Moderator: Dr.-Ing. Martin Engels (Global Process Engineer Deco & Sports, IHI Ionbond Group, The Netherlands)

Event Description: Decorative Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) coatings have been a growing market for decades and the number of applications, as well as the request for new colors, are still growing. The markets which are being addressed range from sanitary parts to automotive interior/exterior or luxury articles like watches or golf clubs, and of course numerous other articles which can be coated.

The application of a decorative PVD coating not only gives parts a special appearance but also improves the wear resistance and therefore durability significantly. In the past, interest and availability were mainly focused on grey scale colors ranging from light silver to deep black or bright colors in the range of light gold to copper or brass. Nowadays, additional to the classic features of decorative PVD coatings, the interest of customers is expanding to more special colors like blue, green, dark brown, etc. Other than that, there is a significantly rising demand for additional properties like corrosion protection as well as easy-to-clean or anti-fingerprint behavior. However, new colors and coating properties are also arising with new challenges for the production of a decorative PVD coating. These might range from the need for novel process technology like HiPIMS to additional process steps.

In order to give the TechCon participants a deeper insight into the unique world of decorative coatings and their trends and challenges as well as ideas to address them, we have gathered a team of experts, who will cover a range from coating machine manufacturers, process simulation, and job coaters. Our panelists will start with a brief introduction of themselves and their companies. This will be followed by insights on the history of decorative PVD, the present state of the art and their vision about the future of decorative coatings. The audience is highly welcome to interactively discuss questions and to share experiences with our panelists and will have the unique opportunity to connect with the experts for further cooperation and knowledge exchange.

Panelists:

• M.Sc. Bryce Anton (Director of Technology, Vapor Technologies, Inc.)
• Dr. Ton Hurkmans (Chief Technology Officer - CTO, IHI Ionbond Group)
• Brian T. Nevill (President & Owner, West Coast PVD, Inc.)
• M.Sc. Chinmay Trivedi (Process Technology Manager, IHI Hauzer Techno Coating B.V., The Netherlands)
• Francesca Marchetti (Process Engineer - R&D, Protec Surface Technologies, Italy)