visiting partners from industry
and academia.
Themed “In touch with
“The CIC will open up a new dimension in the way Clariant connects
its R&D departments internally as well
as how Clariant engages external partners,” said Martin Vollmer, chief technology officer. “Within the CIC we have
established an ‘Open Lab’ in order to
work on innovation projects with customers and other development partners
under one roof. This will enable us to
translate market needs into innovative
product solutions in a fast, flexible and
efficient way.”
Cabot’s Aerogel Technology
Receives ICIS Innovation
Award for 2013
Cabot Corporation has been designated
the winner of Best Overall Innovation
and Innovation with Best Environmental
Benefit at the tenth annual ICIS
Innovation Awards 2013 for its Cabot
aerogel technology for use in eco-friendly building and construction.
The ICIS judging panel of leading industry experts recognized Cabot’s use of
open innovation and extensive collaborations to bring to market a technology
that is poised to have a dramatic impact
on improving energy efficiency, reducing
carbon footprints and reducing building energy costs in buildings around the
world. Cabot’s aerogel technology is
currently being used in a range of commercial and residential building and
construction products including plasters, boards, day lighting systems, tensile
roofing and coatings. These aerogel-containing products are key enablers in
meeting even the most stringent regional
and industry building energy standards
and codes, the company reports.
Created in 2004, the ICIS Innovation
Awards are designed to recognize com-
panies that have made significant steps
forward in technological and business
innovation, with tangible results. The
awards cover five categories: Innovation
with Best Environmental Benefit, Best
Product Innovation, Best Innovation
for Sustainability, Best Innovation by
an SME, and Best Business Innovation.
They are open to companies around the
world, reflecting ICIS’s global coverage
of the industry. ICIS magazine is one
of the leading global providers of news
and information for the chemical and
energy sectors.
Momentive Collaborates
with Kanoria to Construct
Phenolic Specialty Resins
Plant in India
Momentive Specialty Chemicals
Inc. recently signed a non-binding
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
with Kanoria Chemicals and Industries
Limited to form a joint venture that
would construct a new phenolic specialty
resins plant in India at Kanoria’s existing
production facility at Visakhapatnam,
Andhra Pradesh.
In addition, under the agreement, for
a cash consideration, Kanoria would
transfer its currently existing manufacturing facility in Visakhapatnam
to the proposed JV, while Momentive
Specialty Chemicals would provide
technology supporting its specialty
phenolic resins, formaldehyde and
hexamine businesses, as well as its
current business in India, to the JV. It
is envisioned that both parties would
have equal ownership of the JV. Under
the MOU, the companies will work to
identify and evaluate additional growth
opportunities for specialty chemicals
in such vertical markets as automotive,
industrial and construction.
The non-binding MOU is just a first
step in the process of setting up the contemplated JV, outlining the main principles around which the JV should be
structured, although both parties are
