Congratulations on your success, Susan!

Because protective coatings is not a new science, many ideas have already been tried and failed, or tried and tried again until sucess. I believe your success is more likely to come from the materials side of coatings rather than the application equipment side. But be aware the sides are dependent on each other.

The future of protective coatings will include extended service coatings for polymeric substrates, coatings that forms ionic bonds with the substrate and coatings with little or no volatile organic solvents.

Brent Bergman
Techno Coatings, Inc.

My suggestion would be to get involved in the various coatings industry professional associations, such as the Thermal Spray Society, AESF (soon to be NASF, the National Association of Surface Finishers), and the Society of Vacuum Coaters.  As chair of the ASM International Surface Engineering Committee, I can tell you that all of these societies are looking for energetic young scientists and engineers to participate in their programs.  We do a good job of getting old farts (e.g., me) involved, but fall down on bringing in new talent.  By getting involved, you'll be able to keep up with the state of the art, learn new things, and maybe even branch into other disciplines.

Jim Treglio
Molecular Metallurgy, Inc.

Agree with Technowest about the growing importance of ionic bonding. The need for recyclable thermo-sets will only grow.

Involving yourself in professional associations, as JTreglio mentioned is not only needful, it is great advise as a career move.

Some raw material suppliers websites do a better job of making their literature easily accessible than others.
Sartomer, Hexion, Air Products, DuPont and Huntsman are all very good.

Acquire a good understanding of surfactants, wetting, air release, spreading coefficients, etc. Keep an eye open to the on-going developement of gemini surfactants.

Learn about solvent blends and solubility parameters (forwards and backwards), I my humble opinion they still have usefulness as surface-tension co-modifiers.

Learn about rheology and fillers, Cabot has some worthwhile material on their website.

Bayer's knowledge base about polyurethanes is extensive.

If you google a subject and get patents in your search result, have a look. Sometimes they can really get the creative juices flowing. Read the Abstract, the Summary and what is Claimed as the invention. If it sounds interesting only then delve into the very dry discription.

Don't be so narrow of focus that you fail to look at what the R&D people are doing with monomers in Dentistry, Macroscopy, Art and Building conservation. They blog just like us.

Learn which books represent the classic tombs of your field.

Don't pirate others work, use the hood, practice good industrial hygiene and don't forget what fresh air smells like. Becareful who you discuss your work with and what you share. Finally, if you work on a product, formula or invention and use your employers facilities and resources, even while off the clock they pretty much own the idea.
This is important to understand if you someday strike out on your own.

First, congratulations on joining our industry!

The momentum of our industry always presents opportunities. I agree with the previous posts to join associations to keep updated with current issues. These issues often present opportunities, such as EPA regulations, OSHA regulations, etc. For example, the recent hexavalent chromium exposure limits have sparked interest in hex alternatives for chrome plating, zinc chromate conversion coatings, aluminum chromating alternatives, etc. Also, the topic of allergenic nickel has created interest in alternatives to nickel, such as white bronze plating. Another, as stated previously, is the increase in VOC regulations, causing research in low to zero VOC formulations. Keeping informed of areas of increased regulation can present many opportunities.