NWSCT March 2014 Newsletter 

Our March monthly meeting was held at the Tennant Corporate Woods facility in Golden Valley.  The meeting featured two guest speakers:   Richard Shain from King Industries and Tim Selby of DuPont.  The meeting also included lunch.  Thanks to all who attended.

Richard J. Shain, Technical Marketing Director of King Industries, Inc., presented "Polyester Diols for VOC Compliant Systems". These diols, the XM series, are aliphatic, saturated, have low molecular weights, have a narrow molecular weight distribution. and have polyester backbones. He said the ester groups are sterically hindered, the diols do not contain acid functionality, and are supplied with very little water to give improved shelf-life stability.

Mr. Shain recommended that these diols be used at 5-25%, based on resin solids, to affect the adhesion and hardness of the base coating, elastomer, or adhesive. The diols can be used in both solvent- and waterborne systems. In solvent borne systems, these diols respond well to solvents. This property can lead to less solvent being needed to achieve a desired viscosity reduction. He also said the XM diols have good compatibility with VOC-exempt solvents, such as PCBTF and t-butyl acetate.

"Successful Safety Integration in a Laboratory Environment" was presented by Timothy J. Selby of DuPont Titanium Technologies. He stated that the safety culture of DuPont is based on the following safety principles: all injuries and occupational illnesses are preventable, management is responsible and accountable for safety,
all exposures can be controlled, worker safety is a condition of employment, all employees are trained in safety, safety audits are conducted, deficiencies are corrected promptly, people are the most important element of safety and health, and off-the-job safety is also important.

Mr. Selby presented examples of how the above principles are addressed across various laboratory functions which resulted in an integrated safety system at DuPont.

Important Dates and Upcoming Events

Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 15th at Valspar's Building #2 in Minneapolis.  The address is 1028 South 3rd St and the building is on the northwest corner of 11th Avenue South and South 3rd Street in Minneapolis.  Please note that due to the ACS in Atlanta we are holding this meeting on the 3rd Tuesday of the month instead of the standard 2nd Tuesday.  This will be the last business meeting of our event year.  Our meetings run from October through April. 

The April meeting is our Annual Education Symposium and will feature presentations from students at North Dakota State University's Department of Coatings and Polymeric Materials.  As usual the meeting will run from 11:30 am - 1:30 pm and includes lunch. 

Our Annual Winter Outing was a success.  On February 25th our group enjoyed a buffet dinner at The Commons Hotel and then attended the University of Minnesota's basketball game versus the University of Iowa.  The good guys won 95-89.  Thanks to Chuck Gardner for coordinating the event.

All monthly meetings are held on the second Tuesday of the month from October - April from 11:30 am - 1:30 pm and include lunch.