On Monday, Dec. 13, leaders of the legacy SSPC: The Society for Protective Coatings and NACE International organizations presented a variety of prestigious awards during the Coatings+ Annual Awards Luncheon in Phoenix, Arizona, USA.
The luncheon started with an introduction and acknowledgements by Joyce Wright, chair of the AMPP Global Center and process improvement specialist at Huntington Ingalls Industries—Newport News Shipbuilding. She presented several awards, including the Board of Governors’ and President’s Lecture Series awards, the latter of which went to the authors of “Efficiency of Zinc Content in Sacrificial Protection of Coatings.”
SSPC Chapters Awards, presented by Cara Blyzwick, certification exam developer with AMPP, were given to the North America chapter of Southern California and Southern Nevada chapter, and for international to the China chapter.
Individual Awards
Mike Kline, AMPP’s senior director of customer experience, presented the Structure Awards, which were given to companies working on outstanding industrial and commercial coatings projects. Those awards included the Charles G. Munger Award; the E. Crone Knoy Award; the Eric S. Kline Award, which was a special one for Mike Kline to be able to present; the George Campbell Award; the SSPC Coatings Industry Spirit Award; the Military Coatings Award of Excellence; and the William Johnson Award.
The Richard W. Drisko Coatings Education award, presented by Jennifer Merck, AMPP’s director of education and training, went to William Corbett of KTA-Tator and Terry New of New Consulting.
The SSPC Technical Achievement Award, presented by John Whalen, Executive Director for the Master Painters Institute (MPI), went to Kurt Wood of Arkema. In the presentation. Whalen mentioned Wood’s contributions in championing the last new SSPC coating standard to be published before merging with NACE as AMPP.
Cindy O’Malley, COO of AMPP, presented the Women in Coatings Impact Award to Joyce Wright, the first female SSPC Board President. O’Malley commented on Wright’s work “to transform and impact the culture of our industry.” Wright received a standing ovation for her award.
Lifetime Achievement Honors
The first Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by Joe Walker of Elcometer and a past SSPC chair, was given to Mark Ingle from NAVSEA for the John D. Keane Award of Merit, which recognizes outstanding contribution to the development of the protective coatings industry and to SSPC. Ingle wasn’t able to join the conference in person and instead shared a video acceptance speech. He accepted the award on behalf of everyone in his infamous pyramid slide, which is at the start of each of his presentations.
The second Lifetime Achievement Award went to Bob McMurdy for the SSPC Honorary Life Member award. According to Wright, who presented this award, McMurdy has put membership, legacy SSPC, and the industry at the forefront for as long as she can remember “and a little bit before that,” she said. During McMurdy’s in-person thank you speech, he mentioned that this is his 30th consecutive SSPC conference. He asked legacy SSPC staff members to stand for recognition, mentioning that they’re “one big family,” and he encouraged industry to engage and energize the younger generations. McMurdy also received a standing ovation from the attendees.
Wright shared closing remarks, and thanked everyone who supports our organization, including event sponsors. Those include Carboline, IUPAT, and PPG as platinum sponsors; Sherwin-Williams and Covestro as gold sponsors; HoldTight and GPI as silver sponsors; and Champion Specialty Services, DeFelsko, Eagle Industries, and TRU Abrasives as bronze sponsors.
Transitioning to AMPP
As the final Coatings+ conference, Wright mentioned looking forward to the next conference, which will be the inaugural event combining legacies NACE and SSPC in March 2022. Wright mentioned that this event will be a combination of all of the expertise of the entire industry. “Change and technology are what make us successful,” she said. “We are coming together as a group, and I can’t wait to be part of that, and I hope all of you will as well,” Wright concluded after thanking her husband Jack Wright, who was a sprayer at Newport News Shipbuilding for more than 40 years, for his support.
The event concluded with a ceremonial passing of the keys to AMPP.
It started with Tim Bieri, VP of Materials and Corrosion Engineering at BP and chairman of the AMPP board, offering closing remarks on the two legacy organizations. The groups were officially brought together during social, economic, political, and health challenges — and almost completely virtually. Bieri presented a gavel to Joe Walker for his service on the board.
Sam Scaturro of Alpine Painting & Sandblasting transitions from the AMPP Board vice chair to chairman of the board at the end of 2021. His entry into that position coincides with the first birthday of AMPP. To commemorate the occasion, Walker and Bieri gave Scaturro the keys to AMPP. “Thanks for trusting me with this honor,” Scaturro said. He also thanked Bieri personally for his “steady leadership, intelligence, and insight,” as well as for his friendship and continued support.
Walker took a special moment to thank Bill Worms, past executive director of SSPC and now president and CEO of KTA-Tator, Inc., for his leadership while at the helm of SSPC. “[The event] honored SSPC’s legacy and pointed us to the future,” said Bob Chalker, CEO of AMPP, about the awards luncheon.
Source: Coatings+ Show Daily, www.sspc.org/coatings-2021.