Events

PDA Europe 5^th Annual Conference "Polyurea is Taking Off"

November 16^th, 2011 (THE HAGUE, THE NETHERLANDS) - The Polyurea Development Association Europe, PDA Europe held its 5^th Annual Conference from Monday 14 to Wednesday 16 November in The Hague, The Netherlands. The event brought together over 100 participants to hear the presentations, exchange best practices and network with the exhibitors which included Adcos, Albermarle, ArmorThane, BASF Polyurethanes, Gama, Graco, Huntsman Performance Products, Nitroil, Polycraft and VIP.

The event started with two educational trainings: Introduction to Polyurea for the Applicator and the Contractor and the Surface Preparation Course. Both trainings were well attended and included a spray demonstration by the company GAMA Belgium who had provided the GAMA Spray Unit and accessories in a Spray Truck. The polyurea system used for the demo was supplied by BASF Polyurethanes.

The conference presentations covered topics on chemistry and raw materials such as the use of new amines to modify a polyurea system and create new formulation options and the use of polyaspartic techonology to repair aged gelcoat originaly used as a topcoat/wearcoat over fiberglas composites. In a third presentation of raw materials a new versatile aliphatic amine curative for color stable polyurea finishes was presented.

The presentations on European and German regulations for waterproofing materials, the requirements for using coating systems in civil engineering and the testing and sampling requirements to obtain a European Technical Approval (ETA) highlighted the importance of approaching regulatory bodies to create recognition for polyurea technology in these application fields.

Again various case studies demonstrated that polyurea is a versatile technology applicable as roof waterproofing membrane but also suitable to solve many different problems with excellent results. These include concrete potable water storage tank linings, polyurea use in scenography and recreational areas, how to obtain color stable, high gloss, abrasion resistant finishes in a mold application without using mold release agents and various cases of polyurea used to protect park decks.

On Wednesday morning, the General Assembly of Members took place and Stephan Rindfleisch, Immediate Past President, addressed a statement to the Assembly to re-emphasize that PDA Europe will continue to be a solely Polyurea-oriented trade association. "We still see a demand in Europe for a specific Polyurea-oriented organization which promotes the benefits of the Polyurea technology and its manifold application areas. In our geographical region we still have tasks to fulfill to get this unique technology widely established. In addition there is also a need to establish Polyurea as a new material in the manifold European and national regulations and norms, a prerequisite to obtain the required certificates for the diverse applications", said Stephan Rindfleisch.

Another agenda point of the General Assembly was the election of a part of the Board of Directors. The General Assembly unanimously elected the six proposed applicants, which results in the following Board composition:

Directors 2010-2012

1. Gianni Farina - Zetagi SRL

2. Eli Niesensvieg - Sya Technology

3. Teodoro DuMarteau - NTE

4. Herbert Mann - WIWA

5. Carles Royo - Gama

Directors 2011-2013 (new or re-elected)

6. Cees Moorman - BASF Polyurethanes Benelux B.V.

7. Ronald Kershaw - IsoGreen Industries AB

8. Klaus Breuer, Intermediates division of BASF SE

9. Elisabet Michelson, Elmico AS

10. Mike Threadgold, Renocon

11. Françoise Boussac, Huntsman Performance Products

12. Stephan Rindfleisch, Graco, became the Immediate Past President

13. Romuald Bartczak, Flexguard, was elected new President

Carles Royo, Gama, was elected President elect and Stephan Rindfleisch was elected Treasurer.

The General Assembly also designated a new Programme Committee Chair: Fabien Ledebt from Graco.

Other Committee Chairs remain unchanged:

Cees Moorman, BASF Polyurethanes, Chair Education Committee

Marc Broekaert, Huntsman, Chair Membership Development Committee

Werner Bertleff, BASF SE, Chair Industry Relations Committee

The Wednesday afternoon sessions were open complimentary to regional companies to give them a sense of what PDA Europe does. The spray demonstration was repeated to this aim.

Romuald Bartczak, PDA Europe new President concluded by pointing out that once again the participants of this 5th Annual Conference have made it clear, through networking and presentations, that the PDA Europe is the unique platform for developing the business in polyurea as well as its technology. So we finally want to express our gratitude to all those involved in the organization, the PDAE board and committees, our sponsors and of course our conference speakers and participants who made the event possible!

PDA Europe Annual Conference in the news:

PU Magazine

Conference pictures: