UWEC works with WPC on defense contract

July 22, 2024

EAU CLAIRE – The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (UWEC) students and faculty are collaborating with WPC Technologies on a Department of Defense contract to develop a more environmentally friendly, anti-corrosive product for use in military equipment.

WPC – which develops and manufactures high-performance pigments and additives for the paint and coatings industry – received the project’s primary contract and selected UWEC for the two-year, $231,709 government subcontract, which was received by Deidra Gerlach, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry.

Brent St. John, chairman/CEO of WPC Technologies, said the contract calls for WPC to develop a pigment that can be applied to steel and other types of aluminum to improve the longevity and reliability of military equipment.

St. John said UWEC is a good partner for the project because the university has the testing equipment for chemical analysis and is educating student chemists on the company’s quality control testing protocols.

Undergraduate students at the university are tasked with testing and optimizing a mixture that uses WPC’s newest anti-corrosive pigments to meet company and government standards.

“There are many properties of the formulation needed to meet qualifications necessary for sea- and aircraft,” Gerlach said. “Students will be part of identifying the variables that will produce a viable formulation for the new anti-corrosive pigments.”

UWEC and WPC are six months into the two-year project.