Dear PMSE Members:

Washington D.C. our Nation's capital as well as home to the American Chemical Society Headquarters will be an exciting venue for the 238th National Meeting and Exposition to be held from August 16-20, 2009. The programming committee members, as well as the symposium organizers, have assembled a very stellar program. I hope that you are able to attend and participate in what will be an exciting meeting. If you are not able to attend I am certain that you will find the contents of this CD to be a valuable resource for what is currently happening in several frontiers in Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering.

The Tess Award is presented annually by the Division of Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering in recognition of outstanding contributions to coatings science and technology. It is funded by a grant to the Division from Dr. and Mrs. Roy W. Tess. The purpose of the award is to encourage interest and progress in coatings science technology and engineering and to recognize significant contributions to the field. The Award consists of a plaque and a $3000 cash prize. Dr. Christian Decker, Director of Research at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Strasbourg, France will receive the Roy W. Tess Award in Coatings for 2009 at the DC Meeting. Dr. Decker is recognized as one of the world's leading experts in the area of radiation-induced reactions in polymeric materials. His main research interests are in ultrafast light-induced polymerizations, the synthesis and characterization of UV-cured coatings and nanocomposite materials, photostabilization of polymers, and laser-assisted chemical processing of polymers. Dr. Decker received his MS degree in Chemical Sciences from the University of Strasbourg in 1960, Engineering degree from Ecole National Superieure de Chimie de Strasbourg in 1961and then became an attaché de recherché at the CNRS in 1962. He received the Doctorate degree in Physical Sciences from the University of Strasbourg in 1967. He has been working at the Research Center on Macromolecules of Strasbourg and at Stanford Research in California. In 1975 Professor Decker joined the University of Haute Alsace and became Head of the Polymer Photochemistry Laboratory at the Ecole Nationale Superieure de Chimie de Mulhouse. One of Dr. Decker's main research interests have included novel highly reactive acrylate monomers which contain cyclic carbamate or cyclic carbonate moiety and when used as reactive diluents in UV curable resins undergo polymerization 5 times as fast as conventional monoacrylates as well as improve the mechanical properties of the UV cured polymers. He also demonstrated that acrylic resins can be hardened quasi-instantly by simple exposure to an intense UV laser beam. This process has lead to a number of commercial industrial applications including the build up of complex 3-dimensional objects. He also has been involved with developing Real-Time Infrared Spectroscopy to follow in-situ ultrafast polymerizations induced by light or lasers. He also has been involved in photostabilization of polymers with UV-cured polyurethane-acrylate coatings to improve the outdoor durability of such polymer materials as PVC, polycarbonates, wood panels and painted metals. Dr. Decker also has used UV-curing of nanocomposite polymers with as little as 3wt% clay nanoparticles at ambient temperatures to improve barrier and mechanical properties which is of value in floor finishing and furniture applications. Most of the work carried out by Dr. Decker and his team has been in close collaboration with many industrial partners.

The Division in conjunction with our colleagues in the POLY Division is conducting an experiment with the Poster presentation in D.C. There will not be an evening Poster Session as has been the tradition in the past. Rather there will be poster sessions held in conjunction with the morning and afternoon technical sessions. The location of these poster sessions will be at the same venue as the technical (oral) presentations. This will allow for greater interaction between those presenting posters and both PMSE and POLY members and the broader audience that is attracted to the talks. As with any first time event, there are likely to be a few hiccups in the process. We welcome any and all feedback, as we refine this process to achieve greater discussion and interaction amongst all attendees.

The D.C. meeting has a full program of exciting programming. A listing of the symposia is given below: