29 - 30 September 2026
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Building on more than 25 years of experience in the industrial pigments, colourants, and titanium dioxide value chain, Smithers brings together two leading events in one powerful, co-located conference. The Pigment & Colour Science Forum, combined with the TiO₂ World Summit, unites key stakeholders from across the entire value chain to explore the future of pigments and TiO₂.
Over two days, attendees will benefit from the latest market insights, expert presentations, collaborative discussions, and high-value networking opportunities. The event leverages the strong synergies between the pigments and titanium dioxide industries to deliver practical, forward-looking content.
Just some of the companies already confirmed to be joining us in September includes...
This is the only event dedicated exclusively to pigments, addressing critical topics such as:
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Dr Richard Parker is Head of Research and Development at Sparxell. He spent 10+ years at the University of Cambridge (UK) developing structurally coloured cellulose materials prior to Sparxell spinning out. He is an expert in the self-assembly of novel material architectures within microfluidic droplets; ranging from supramolecular microcapsules and gels, to photonic microparticles and films. He also developed cutting edge optical characterisation and devices within a UK-based space start-up.
Şevval Sulubaş Uysal is a chemical engineer who graduated from the İzmir Institute of Technology in 2017. In 2018, she started working in the R&D department of coil coatings at AkzoNobel Kemipol. She completed her master's degree in Chemical Engineering at the same university in 2023, focusing on sol-gel chemistry, nanoparticles, and hydrophobicity phenomena. In April 2024, she transitioned to a new role as the head of the Color Research Laboratory. Currently, she primarily supports color matching studies for coil coatings. Additionally, she has started providing support to the Wood and Specialty Coatings departments.
Nick Milne is Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Octarine Bio, where he leads the development of PurePalette™, a fully bio-based colour platform designed to replace fossil-derived pigments in multiple industries. Throughout his professional career, he has worked across the fields of synthetic biology, metabolic engineering, and precision-fermentation to develop, scale, and commercialize bio-based solutions to some of the world’s most pressing environmental issues. He is an active contributor to the European Biosolutions ecosystem, frequently engaging with policymakers, industry bodies, and investors on the role of Biosolutions in enabling sustainable growth.
After earning a PhD in physical chemistry from the University of Adelaide in South Australia, Philippe Guarilloff began his career in cosmetic R&D at Bourjois, working in scale-up (pilot) operations. He later joined the Chanel Innovation Laboratory—both entities under the same ownership and based near Paris, France.
He was subsequently assigned to Chanel Inc. in Piscataway, New Jersey, USA, where he spent 11 years scouting innovative technologies through collaborations with universities, startups, and suppliers. Since 2019, he has served as Manager for Technical Innovations at Chanel Perfume-Beauty in France.
Merve Samiye Kirazlı is the Colour R&D Laboratory Manager at Kansai Altan, where she leads colour development and innovation activities across automotive and industrial coatings. She holds a BSc in Chemical Engineering from Middle East Technical University and an MSc in Chemical Engineering from Ege University.
With over 19 years of experience in the coatings industry, Merve has worked extensively in colour formulation, pigment technologies, and colour measurement systems across a wide range of applications including automotive OEM, refinish, coil, plastic and industrial coatings.
She is a co-founder of the Color Office initiative, which integrates colour design, emerging pigment technologies, and market trends to create innovative colour concepts for global designers and customers.
In recent years, Merve has been leading projects at the intersection of sustainable and advanced functional coatings, focusing on the development of pigment-driven solutions that go beyond aesthetics and enable advanced functionalities. She is also actively involved in the development of AI-supported tools for effect-color formulation and perception-driven systems, including an automatic colour naming model based on human visual evaluation.
Guillaume Boissonnat-Wu is the Managing Director and Co-founder of Pili, a pioneering industrial company producing sustainable, biobased dyes and pigments at scale. He studied engineering at École Polytechnique and earned his PhD in organic chemistry (2013–2016) from ESPCI Paris and Sorbonne University (Pierre & Marie Curie)
Immediately after his doctorate, Guillaume joined Pili in 2016 as Scientific and Industrial Director, helping to define and implement the strategy to hybridize organic synthesis and industrial fermentation to produce biobased dyes and pigments. Under his leadership, Pili has scaled fermentation and chemical processes to produce ton-scale biobased aromatic intermediates and indigo, received over €35 million in funding, and is deploying pilot and demonstrator plants in France.
Guillaume is also responsible for directing R&D, overseeing process engineering for industrialization, supporting fundraising efforts, and expanding Pili's footprint in sustainable color markets across textile, ink, paint, and plastic industries.
