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:
 |
Franz holds a PhD in aerosol particle science from ETH Zurich. Before co-founding femtoG with his colleague and climbing partner, he spent years measuring airborne particles in the lab. Over the years, he developed a personal grudge against the improper use of particle-size measurements, whether it is assuming that every particle is a sphere or looking for single nanoparticles in every powder. He channels that grudge into building better particle analyzers and educating people on how heavy a single particle is.
Elvin Karana is Full Professor at Delft University of Technology and Co-Founder and CTO of Foamlab B.V. Her research sits at the intersection of materials, society, and living systems, exploring their interconnected roles in designing for regenerative ecologies. She founded the first biology laboratory at the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering at TU Delft and leads one of the largest and most influential research groups on biodesign globally. Her group explores how designers can work with living organisms — from pigment-producing bacteria to photosynthetic microbes — to develop new design approaches, materials, and practices that actively contribute to the restoration and co-evolution of living systems.
Michael Mueller is Technical Marketing and Product Manager at Schlenk Metallic Pigments. He has more than twelve years of professional experience specializing in UV‑ and EB‑curable systems incorporating metal effect pigments, including extensive application‑oriented technical support. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering (Coatings) from Esslingen University of Applied Sciences, Germany.
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.
Julia de Oliveira Primo holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry (2023) and an M.Sc. (2018) from the Universidade Estadual do Centro-Oeste (Brazil), as well as a B.Sc. in Chemistry from the Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (2015). She is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Mons (Belgium), focusing on the synthesis and functionalization of antibacterial surfaces. Her expertise includes Materials Chemistry, particularly the green solution-combustion synthesis of inorganic compounds for synthetic inorganic pigments and for adsorbent materials for water treatment. She has solid experience in developing NIR reflection, antibacterial, and antiviral functional materials and in advanced characterization techniques such as XPS, XRD, and BET.
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.
