings Trends & Technologies (CTT), which will be held September 15-16 at the Chicago-area Lincolnshire Marriott Resort. PCIpartners with the Chicago Society for Coatings Technology for this two-day conference, which will include 36 technical presentations running on two tracks and covering the latest innovations in coatings. Session topics include resin and additive developments, industrial coatings, biobased and sustainable technology, direct-to-metal technology, environment-friendly technology, mixing equipment and analytical testing, pigments and colorants, architectural coatings, and UV/EB technology.

CTT also has two great keynote presentations lined up. On Tuesday, John Seidl, HM Specialist with the Federal Aviation Administration, will be discussing the the do’s and don’ts of hazardous material transportation, and on Wednesday, Daniel Pedersen, Vice President of Science & Standards at Green Seal, will address sustainability leadership in the coatings industry and what defines an environmentally preferable paint.

While gaining knowledge at the technical sessions is important, attendees find networking at conferences to be equally valuable. CTT attendees will have over seven hours of dedicated time to meet with the 66 exhibitors to exchange information and ideas. For more information on CTT, visit www.coatingsconference.com.

Another important event coming up this fall is ABRAFATI 2015, which will take place in São Paulo, Brazil, October 13-15. The Brazilian market is the fifth largest in the world. Prospects for increased coatings consumption in the country attract businesses that see excellent opportunities in a market with more than 200 million inhabitants, 50 million automobiles, a housing deficit in excess of 5 million units, and investments in infrastructure estimated at R$600 billion (U.S. $182.5 billion) for the 2015-2018 period.

Sustainability is the main theme of this year’s gathering of the 14^th International Coatings Congress and Exhibition of Suppliers at ABRAFATI. The exhibition will bring together leading suppliers from Latin America, the United States, Europe and Asia, who will demonstrate their confidence in the future prospects for the coatings industry in Brazil and all of Latin America. More than 250 exhibitors are expected at the event. Leading global experts from industry and academia will be presenting their papers as part of a Congress program comprising 90 lectures, four plenary sessions, the ABRAFATI-RadTech South America Seminar on radiation curing technology, and papers at the Poster Session. 

This September issue will be distributed at both CTT and ABRAFATI, and you can find information on many of the exhibitors at these events on pages 90-95. We also have a section dedicated to ABRAFATI in this issue, with a variety of advertisements and technical articles translated into Portuguese for attendees there. These articles will be published in our regular English version of PCIin upcoming issues.

 I know that over the next several months many of you will be travelling to these and other industry events, including the Western Coatings Show, the RadTech Europe Conference and Exhibition, Paint Expo, the ASC Fall Convention, Chinacoat and UV LED 2015. Safe travels to all, and may you bring many new ideas and solutions back to the office and laboratory!