In the final year of Coatings+, SSPC: The Society for Protective Coatings will honor its 2021 individual award recipients at a special awards lunch on Monday, Dec. 13. The SSPC Honorary Life Member Award, which recognizes the extraordinary contributions and long-term activity on behalf of SSPC, went to Bob McMurdy, business development consultant. McMurdy has more than 40 years of experience in the protective coatings industry, including time as an SSPC member for over 30 years. He has spent the last 16 years on the SSPC Board of Governors and is an SSPC Past President.
The majority of his career was spent with Schmidt Manufacturing, a global leader in the manufacturing and distribution of surface preparation equipment. The training, education, and advancement of industry craft workers, technicians, and contractors has always been a focus and passion of McMurdy, and it continues today.
Meanwhile, the Women in Coatings Impact Award recognizes women who have contributed to creating a positive impact on the culture of the coatings industry. In 2021, that award went to Joyce Wright of Huntington Ingalls Industries – Newport News Shipbuilding (HII-NNS). Her career literally began in the bilge of a ship as a painter’s helper, and she has been a leader in numerous aspects of the coatings business during her 42-year tenure.
At HII-NNS today, she continues to seek out new technologies and support the transformation of coating processes and training needs across all programs. She has been part of SSPC for over 20 years, has conducted training, certification, and education courses; and was voted on the board as a Director in 2015. She was the first woman to serve as President for the SSPC Board of Directors and also the last, as she continues to be part of the newly merged organization, AMPP. She is currently Chair for the AMPP Global Center Board of Directors.
Finally, the John D. Keane Award of Merit is named for SSPC's executive director from 1957 to 1984 and is intended to acknowledge outstanding leadership and significant contribution to the development of the protective coatings industry and to SSPC. Ingle is the technical warrant holder for coatings and corrosion control at the U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA). He has 24 years of experience working for NAVSEA in coatings, corrosion control, and non-metallic materials.
Before joining NAVSEA, Ingle worked for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as the metal products and machinery project manager and was a senior engineer for Corrpro Companies, Ocean City Research. He is a registered professional metallurgical engineer in Pennsylvania, and he previously received the Hileman Award at 2017 MegaRust and was the U.S Army Corps of Engineers’ Federal Engineer of the Year in 2011. He holds degrees in materials science and metallurgical engineering from Lehigh University and Lafayette College, respectively.
For more information on all of the 2021 individual and structure awards recipients, visit www.sspc.org/coatings-2021-awards.