Surface Solutions Group names successor for retiring president

George Osterhout is retiring as president at Surface Solutions Group (SSG). [Photo courtesy of SSG]

Medtech coatings supplier Surface Solutions Group (SSG) recently announced the retirement of President George Osterhout and named his successor.

Kevin Hess, formerly an SSG VP, now serves as president of SSG and sister companies Orion Industries and Dimension Bond.

Osterhout is retiring after a 48-year career in the functional coatings industry, including 25 years with SSG. The company credited him with playing a “pivotal role in the formation of SSG to focus exclusively on serving the medical device market” and said he was “instrumental in taking SSG to new heights, fostering strategic partnerships with customers and suppliers, and driving continuous growth.”

With Osterhout as president, the company said, SSG secured ISO 13485 certification, …

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  • July 10, 2023
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Sustainable coating demand is changing medical device design and manufacturing

Coated needles [Photo courtesy of Surface Solutions Group]

‘Forever chemical’ replacements are on the way thanks to sustainable coating research and collaboration.

By George Osterhout, Surface Solutions Group

Fluoropolymers are getting a bad name.

For more than a decade, perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) used to manufacture polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) coatings for the medical device industry have been highly scrutinized by regulatory agencies including the EPA and the EU Medical Device Regulation (MDR).

In 2010, the EPA recommended the elimination of PFOA in all PTFE coatings by 2015, including those used for medical devices. PTFE coatings are used for guidewires, mandrels, hypotubes, coil wires and needles. Since then, PTFE manufacturing companies have turned to short-chain perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as an alternati…

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  • May 11, 2023
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