2019 Advisory Board

Lisa Clapp is the Vice President of Colors Technology at Sun Chemical Corporation with responsibility for research and development of pigments and pigment preparations. 

Lisa did her undergraduate work in chemistry at Ball State University and received her Master’s of Science degree in Physical Chemistry from the University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill.   

Lisa has worked for Sun Chemical for 23 years, where she has held numerous positions, including physical chemist, group leader, Six Sigma Black Belt, Design for Six Sigma Leader, and project manager covering a wide range of Sun Chemical pigment and preparation products.

Z. P. Czornij joined BASF Corporation in Michigan in 1984 working in the research and development group for automotive OEM coatings, with a focus on coatings for plastic substrates.

Later, he worked on various polymer synthesis projects for waterborne coatings.

Since 1990, he has been involved in pigment evaluation and pigment dispersant resin development, responsible for the global colorant portfolio for the automotive OEM end use application.

Currently he manages the BASF Color Excellence Group, with the responsibility for pigment qualification, color science, paste process engineering, and color marketing and design. He is currently the president of the Detroit Colour Council.

He received his chemistry degrees from Wayne State University and from the University of Detroit.

• USA

Bill Eibon has been a leader in technology, industrial design and manufacturing of polymeric and coatings systems for over 35 years.  He held a wide range of senior leadership and change agent roles during his three-decade career at PPG Industries.  His commercial and operational experiences include Global Technical Director of waterborne coatings, color science, process engineering.  He has been a thought leader for industrial color design, digital color assets and coatings technology for the global Automotive OEM industry.  He has been actively scouting and developing disruptive technologies for the past 5 years. 

Bill retired from PPG in February 2019.  He is currently Founder and Chief Scientist at Adawe Material Science LTD where he focuses on collaborative technology and business development initiatives between start up and established entities.  He serves as technical and executive advisor for several material science companies

He joined HygraTek LLC. as Vice President of Commercialization in Q1 2019.  HygraTek is a specialty coatings company specializing in reactive surfaces. 

He holds a BSc. Chemistry degree from Baldwin Wallace University, and has a passion for collaborative development & commercialization of leading-edge technologies.

• USA

1. Working area as at now: Global Technical Director at SCHLENK Metallic Pigments GmbH 

2. Past working areas in other companies/institutes:  
Global responsibility for Business Unit Coatings & Plastics at SCHLENK Metallic Pigments GmbH. Several positions within Pigments Division at Merck KGaA Darmstadt, Germany (e.g. Head of Technical Service Coatings, Senior Scientist Coatings, Technical Manager Automotive Coatings).

3. Further activities (e.g. in universities, organizations, etc.): 
Member of GDCh (since 1995), ViLF e.V. (since 2002), DCC (Detroit Color Council, since 2009). Visiting Professor for Product Development & Design at Pforzheim University Business School, Germany (since 2010)

4. Areas of professional interest:  
Special effect pigments. Coatings. Polymers. Color Science. Psychophysics.

5. What the audience should else know about me:  
Passion for Pigments.

Short curriculum vitae:

• 1988-1995     Diploma in chemistry from Stuttgart university (>macromolecular chemistry with Prof. Dr. Lothar Dulog)
• 1997 - 1999   Assistant lecturer for organic chemistry at Esslingen university of applied science
• 1998               Farbe & Lack award (Vincentz Network Hannover)
• 2000               PhD in chemistry from Stuttgart university (and Forschungsinstitut für Pigmente und Lacke e.V.) with Prof. Dr. Claus D. Eisenbach (>applied electrochemistry using microprobes)
• 2000               Award for PhD thesis from German Society of Chemists, GDCh (section paint chemistry)
• 1999-2011     Several positions within pigments division of Merck KGaA (Technical Manager Automotive Coatings, Senior Scientist, Head of Technical Service Coatings within Business Unit Coatings)
• 2010               Visiting Professor Product Development & Design at Pforzheim University Business School
• 2011               Director Business Unit Coatings & Plastics with Schlenk Metallic Pigments GmbH
• 2019    Global Technical Director with SCHLENK Metallic Pigments GmbH

• Germany

Alison is a global group leader for PPG (ppg.com). Her professional career spans the fields of color, chemistry, engineering, mathematics, physics, marketing, intellectual property, and IT. She has worked in a variety of domestic and international venues for PPG. Alison graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a degree in chemical engineering.Alison is a global group leader for PPG (ppg.com). Her professional career spans the fields of color, chemistry, engineering, mathematics, physics, marketing, intellectual property, and IT. She has worked in a variety of domestic and international venues for PPG. Alison graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a degree in chemical engineering.

Born in 1953, studied chemistry at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena and graduated with a thesis in the field of inorganic solid state chemistry. He was then research assistant and senior research assistant in Chemistry at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena where he was responsible for teaching many courses in the field of inorganic chemistry. 1991: He began his work in pigment research at Merck in Darmstadt. 1994: He became director of the Product Development Department within the framework of research into effect pigments. From 2006 to 2014, he was director of pigment research. 1994: He began to lecture at the Darmstadt University of Technology where he qualified as a professor in chemistry in 1997. In the same year he was appointed senior lecturer and in 2008 Professor at the Darmstadt University of Technology. Gerhard Pfaff is the author of more than 90 scientific publications and more than 70 patents. His newest book, Inorganic Pigments, was published by de Gruyter in 2017.

Trevor obtained his Bachelor of Science and PhD degrees in Chemistry from the University of East Anglia & Cambridge in the U.K. He then carried out a 2 year Post Doctoral Fellowship in Synthetic Organic Chemistry at Georgia Tech. in Atlanta in the School of Chemistry.

He joined I.C.I. as a synthetic organic chemist, developing novel dyes and pigments; then became New Business Development Manager, spearheading the development of a range of new speciality chemicals. Trevor then joined I.C.I. Paints to head up the Colour & Pigment Technology Group.

As a Senior Research Chemist, Trevor had a strategic role developing new pigment dispersant technology relevant to the Decorative and Automotive Business Sectors. When I.C.I. Autocolor was purchased by PPG Industries in 1999, the team’s various achievements were recognised by becoming the Centre of Excellence for Dispersion Science for the global Refinish Coatings Business.

In 2008, Trevor started his own business called Expertas Ltd, which expanded to Expertas Global in 2016. He now consults on colour and pigment dispersion technology with global corporate companies. More recently, Expertas has been carrying out research in the area of the psychology of colour and evaluating different tools to understand and predict the link between semantic perception scales and colour measurement methodology. This is an important growing area of research and Expertas intends to be at its leading edge in the future.

Check out the article by Dr. Trevor Sayer on the activities in the colour and high performance pigment industry here >>

• United Kingdom

Dr. Seubert received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois and his M.S./Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, all in Materials Science and Engineering.  He is a Research Engineer working in the Paint Research Group at Ford’s Research and Innovation Center.  He has worked at Ford for the last 17 years and has explored a range of topics including UV/EB cure, scratch and mar, weathering and durability, and most recently, the measurement and modeling of paint colors.  

Dr. Andrew E. Smith received a BSc in Applied Science from University of Wisconsin-Stout in 2006. In 2010 he earned a Ph.D in Materials Chemistry from Oregon State University. Continuing his educational pursuits, Dr. Smith earned an MBA in Innovation, Change & Entrepreneurship from Xavier University in 2018.

After receiving a doctorate in Materials Chemistry in 2010, Dr. Andrew E. Smith joined the Shepherd Color Company as an R&D Chemist investigating disruptive pigment chemistries. In 2015 he assumed responsibility of the analytical laboratory and led a specialized business division in pigment surface functionalization.

In 2017, Dr. Smith joined the Uniform Color Company as the Product Engineering Manager where he was responsible for the product development and improvement of color masterbatch for North America.

In 2019, Dr. Smith joined the color revolution at Chroma Color Corporation as Technical Director where his responsibilities include Technical Service, R&D, Quality, and Regulatory for multiple sites.

Dr. Smith’s work has been published in 13 journal articles with 3 associated patents in pigment technologies granted. His work on the synthesis, crystal structure, and physical properties of transition metal oxides has been published on the cover of two journals and has been featured in the New York Times, Bloomberg News, C&EN, and National Geographic. Dr. Smith’s favorite color is blue.

• USA