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COURSE HISTORY

The 47th Annual Short Course
Advances in Emulsion Polymerization
and Latex Technology

The Course “Advances in Emulsion Polymerization and Latex Technology” was established at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania by Professor Gary Poehlein in June, 1970. The Course has been held at Lehigh University every June since, with Professor Mohamed El-Aasser of Lehigh University as its organizer and director following the departure of Professor Poehlein to Georgia Institute of Technology in 1978
In 1978, after noting that many course participants were coming to the Lehigh Course from Europe, the organizers (Professors Poehlein and El Aasser) decided to offer the Course a second time each year in Europe. With the help of Dr. Frank Bonner of ETH in Zurich, they settled on the Swiss ski village of Davos. The first offering of the Swiss version of the Course was in August, 1978, and the Course has been offered every August since. The Swiss Course has always been held in Davos with the exception of 2013 when it was held in Gstaad, Switzerland while the Grandhotel Belvédère Davos was being renovated. Since 1996, the course has been organized and co-directed by Professor El Aasser and Professor F. Joseph Schork of the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Until 1996, the Course was held at the Hotel Schatzalp, a historic tuberculosis hospital turned ski hotel made famous in the book “The Magic Mountain” by Thomas Mann. Since then, the course has been held at the Cresta Sun Hotel, the Hotel Flüela, and, since 2002 (with the exception of 2013), at the Grandhotel Belvédère. In addition to hosting the World Economic Forum every year, the Grandhotel Belvédère, in its over 140 year history has hosted such celebrities as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (author of the Sherlock Holmes stories) and Robert Lewis Stevenson (“Treasure Island”, etc.).
Since 1970, an estimated 5,000 – 6,000 scientists and engineers have participated with the Lehigh or Swiss offerings of the Course. Participants for both Courses come from around the Globe. Current and former lecturers for the Swiss Course include:
          Dr. David R. Bassett, Director of Research, UCAR Emulsion Systems
          Dr. Frank Bonner, ETH, Zurich
          Dr. Edward A. Collins, Associate Director, Materials with SDS Biotech Corporation
                     and Diamond Shamrock Corporation
          Dr. Michael Cunningham, Professor of Chemical Engineering, Queens University, Kingston, Ontario
          Dr. Eric S. Daniels, Principal Research Scientist
                     and Executive Director, Emulsion Polymers Institute, Lehigh University.
          Dr. Mohamed S. El-Aasser, Professor of Chemical Engineering
                     and former Director of the Emulsion Polymers Institute, Lehigh University
          Dr. Andrew Klein, Professor of Chemical Engineering, Lehigh University
          Dr. Do Ik Lee, Senior Scientist, Dow Chemical Company
          Dr. Peter A. Lovell, Professor of Polymer Science in the School of Materials, University of Manchester, UK
          Dr. Anthony McHugh, Professor of Chemical Engineering, Lehigh University
          Dr. Gary W. Poehlein, Professor of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
                    and former Co-Director of the Emulsion Polymers Institute, Lehigh University
          Dr. Bernd Reck, Vice President, BASF
          Dr. F. Joseph Schork, Professor of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
          Dr. Cesar A. Silebi, Professor of Chemical Engineering, Lehigh University
          Dr. David Sudol, Principal Research Engineer, Emulsion Polymers Institute, Lehigh University
          Dr. James W. Taylor, Principal Scientist, BASF
          Dr. John W. Vanderhoff, Professor of Chemistry
                     and former Co-Director of the Emulsion Polymers Institute, Lehigh University