ANO-TALK: All Things Anodizing

Pinakin Patel on Mid-Temperature Sealing  Our hosts, George Oh of Quaker Houghton and Tej Patel of Techevon, talk with anodizing industry expert Pinakin Patel, owner of Techevon LLC, a global anodizing chemistry supplier in Chicago, IL. Pinakin explains what mid-temperature seals are, the types of mid-temperature seals, his patent on sealing of aluminum oxide, nickel-free mid-temp seals, types of...

2023 Anodizing Conference Preview George Oh of Quaker Houghton and Co-Chair of the AAC Education Committee, Tej Patel of Techevon, and Mark Spencer of AaCron Anodizing talk with AAC President Jeff Henderson about what to look forward to at the 32 nd  Annual Anodizing Conference & Exposition, October 9-12, 2023 in Bellevue/Seattle, Washington. Listen to this episode to get a feel for what to expect...

Heavy Metal-free Dyes  Mahe Chandrasekaran, Chemical Engineer with Techevon, LLC, joins our hosts George Oh, R&D Senior Chemist with Quaker Houghton and Tej Patel, Director with Techevon, to discuss which heavy metals show up in the anodizing industry, heavy metal-free dyes, why use metals in dyes compared to metal-free dyes, which heavy metals are used in dyes for the anodizing industry, and the...

The Environmentally Friendly Anodizing Line Rob Pawson of Haviland Products talks with Mark, George, and Tej about creating an anodizing line that is environmentally friendly. PFAS regulations, dealing with other city, state and federal water regulations, the cost for installing scrubbers, and solutions for water discharge treatment are covered. Rob discusses how chemical manufacturers are continu...

Promoting Careers in the Anodizing Industry Kevin Janis, Business Development Manager for Reliant Aluminum Products, talks with hosts George Oh and Mark Spencer about his career path versus his expectations, challenges in hiring for the anodizing industry, what might attract young people to the industry, doing more to share information about the beauty of anodizing, and more.

Meet the Industry Figure: Kevin Janis, Reliant Aluminum Products Our podcast hosts, Mark Spencer, George Oh and Tej Patel, talk with Kevin Janis, Business Development Manager for Reliant Aluminum Products to learn more about his 25-year career in the aluminum finishing industry. Kevin's background as a lawyer, his love of college football at his alma mater University of Wisconsin, his experience w...

Dan Bishopp, Quaker Houghton, on Acid Etch Dan Bishopp, Regional Sales Manager for Quaker Houghton, discusses his start in the aluminum extrusion industry and his eventual move into the anodizing line in the 1980s with Bonnell Aluminum in Kentland, Indiana with our hosts Mark Spencer and George Oh. He discusses his career trajectory from line worker to Process Improvement Manager with Bonnell Alum...

Meet the Industry Figure: Rob Pawson Rob Pawson, Vice President of Haviland Products in Grand Rapid, Michigan, talks with our hosts about his company, the anodizing industry, the benefits of membership and committee involvement in the Aluminum Anodizers Council, as well as Rob's longevity in the industry.

Bill Zahner and Aluminum Anodizing President & CEO of A. Zahner Company, Bill Zahner, talks with our hosts to tell us a little about his background, and his company. The company, founded in 1887, is a pioneer in architectural metal fabrication, engineering and installation. Bill, a prolific writer, talks about the lack of knowledge of architectural metals during the research of his first book. The...

Sequel Anodizing Racks Get into the details about anodizing racking with Kyle and Peter Schumer of Sequel Anodizing Racks, a 35-year-old family-owned and operated racking company in Minnesota. Kyle and Peter talk with our hosts about their career paths and how they landed in the anodizing industry, their approach to sales, experiences at the AAC Anodizing Conference, idiosyncrasies of anodizing ra...

Tej Patel of Techevon, Mark Spencer of AaCron Anodizing , George Oh of Quaker Houghton, and special guest Pinakin Patel of Techevon talk about the differences between anodizing and painting aluminum and why anodizing is actually a superior coating . The guys discuss why paints are used instead of anodizing and vice versa, the durability of both methods, benefits and drawbacks for anodizing and pai...

Meet the Industry Figure – Dawn Purucker   Learn a little bit about Dawn Purucker, Environmental, Health and Safety Director for Bonnell Aluminum in Niles, Michigan, including how she started in the anodizing industry, her career and educational background, what she likes to do in her spare time when she's not leading the safety program at Bonnell Aluminum, how she feels about Charlie Brown, and m...

Safety in the Anodizing Industry   Dawn Purucker, Environmental, Health and Safety Director for Bonnell Aluminum in Niles, Michigan, talks with podcast hosts George Oh and Tej Patel, about safety - specifically in the anodizing industry. In this fun and engaging episode, Dawn discusses her approach to safety at Bonnell Aluminum and the success she has had with reducing injuries, the types of safet...

Non-Nickel Sealing   Pinakin Patel, Founder and President of Techevon LLC , with decades of experience in the anodizing industry, talks about the different anodizing sealing methods – and focuses specifically on non-nickel sealing – in this episode of ANO-Talk: All Things Anodizing. He talks with our hosts, George Oh, Mark Spencer and Tej Patel about this mid-temperature range (180-200 degrees F/8...

Scott Walker is Regional Vice President for Products Finishing magazine and a Professional Member of the Aluminum Anodizers Council. Hear how Scott got his start in the metals industry publishing world and where his career took him before he landed at Products Finishing. Tej Patel and George Oh talk with Scott about AAC, his involvement with the Council, and what Products Finishing offers the anod...

Learn a little more about the Aluminum Anodizers Council's first female Chairperson, Jeanette Courtney, Division Environmental, Health and Safety Director for Bonnell Aluminum. Jeanette talks with hosts George Oh of Quaker Houghton and Tej Patel of Techevon LLC to discuss how she got her start in the anodizing industry, what drew her to the field of EHS, how she views her role as AAC's Chair, and...

Our hosts, George Oh, Tej Patel, and Mark Spencer, hold an engaging roundtable discussion on the finer points of Type-II Anodizing. Highlights include, what is Type-II Anodizing, what happens during the Type-II Anodizing process, what happens when it's not done properly, the dangers of sulfuric acid, the differences between various types of anodizing, as well as anodizing versus plating, how alumi...

AAC's legal counsel Charlie Simmons discusses his most recent semi-annual Regulatory Report with podcast hosts Mark Spencer, Tej Patel and George Oh. Charlie covers what is in the infrastructure bill making its way through Congress, new trends in PFAS litigation, California's plans to phase out hex-chrome in metal finishing, intellectual property news, and more in this informative episode.

Meeting the Industry Figure: Charles Simmons Charles "Charlie" Simmons is the Aluminum Anodizers Council's Environmental & Regulatory counsel, based in Washington, D.C.. Charlie is the author of AAC's semi-annual Environmental & Regulatory Report where he addresses the important topics that anodizers should know or be concerned about – including the latest environmental, regulatory and legislative...

Our hosts Tej Patel, George Oh and Mark Spencer talk with Techevon founder and President Pinakin Patel to learn more about organic dyeing. The science of organic dyes, the process challenges of creating color anodized aluminum, key factors to consider when selecting organic dyes, the impact of recent raw materials availability and price increases on the anodizing industry, and more are shared in t...

The Aluminum Anodizers Council will be conducting two Anodizing Workshops in conjunction with the Aluminum Summit this September – the Quality & Troubleshooting Workshop and the Advanced Anodizing Class. George Oh talks with Tej Patel about what students will learn, who should attend, the value and details of the programs. 

George Oh and Tej Patel highlight some of the sessions at the upcoming Aluminum Summit in Nashville this September. Get a sneak peak and hear some of the highlights from two AAC members that are involved in planning the anodizing side of the conference and participating as speakers this year.  

Hear more about the Aluminum Summit – the collocated event of the AAC Anodizing Conference and the Aluminum Extruders Council's Management Conference – scheduled for September 14-16, 2021 in Nashville, Tennessee. Tej Patel, George Oh, and Mark Spencer discuss who should attend, why attend and what you can expect from the program.

Mark Spencer, George Oh and Tej Patel talk with Pinakin Patel, founder and President of Techevon LLC, and a founding member of the Aluminum Anodizers Council, about his career, his passions, some history of the anodizing industry, and more.

Steps of Anodizing Mark Spencer, George Oh and Tej Patel talk with Jack Tetrault, President of Sanford Process Corporation, to explore the various steps that are needed for anodizing. Starting with racking and cleaning through to the sealing step, Jack explains the function and importance of each step in the anodizing process, plus much more.