FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2024
On Thursday (March 7), after a week packed with technical presentations, committee meetings, networking opportunities, exhibits and more, the Association for Materials Protection and Performance’s (AMPP’s) 2024 Annual Conference + Expo in New Orleans came to a close.
According to AMPP, more than 6,000 individuals registered to attend the conference at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center during the course of the week. There were also 381 exhibiting companies and over 45 technical symposia sessions during the conference—the third annual event since the merger of SSPC and NACE to form AMPP in 2021.
|
|
| Photos: Technology Publishing Co. |
|
On Thursday (March 7), after a week packed with technical presentations, committee meetings, networking opportunities, exhibits and more, the Association for Materials Protection and Performance’s (AMPP’s) 2024 Annual Conference + Expo in New Orleans came to a close. |
Technical Program Highlights
The scheduled technical program continued into Tuesday with a chunk of day-long sessions related to surface preparation and coatings work, including Day 2 of the Advanced Protective Coatings session.
Additionally, Tuesday’s agenda featured morning and afternoon sessions on Military Coatings and Corrosion, Surface Preparation, Marine Coatings and Pipeline Coatings. Each session offered a series of presentations, including project case histories, new technology studies, group discussions and more.
On Wednesday, the morning opened with a Bridge Coatings Forum, moderated by Tony Serdenes of Greenman-Pedersen, Inc. This forum brought together representatives from various state DOTs, coating manufacturers, painting contractors and consultants for a series of lectures covering concrete coatings and sealers standards, bridge painting cost considerations, surface preparation challenges and other important aspects of a bridge painting project.
David Hunter of Hempel also presented Advances in Insulation Coatings on Wednesday, which covered the different types of insulation used to protect steel, how corrosion under insulation can occur, and how insulative coatings can be applied to conserve energy, keep workers safe and give long-term protection to process structures.
Wednesday concluded with a presentation on the recent repainting of the twin-span Chuck Yeager Bridges in West Virginia. James Moore of HNTB recapped the process in which the bridges were prepared and coated with a two-coat system—with one span painted blue and the other painted yellow to show off the official state colors of West Virginia.
Finally, Thursday morning featured a forum discussion led by Robert Dahlstrom of Apellix covering the use of an industrial tethered power washing drone for both protective and architectural coatings jobs, while Brian Cheshire of Tnemec Company, Inc., discussed how newly formulated water-based coatings can offer advantages over their solvent-based counterparts.
 |
|
According to AMPP, more than 6,000 individuals registered to attend the conference at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center during the course of the week. There were also 381 exhibiting companies and over 45 technical symposia sessions during the conference—the third annual event since the merger of SSPC and NACE to form AMPP in 2021. |
Exhibit Hall Happenings, Awards
In addition to the technical symposia, a series of educational sessions were available on the AMPP exhibit hall floor throughout the week, including live demonstrations and presentations in three AMPPitheater areas on the hall floor.
On Tuesday, in one of the AMPPitheater sessions, Kumar Balan of Ervin Industries presented “AI and Blast-Cleaning,” which outlined how artificial intelligence and machine learning can be applied to help improve the efficiency of abrasive blast-cleaning.
Another Tuesday AMPPitheater session from Melissa Gibson of LS Industries, “Proper Surface Prearation,” offered basic guidance on the different surface preparation processes and the pros and cons of each before coating application.
And on Wednesday in the AMPPitheaters, AMPP representatives presented its newly licensed Industrial Coating Applicator training program, which was designed to help prepare students for achieving further AMPP certifications.
Also on Wednesday, the exhibit hall hosted an awards ceremony, as the winners of the 2024 AMPP Student Poster Sessions were announced.
AMPP awarded first, second and third place prizes in three different categories: the Marcel Pourbaix Prize for Corrosion Science, the Mars Fantana Prize for Corrosion Engineering and the Harvey Herro (Herro-Appleman) Prize for Applied Materials Protection Technology.
The Pourbaix Prize winners are:
The Fantana Prize Winners are:
The Herro-Appleman Prize winners are:
Additionally, three undergraduate student posters were also recognized during the awards ceremony. In total, the AMPP Research Committee awarded over $15,000 in total prize money to the Student Poster Session winners.
Finally, as the exhibit hall came to a close Wednesday evening, AMPP continued the tradition of awarding one attendee with a new 2024 Harley Davidson motorcycle.
 |
|
Also on Wednesday, the exhibit hall hosted an awards ceremony, as the winners of the 2024 AMPP Student Poster Sessions were announced.   |
AMPP 2025 Conference + Expo
Next year, AMPP’s 2025 AMPP Conference + Expo will head to a new city and venue—the Music City Center in Nashville, Tennessee, from April 6 to 10, 2025.
AMPP is currently soliciting topic requests for the 2025 technical program. According to AMPP, the Conference & Events Program Committee (CEPC) will review requests and determine the topics to be scheduled for the 2025 technical program.
To be considered, your proposal must be submitted by March 31, 2024. A call for abstracts for peer-reviewed topics will open be open from mid-April through June, and presenters will be notified on acceptance in July.
Email papers@ampp.org with questions about the submission process.
Tagged categories: AMPP; Coating Application; Coating Materials; Coatings education; Conferences; Corrosion protection; Education; Environmental Controls; Health & Safety; Networking; Program/Project Management; Quality Control; Surface Preparation; Tools & Equipment
