Above: (left to right) Chief executive Brian Norton and project scientist Dr Violaine Mendez (both at Indestructible Paint Ltd) and Paul Holder, IMF vice-president.
Courtesy Indestructible Paint
 
She received the Canning Bi-Centenary Award from the Institute of Materials Finishing (IMF) at its annual general meeting in Solihull on 19th November. The IMF gives the award each year for the best practical paper published in its official publication ‘Transactions’.

 
Her research paper ‘Anticorrosive chromium-free primers for aluminium alloys: application in the aerospace industry’ was published last November.
 
Indestructible Paint’s ongoing research and development work on chrome-free coatings is helping industry to comply with REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and restriction of Chemicals) legislation in the UK and EU. The legislation regulates and aims to reduce use of a wide range of substances that can be harmful to the environment and to human health.
 
Removing chromium from coatings for safety-critical aerospace components is a complex, long-term challenge for the aerospace industry because of the extreme conditions in which the components operate.
 
Violaine said she was “honoured and grateful” to receive the award for her paper from IMF vice-president Paul Holder, who commented:
 
“The Transactions journal is an important part of our mission to share new knowledge with professional surface engineering and finishing companies, and papers like Violaine’s contribute to developments across our whole industry. It has been an honour to present her with her award.” 
 
Since Violaine’s paper was published, Indestructible Paint has continued to test its chrome-free primers and water-based pre-treatments, and it has extended resistance to salt spray by more than 1,000 hours. The company is also working on new versions for different alloys.