AIMCAL Announces Matteucci Technical Excellence Awards

Published: October 22, 2009

AMELIA ISLAND, FL | Following in the tradition of past Fall Technical Conferences, the Assn. of Industrial Metallizers, Coaters & Laminators (AIMCAL) announced on October 21st the recipients of the John Matteucci Technical Excellence Awards.

Winner of the Vacuum Web Coating award went to Peter Saur of Applied Materials for his presentation on “Advanced TCO Layers for Flexible Electronic Applications.” He was credited for excellent technical content and the potential for wide application of this technology for display, photovoltaics, and solid state lighting (OLEDS).

Receiving a Vacuum Web Coating Honorable Mention was Wolfgang Decker of Vast Films for his paper on “Advanced Materials Deposition on Roll-to-Roll Metallizer.” Judges cited him for entrepreneurship, willingness to get his hands dirty, and operating on a shoestring budget.”

Runners up in the Vacuum Web Coating category included (in no particular order) the following:

• Alberto Argoitia of JDSU-Flex Products Group showed in his paper on “Biomimicking Using Alignable Microstructured Flakes” how important it is to develop products based on biomimicry or nature.
• Both William Barrow of Lotus Applied Technology, for “Roll-to-Roll ALD [Atomic Layer Deposition] of Al2O 3 [Aluminum Oxide] Barrier layers on PET,” and David Levy of Eastman Kodak Co., for “Spatial Atomic Layer Deposition: High-Quality Films on Continuous Substrates,” demonstrated in different ways how atomic layer deposition can be used beyond a laboratory pilot coater on either a vacuum roll or air roll coater.

Winner of the Web Coating/Laminating award went to Gary Samuels of Dunmore Corp. for his presentation on “Production Improvements to Increase Profitability with an Emphasis on Set-Up Reduction/5s, Process.” Judges noted how he demonstrated the applicability of 5s by providing clear instruction on how to move forward on the path toward lean manufacturing and Six Sigma using the 5s process. This award also gave due credit to this first-time ever presenter.

Runner up in Web Coating/Laminating was Mark Fehlmann of Madico for “RTO [Recuperative Thermal Oxidizer] Upgrade Provides Cost Savings and Performance Improvements.” He provided a classical road map, said judges, beyond his previous work to show how to effect improvement from upgraded pollution abatement equipment to both improve the process controls and reduce operational costs.

John Matteucci, in whose honor these awards are presented, was recognized around the world as a leader in the field of vacuum coatings. His inspiration to both AIMCAL Conferences and the International Conference on Vacuum Coating led to a special monetary award being given to the authors of the best paper in each of the Web Coating and the Vacuum Web Coating sessions. Each paper is evaluated for breadth of the subject, technical content, presentation style, and future impact on the technology or marketplace.