Sustainable Coatings

Ross Harling is an award-winning inventor with a long career in construction materials, information technology and the oil industry. Trained as an economist, he specialised in the history of mass production from medieval to modern times. His 30-year passion for paint making stemmed from historical research into the durability of ancient materials that pre-date the petrochemical era.

Akshat Sudheshwar is currently a Scientist at Empa – Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology and a PhD candidate at the Department of Environmental Systems Science at ETH Zürich, Switzerland. His research focuses on the European Commission’s Safe and Sustainable-by-Design (SSbD) framework, for which he develops scientific assessment methods. He specializes in environmental safety and sustainability assessments across a range of domains, including textiles, electronics, plastics, biobased materials, and carbon dioxide removal, and has published reports and scientific articles on these topics through numerous EU projects and beyond.

Beste Aslan is a Coil Coatings R&D Researcher at AkzoNobel Kemipol, where she works on the development and evaluation of industrial coil coating formulations. She is currently pursuing an MSc degree in Chemical Engineering at Ege University, Türkiye. Her current research explores the use of renewable and bio based materials in sustainable coil coating systems, with particular emphasis on coating performance, storage stability and corrosion protection under industrial processing conditions.

Eugénie Charrière is the Strategic Marketing Director of ECOAT, as French industrial scale-up. She has a technical background but has spent most of her career in Business Development, Marketing and Sales. Before joining ECOAT in 2025, she was the Global Director of Strategy and Marketing at Vencorex and had been working 30 years in the polyurethane industry for industrial coatings.

Prof Dr Michael Dornbusch is Professor of Coatings Technology at the University of Applied Sciences Niederrhein in Krefeld, Germany. With many years of experience in both academia and industry, his work focuses on sustainable corrosion protection, innovative coating technologies, and interface processes. Before joining academia, he held research and leadership positions at BASF Coatings and Dörken MKS, contributing to the development of advanced protective coating systems for the automotive and industrial sectors.

Andreas Fischer, born in 1983, studied chemistry at the TU Dortmund and the Ruhr University Bochum. In his doctorate, he deepened his focus on organic chemistry and then switched to the Institute for Wood Technology in Dresden. Here he develops bio-based binders for coatings and adhesives in the chemistry department. Other fields of research are reactive flame retardants for polyurethane-based binders.

Jitte Flapper is an experienced R&D leader at AkzoNobel, where he currently manages the Expertise Center Advanced Technologies within Coatings Technology. With more than 15 years of experience spanning industrial innovation and academic research, his work has focused on advanced materials, polymer chemistry, catalysis, and coating technologies. Prior to joining AkzoNobel, Jitte held research positions at the University of Melbourne, Eindhoven University of Technology, and the University of Amsterdam, building a strong multidisciplinary background in organic, inorganic, and supramolecular chemistry.

Carlo Gindu is a Technical Assistance Specialist at Alfarben, a leading manufacturer of high-performance inorganic pigments for different industries, such as plastic and coatings. With almost 5 years of experience in technical assistance and product application, he bridges the gap between chemical innovation and practical manufacturing solutions. Specialized in troubleshooting formulation challenges, optimizing color and technical performance, and helping their partners achieve peak performance in paint and coating applications.

Ece Karaarslan is a Materials Informatics Engineer at Citrine Informatics, where she collaborates with industry teams to apply artificial intelligence and machine learning to complex materials science challenges. She supports customers in leveraging the Citrine Platform to accelerate materials development, improve data quality, and build predictive models for materials performance. Ece holds a Master’s degree in Materials Science from TU Darmstadt, where her research focused on lithium-ion battery cathode materials,  using atomistic simulations to study chemomechanical behavior. Prior to her work in materials informatics, she worked in digital R&D teams in the hair care industry, contributing to data-driven product development in hair color technologies.

Dr Daniela Leistl studied bioengineering at TU Dortmund. Educational attainment: doctoral degree – Topic: Development of the enzymatic deacidification for the optimization of vegetable oil refining (TU Dortmund). Current position: Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV, Business Development Manager in the field of “Recycling and Environment”. Work area: Valorization of residuals from agricultural and food industry for application in technical areas.

Jasmin Meurer is an accomplished polymer chemist who earned her promotion in polymer chemistry from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in 2013. She began her career focusing on oil recovery chemicals, where she gained valuable experience in formulating effective solutions for the oil and gas industry. Since 2018, Jasmin has been a Product Development Manager at Evonik, where she has worked across various departments, specializing in lubricant additives and specialty methacrylates. Currently, her primary focus is on the development of new sustainable methacrylates that provide performance benefits for customers. Jasmin is passionate about integrating sustainability into product design, ensuring that her innovations not only meet market needs but also contribute to environmental stewardship. Her work exemplifies a commitment to advancing sustainable chemistry, positioning Evonik as a leader in developing eco-friendly solutions.

Tijs Nabuurs is a polymer scientist and expert in coatings and sustainable materials at Covestro Coatings & Adhesives. He serves as Global Expert for Sustainable Raw Materials and Product Hygiene, developing high performance, low carbon, and bio based polymer technologies. In previous roles, he advanced waterborne and hybrid coating systems, with a focus on radical and particularly emulsion polymerization. Tijs holds a PhD in Polymer Chemistry from Eindhoven University of Technology, where his thesis explored alkyd–acrylic composite emulsions. He is recognized for bridging fundamental research and industrial application to deliver sustainable, commercially relevant solutions.

Dr Shannon North is the Technical Manager at PALEUS. She completed her PhD in Polymers, Soft Matter and Colloids at the University of Sheffield, where her research focused on the development of novel aqueous pigment dispersants. Following her doctorate, she continued this work as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Sheffield, specialising in sustainable polymer development. She later transitioned into industry as a Senior R&D Chemist at Sherwin-Williams, where she formulated coatings for paints and woodcare applications. Since joining PALEUS in January 2024, Dr North has led the R&D development programme, working closely with customers to deliver innovative solutions for the CASE industry.

Degree in Chemistry from the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Spain) 1998 and Postgraduate in Paint Technology from the Institut Quimic de Sarria (Spain) 2007. Since 2007 working in Technical Sales for national and multinational companies manufacturing speciality products for the Paint industry. I joined Cromogenia in 2017, I’m the BU manager for Coatings Materials focused in polyurethane dispersions and acrylic emulsions.

Dr Becky Pennington is the ESG Data Insights and Governance Director at Synthomer, where she drives Synthomer’s Scope 3 decarbonisation journey, using data insights to connect the full value chain, from supplier to customer. With 18 years of experience in R&D and new product innovation within several industries, Becky has successfully led numerous new product launches. For the last 4 years she has focused on understanding and driving the Scope 3 decarbonisation challenge within Synthomer, including developing strategies for collecting, measuring, managing and reporting Scope 3 data. With a passion for using data to drive sustainability improvements, Becky has worked collaboratively within the value chain to develop internal Scope 3 forecast models. These give insights into the optionality and impacts of the supply chain and data to allow better decisions which support Synthomer’s customers to deliver on their own sustainability goals which in turn drives Synthomer’s sustainability ambition. Becky holds a PhD in Physics from Southampton University (UK).

Dr Wienke Reynolds is Co-Founder and CTO of Lignopure GmbH, where she leads technological innovation, product and process development, and the implementation of sustainable production technologies. With a background in bioprocess engineering and a PhD from Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), her research focused on the modeling and scale-up of hydrothermal pretreatment processes for lignocellulosic biomass. Prior to co-founding Lignopure, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at TUHH in the field of biorefinery technologies. Dr Reynolds brings deep expertise in sustainable materials, biorefinery processes, and technology transfer from research to industry.

M.Eng. Daniel Sandvoß is a Ph.D. student in Physical Chemistry and Coatings Engineering at the University of Duisburg-Essen and Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences, working in collaboration with the Altana Institute. His current research focuses on sustainable polyester synthesis for coating applications. Daniel completed both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Chemical Engineering with a specialization in Coatings Engineering at Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences. His academic work has covered topics including dispersant additives based on phytic acid and the influence of polyacrylate structures on the flow properties of powder coatings.

Kathrin Schilling, Founder and Director of BioPowder.com is a serial entrepreneur and specialist in waste-to-value business models. After 15 years in solid biofuels manufacturing, she created a new business line of powder additives from renewable sources in 2017. This involves innovative functional fillers, texture particles, color flakes and matting agents for bio-based coating applications. Kathrin has participated in numerous R&D initiatives, e.g. at Fraunhofer IVV, U.S. Department of Agriculture, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and University of North Dakota. Here latest venture is the creation of Olea Coatings – a bio-based premium flooring system from upcycling sources.

Ecem Tarancı is a Coil Coatings R&D Project Specialist at AkzoNobel Kemipol, where she works on the development, optimization and industrial implementation of coil coating formulations. She graduated from Hacettepe University with a degree in Chemical Engineering and holds a master’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Izmir Institute of Technology. Her current research interests include sustainable raw materials and high-performance coil coating systems.

Dr Ebenezer Twumasi is the founder and CEO of Xcida AB, where he leads the development of bio-inspired nanocomposite technologies for biocide-free preservation in water-based materials. He brings recognised expertise in nanotechnology and more than 15 years of research and industrial experience in advanced materials, functional coatings and product development. Prior to founding Xcida, Dr Twumasi held senior R&D and product development roles at deep-tech startups and a Fortune Global 500 company, where he worked on scaling advanced materials from laboratory concepts toward industrial applications. Through his work in the coatings industry, he identified a growing gap between tightening EU regulations on biocides and the limited performance or applicability of existing alternatives. This insight led him to found Xcida, with the aim of developing a safer, material-based preservation platform for coatings and other water-based products. His research has since been recognized by the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences and included on its Research Impact List 2026.

With over 25 years’ experience within Oleon I have a deep understanding of oleochemistry. I held various positions within R&D, starting out as R&D Engineer Lubricants, expanded into collaborative project management and currently driving the CASE team in the R&D center in France near to Compiègne. Currently, as R&D team lead CASE, I lead the product development within Oleon for polyester polyols. Proven track record of innovation with contribution to 6 patents.

In his role as Senior R&D Scientist at Westlake Epoxy, Henning Vogt is dedicated to the development of new waterborne epoxy and amine curing agent systems with improved property and performance profile. He studied chemistry at RWTH Aachen University and took his PhD in organic chemistry at Bonn University. After a postdoctoral stay at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), he increasingly focussed on polymer related topics as a team leader at the CAT Catalytic Center, a joint venture between RWTH Aachen University and Covestro, before he changed to his current position at Westlake Epoxy in 2014.

Stuart Walker is a Sustainability Assessment specialist and Research Fellow at the Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures, University of Sheffield, where he leads a growing team focused on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and related methodologies. He directs and delivers research and consultancy projects spanning bio-based materials, low-emission systems and international sustainability initiatives, while contributing to global collaborations such as UNEP. Previously, Stuart was a Senior Net Zero Consultant at the Energy Saving Trust, where he led emissions measurement and target-setting work across Scopes 1–3 and developed LCA services for clients. His expertise centres on advanced LCA, including social and economic dimensions, alongside strong experience in project leadership, stakeholder engagement and applied sustainability research.

Director Sales, Vincentz Network