AkzoNobel has named Graeme Armstrong as managing director, surface chemistry, and country director for North America.

Watch VIDEO of new development in the London Bridge quarter that is now the tallest building in Western Europe.

AkzoNobel’s chief executive, Hans Wijers, will resign after the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in 2012.

Manufacturers hurry to meet DoD specs

AkzoNobel has opened a new research laboratory in Deventer, Netherlands, housing more than 200 researchers from its Research, Development and Innovation (RD&I) organization.

AkzoNobel has opened a dedicated polymer research laboratory at its AkzoNobel Powder Coatings site in Felling, Gateshead, UK.

AkzoNobel Powder Coatings has expanded its offerings to the construction industry from its Europe West business.

The company’s Interpon M1000 – AA0037, a high-performance epoxy powder primer, was recently approved at the Army Research Laboratory in Aberdeen, MD for Chemical Agent Resistant Coatings (CARC) military applications.

Three major industry award competitions—SPE Automotive Innovation Awards, SPE Thermoforming Awards, and SEMA—have recently awarded the top prize to a part, or a vehicle containing parts, made with AkzoNobel's Soliant Fluorex bright film.

Berol CLF by AkzoNobel is a synergistic surfactant blend that provides low-foaming, water-based degreasing performance that is superior in many cases to solvent-based cleaning formulations, but without the VOC hazard, the company says.