Events

Third annual conference a success

PDA Europe has just concluded its “phantastic” third Annual Conference! The event was hosted by Phantasialand, in Brühl, Germany, and highlighted the latest developments in the polyurea world in the last year. One thing is certain: PDA Europe and polyurea show no signs of crisis. The conference gathered a comparable number of participants as the previous years and had a larger amount of exhibitors than ever before!

An increasing amount of people are new to polyurea every year, and those already there are always ready to learn more. This was shown by the number of people taking place in the educational courses held during the conference, with the great work of PDA Europe trainers Dominique Smits (Education Committee Chair) and Stefan Priemen. The newly launched course on Surface Preparation—Concrete was much appreciated by a dynamic and interactive group of attendees.

The conference brought forward a diverse range of presentations, covering topics ranging from chemistry and raw materials, to fire safety and European requirements for coatings. More case studies were presented during the event than the previous years, following participants’ requests: roofing applications, desalination projects, silent floors and many more. The highlight was of course the presentation and visit of the Wakobato attraction in Phantasialand, organised by PDAE member Karl Gerniers of Three Dee Factory. Karl did a wonderful job in showing participants step by step the application of polyurea for the Wakobato statues and guided them through the attraction visit. With the support of the Education Committee members, a spray demonstration followed in the paint workshop of Phantasialand.

Conference attendees also enjoyed the networking opportunities offered by the exhibition, as well as an entertaining evening event in Western style. It became clear that polyurea experts are also skilled jugglers, and know very well how to bring together high expertise and informal gatherings as the right mix for a successful conference.

Special thanks go to all those involved in the organisation, PDAE board and committees, our sponsors and of course, our conference participants who made the event possible!

The proceedings of the conference are available here..

2009 Conference in the news:

PU Magazin (December 2009) - German

FAPU (January 2010) - English and German

Urethanes Technology (February-March 2010)

PCE Protective Coatings Europe