Life as Science: Reflection on Plasmatreat’s Open/House & Surface TechDays

Since my days in grammar school, I have been fascinated by chemistry.  Watching two colorless liquids combine to produce a beautifully colored solid, bubbling volcano, on something that explodes was exhilarating.  Magical.

 

Now as work allows me to see some of the great technological advances going on in the world I am still awestruck by the magic of chemistry.  At it’s essence what we do with plasma surface treatment is really a story about changing the chemistry of surfaces to make magical things happen. We make things adhere that would not stick before, or deposit a coating a few molecules thick that stop corrosion.

 

I also get to work with many of the brightest and most talented chemists in the automotive, aerospace, medical device, and electronics industry.  Some of these folks were part of the 150-strong group that participated in our recent Silicon Valley Open House and Surface TechDays in Hayward, California.

 

It was a technology packed two-day event with 18 technical presentations touching on everything from how plasma is enabling engineers to make better giant airplane wings to tiny laboratories on a chip. In addition to these talks, a dozen laboratory demonstrations allowed visitors to see how plasma can enable new applications up close.

 

But what also impressed me was the chemistry happening at the event itself.

 

In the crucible of the applications lab, using the energy of the group, with Plasmatreat’s technology as a catalyst — experts in chemistry, physics, plastics, metals, and composites mixed together.  And this mixture produced a number of exciting new ideas.

 

They say that greatest creative insights come from the synthesis of relatively well understood ideas.  That was certainly true for those at Surface TechDays.

 

I look forward to sharing some of the specific technology and insights with you in upcoming blogs and our plan to organize another Surface TechDays event in another location soon. For now, I wish to thank our industry partners for help proving the the active ingredients that produced such a great reaction in Hayward.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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