Technical Sessions

2024 Technical Sessions

Immerse yourself in the latest advancements and innovations shaping the surface finishing industry! 

Whether you’re a seasoned professional or just entering the field, these sessions promise to equip you with invaluable knowledge and skills essential for success in today’s workforce. Prepare to be inspired by cutting-edge technologies, industry trends, and expert insights that will elevate your understanding and proficiency in surface finishing.

Spanning two dynamic days, our conference boasts 24 enlightening sessions, each meticulously curated to deliver insights into crucial topics that you can preview below.

Please note, you must be registered for the Full Conference to attend.

View Sessions & Abstracts
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Wednesday Morning, June 5

Session 1: Light Metals
Session Co-Chairs: Ling Hao & Rob Pawson
8:30 AM
Novel White Anodizing Process
Goode
9:00 AM
Anodizing Armament/Firearm Components – ‎Factors and Features to Consider in the Anodizing ‎Finish
Patel
9:30 AM
Non-Nickel Seal Alternatives for Dyed Aluminum
Cook
10:00 AM
Enhancing Plating and Coating Quality for ‎Aluminum Alloys in Electric Vehicles
Patel
10:30 AM
Meeting OEM Requirements for Anodizing and ‎Conversion Coatings
Wegner
11:00 AM
One-Step PRC Surface Pretreatment for Plating ‎Onto Al Alloys
Radhakrishnan
11:30 AM
Advancements in Automotive Electronics ‎Finishing
Schetty
8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Aluminum
Finishing
Session 2: Advances in Materials
Session Co-Chairs: Patrick Howe & Caleb Morrison
8:30 AM
Structure And Anti-Biofilm Properties of Various ‎Coating Films By 3D Printing
Kanematsu
9:00 AM
Study On Electroplating Technology of Trivalent ‎Chromium Nickel Composite Coatings
Li
9:30 AM
‎3D Printing Porous Zirconia for Hydrogen Energy ‎Devices
Khakzad
10:00 AM
Using Temperature to Simulate Thixotropy When ‎Applying Coatings
Bonner
10:30 AM
DC and Pulse Electrodeposition of Ni-Fe with ‎Graphene Oxide in the Electrolyte
Bahrololoomi
11:00 AM
Electrodeposited NiMo Alloy Coatings for ‎Improved Corrosion and Erosion Resistance in ‎Extreme Environments
Hall
11:30 AM
Investigation of Nonaqueous Systems for the ‎Electrodeposition of Metallic Zirconium
Janusz
8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Aluminum
Finishing
Session 3: Corrosion Protection and Wear Resistance
Session Co-Chairs: Dan Hooks and James Lindsay
8:30 AM
Correlation Of Fabrication Methods and Enhanced ‎Wear Performance in Nanoporous Anodic Aluminum ‎Oxide with Incorporated Molybdenum Disulfide ‎‎(Mos2) Nanomaterials‎
Hooks
9:00 AM
Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation (PEO) Coating – A Novel ‎Enabling Technology for High-Performance ‎Applications
Berman
9:30 AM
‎21st-Century Tools For Choosing, Developing, ‎Depositing and Repairing Corrosion Control Coatings
Legg
10:00 AM
Observations And Considerations of Galvanic ‎Corrosion That Occurs Between Metals with Zinc/Zinc ‎Alloy Surface Treatment and Other Metals
Sukenobu
10:30 AM
Material Selection for Resisting Corrosion in The ‎Surface Finishing Industry
Knapp
11:00 AM
Improving Corrosion Resistance of Popular Coatings
Johnson
11:30 AM
Innovations In Chrome Plating: Advantages of ‎Crystalline Chromic Acid
Held
8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Aluminum
Finishing

Wednesday Afternoon, June 5

Session 4: Quality, Efficiency, and Data
Session Co-Chairs: Patrick Howe and Dev Massimi
1:00 PM
Improving Your Efficiency Through Lab ‎Instrumentation
McAnespie
1:30 PM
In-House Testing Vs. External Labs: Quality Concerns ‎and Considerations
Williams
2:00 PM
Chemical Terms and Definitions
Collins
2:30 PM
Data, Data, Data -- How Power BI Can Help ‎Revolutionize Your Organization’s Reporting
Haggard ‎
3:00 PM
Optimizing Pretreatment Through Data Collection and ‎Utilization
Walden
8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Aluminum
Finishing
8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Aluminum
Finishing
8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Aluminum
Finishing
Session 5: Advances in Surface Finishing
Session Co-Chairs: Bill Nebiolo and Dan Hooks
1:00 PM
Hand Polishing Practices on Hardened Steel Prior to ‎Chemically Accelerated Vibratory Processing and ‎Nickel/Chrome Plating
Nebiolo
1:30 PM
Decreasing Surface Roughness on Metal Additive ‎Components with Chemical Milling
Ringer
2:00 PM
Pulsed Electropolishing of Metal AM
Stull
2:30 PM
Near Neutral Pickling and Chemical Polishing - ‎Celebrating Success
Cucuro
3:00 PM
Electrochemical Polishing/Deposition of Tungsten ‎Materials for Nuclear Fusion Applications
Lee
8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Aluminum
Finishing
8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Aluminum
Finishing
8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Aluminum
Finishing
Session 6: Electroplating and the DoD
Session Co-Chairs: Stephen Gaydos and Christopher Eveland
1:00 PM
Approach to Trivalent Chromium Processes for ‎Conversion Coatings and Anodize Seal on Aerospace ‎Aluminum Finishing– techniques for process ‎optimization and maintenance
Glover
1:30 PM
Operating a DoD Electroplating Shop
Gibson
2:00 PM
Electrodeposition and Analysis of Functional Trivalent ‎Chromium Coatings
Moran
2:30 PM
Materials Engineer
Chi
3:00 PM
Amorphous Chromium Carbide (a-CrC) Coatings for ‎Exceptional Corrosion Resistance and Durability
Berman
8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Aluminum
Finishing
8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Aluminum
Finishing
8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Aluminum
Finishing

Thursday Morning, June 6

Session 7: Methods in Efficiency Improvement 1
Session Co-Chairs: Rob Pawson and Christopher Eveland
8:30 AM
Production Planning 4.0 - How Information from ‎Plating Can Be Used to Realize Comprehensive ‎Scheduling
Scholz
9:00 AM
Using Automated Surface Finishing Methods to Bridge ‎the Labor/Skills Gap
Shappell
9:30 AM
Troubleshooting Mistakes Even the Pros Make
Schieffer
10:00 AM
Modern Wet Chemical Techniques for Online Bath ‎Analysis
Lane
10:30 AM
Case Study in Working Yourself Out of a Job
Schieffer
8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Aluminum
Finishing
8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Aluminum
Finishing
8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Aluminum
Finishing
Session 8: Advances in Coatings
Session Co-Chairs: Dan Hooks and Caleb Morrison
8:30 AM
Electroless Nickel Composite Coatings Containing PTFE ‎and Boron Nitride – Properties and Performance
Schaffer
9:00 AM
Electroless Nickel Applications for Golf Clubs
Feldstein
9:30 AM
Advanced Ternary Alloy High Phosphorus Electroless ‎Nickel ‎
Hughes
10:00 AM
SEADCAT: New Patternable Plating Technology for ‎Non-Conductive Materials
Chan
10:30 AM
Novel Adhesion Pre-treatment Technology for Plating ‎on Ultem or Peek Composites
Feldstein
8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Aluminum
Finishing
8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Aluminum
Finishing
8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Aluminum
Finishing
Session 9: Water Treatment and PFAS
Session Co-Chairs: Fernando Carminholi and Bill Nebiolo
8:30 AM
Water Treatment Thoughts
Collins
9:00 AM
Practical Water Recycling for Surface Finishing ‎Operations
Clarke
9:30 AM
Ramifications of Current and Proposed PFAS ‎Regulations on Metal Finishers
Thomas
10:00 AM
Reduce Total Dissolved Solids in Effluent to improve ‎PFAS removal via filtration
Calnan
10:30 AM
Treatment of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in ‎Water by Electrochemical Oxidation with Titanium ‎Suboxide Anode ‎
Ji & Wang
8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Aluminum
Finishing
8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Aluminum
Finishing
8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Aluminum
Finishing

Thursday Afternoon, June 6

Session 10: Methods in Efficiency Improvement II
Session Co-Chairs: Patrick Howe and Dev Massimi
1:30 PM
Plating Process Control Using X-Ray Fluorescence in ‎Surface Finishing Applications
Scheck
2:00 PM
Modular Digital Twinning of Electroplating Systems ‎and Dynamic Sustainability Assessment
Moghadasi
2:30 PM
Air-Dry Zinc Flake Coatings
Pfeifer
3:00 PM
Ultrasonic Activated De-Painting
Kulkarni
3:30 PM
Eliminating VOC's in your manufacturing process with ‎UV LED cured coatings
Kelly
4:00 PM
Ripple
Schieffer
4:30 PM
Carbon Footprint Reduction of the ZnNi Plating ‎Process
Simpson
8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Aluminum
Finishing
Session 11: Military Finishing Applications
Session Co-Chairs: Jay Randolph and Waynie Schyette
1:30 PM
Hard Chrome Plating Without Lead for Sustainable ‎Processes by The Use of Highly Efficient Platinzed ‎Anodes
Friebel
2:00 PM
Dripless Brush Zn-Ni and Thin Film Sulfuric Acid ‎Anodize (TFSAA) Processing
Randolph
2:30 PM
Brush-Plating Pretreatment for Field Repair of ‎Coatings on Aircraft Systems with Enhanced Adhesion ‎And Corrosion Resistance
Moran
3:00 PM
Installation And Qualification of a New Zinc-Nickel ‎Plating Line
Nicoloff
3:30 PM
Low Hydrogen Embrittlement (LHE) Alkaline Zinc-‎Nickel (Zn-Ni) Electroplating in The Robins AFB ‎Advanced Metal Finishing Facility
Hickman
4:00 PM
Aircraft Corrosion Protection, As Performed by Depot ‎Maintenance Facilities
Whang
4:30 PM
Aluminum Ion Vapor Deposition (IVD) Process‎
Chi
8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Aluminum
Finishing
Session 12: Waste Treatment
Session Co-Chairs: Fernando Carminholi and Bill Nebiolo
1:30 PM
New Ceramic Molecular Media Replaces Ion Exchange Resin
Sawyer
2:00 PM
EPA Information Collection: Chrome Finishing Industry
Ware
2:30 PM
Improving Wastewater Compliance Through ‎Management of Chelants and Complexing Agents
Buday
3:00 PM
Harnessing The Power of Your Wastewater Treatment ‎Systems' Data
Mancuso
3:30 PM
Wastewater Reclamation in The Metal Finishing ‎Industry
Deal
4:00 PM
Membrane-Based Processes and Their Potential for ‎Waste Minimization in Surface Finishing
Mitchell
4:30 PM
Green Chemistry
Dailey
8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Aluminum
Finishing