Walk into any room, look out any window, and you will see coatings everywhere. On walls, on cars, on bridges, on the kitchen cabinets. Yet most people never think about the chemistry that makes those surfaces look beautiful and last for decades. Dr. Robert Roop, Chief Technology Officer at Axalta Coating Systems, leads a team of chemists, engineers, and scientists who quite literally create new molecules to solve customer problems. The company just won a record six BIG Innovation Awards, recognition that Dr. Roop says reflects not just his R&D team but an entire organization aligned around customer-centric innovation.
More Than Paint
For a company with more than 160 years of history, Axalta operates at the cutting edge of material science. The coatings they develop serve remarkably diverse markets including automotive refinish, light and commercial vehicles, and various industrial applications. What connects these markets is a common set of needs: customers want things to look beautiful, last longer, and, meet sustainability targets.
Dr. Roop emphasizes that his team's job is fundamentally about solving customer problems. The commercial and product management organizations stay deeply connected to market needs, and when they hear that someone wants a coating to go better, faster, or stronger in some dimension, the R&D team applies chemistry and material science to deliver solutions. Sometimes that means creating entirely new polymer systems that did not exist before.
The chemistry behind modern coatings is genuinely sophisticated. Dr. Roop notes that his synthesis chemists create resin and polymer systems that most people would simply call plastic, but these materials deliver what he describes as magical performance, enabling coatings to cure at lower temperatures, dry faster, or achieve durability in fewer layers. The work is actually more complicated than synthesizing drugs, he suggests, because these polymer systems must perform across so many different dimensions simultaneously.
No Compromise Sustainability
Axalta has embraced what it calls “no-compromise sustainability”, a philosophy that acknowledges a fundamental truth about their customers: they want it all. A customer will ask for fantastic appearance, excellent durability, and sustainable chemistry, but they will not accept tradeoffs. A conversation that starts with offering a really sustainable coating that does not perform well does not end well for anybody.
The good news, according to Dr. Roop, is that performance and sustainability are genuinely not at odds with each other. When the team develops coatings that cure at 90 degrees Celsius instead of 140 degrees, customers see massive energy savings while also reducing their carbon footprint significantly. When waterborne formulations replace solvent-based alternatives, VOC emissions drop by as much as 65 percent, improving overall performance.
Several specific innovations demonstrate this principle. Powder coatings eliminate volatile organic compounds entirely. Low energy cure systems reduce the heat required for drying. Multi-layer systems that once required six or seven coats now achieve the same aesthetics and durability in just two. Each of these advances delivers customer value while moving the needle on sustainability metrics mandated by their own customers and regulators.
According to the American Coatings Association, the industry has reduced VOC emissions by more than 60 percent over the past three decades while maintaining or improving product performance (https://www.paint.org/issues/environmental/). Axalta's innovations contribute to and extend this trajectory.
Electrification Opens New Frontiers
The automotive industry transformation toward electrification creates entirely new applications for high performance coatings. Even traditional internal combustion vehicles are changing rapidly, with sensors appearing all over the exterior for automation and autonomous driving features. Axalta provides coatings that allow these sensors to function properly and remain repairable when vehicles need refinishing.
Battery electric vehicles introduce a whole new world beneath the surface. Electric motors contain coatings that improve efficiency, allowing manufacturers to use smaller motors that extend vehicle range. The battery enclosures require protection against heat and potential thermal events, addressed by products like Axalta's Alesta® e-Pro FGBlack flame guard coating. Inside the battery packs, thermal management coatings help conduct heat away from cells to maintain optimal operating temperatures.
The electrification opportunity extends well beyond passenger vehicles. Commercial vehicles, charging infrastructure, stationary battery storage, renewable energy equipment, and countless other applications all require coatings that can manage heat, provide electrical insulation, and maintain performance under demanding conditions. Wind turbines have generators and transformers at the top that need cooling, lubrication, and insulation. Solar installations face similar requirements. As Dr. Roop observes, the company is really just scratching the surface of opportunities in these emerging markets.
The Culture Behind Six Awards
Winning six BIG Innovation Awards in a single year represents a historic achievement for Axalta, and Dr. Roop is careful to credit the broader organization rather than just his R&D team. Under what the company calls the ONE Axalta umbrella, teams work cross-functionally across businesses and functions. When marketing and sales organizations hear customer needs, the communication to R&D is instantaneous, and the scientists begin thinking about how to manipulate formulations or components to deliver solutions.
This connectivity and cross-functional approach creates what Dr. Roop describes as a well-oiled machine that continues to drive innovation for customers. The recognition matters particularly because the innovations are real and commercialized, not just concepts in a laboratory. The Alesta® e-Pro FG Black coating appears on battery enclosures in vehicles on the road today. Look underneath an EV and you will see that black coating on the battery box. The award-winning refinish Spies Hecker Permahyd® Hi-TEC 8260 Premium Waterborne Clearcoat, is being applied in body shops right now.
Dr. Roop appreciates recognition for applied innovation that changes real lives rather than purely academic achievements. The products his team develops protect vehicles from corrosion, extend the lifespan of infrastructure, and enable the energy transition that will reshape transportation and power generation for decades to come.
AI Accelerates the Innovation Cycle
Artificial intelligence has already become an important tool for Axalta's innovation efforts, particularly in color science. The company has used AI and machine learning for years to manage and understand color reproduction, a critical capability for both original equipment applications and the refinish market where the goal is to recreate a color so precisely that repairs become invisible.
The tools are expanding rapidly into formulation development. When customers need adjustments, such as a viscosity change to address application issues, AI can accelerate problem solving dramatically. When the same problem appears in multiple locations around the world, solutions can be developed once and deployed globally rather than solved independently at each site.
Looking ahead, Dr. Roop sees megatrends like electrification and automation driving innovation investments over five to ten year horizons. The challenge is starting to develop solutions now for problems that will emerge in three, five, or seven years. Companies that wait until customer needs become urgent will find themselves behind the curve, and, unable to catch up with competitors who anticipated the trajectory, leaving them at a competitive disadvantage.
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