Cooperation between Bayer MaterialScience, Bayer Technology Services, and RWTH Aachen

                     

A new catalysis center has opened February 25, 2008 in Aachen, Germany, for which the Bayer company provides more than seven million euros of funding. „To further boost our innovative strength, we support excellent performance and talent in science“, said Peter Vanacker, member of the Executive Committee of Bayer MaterialScience and head of the Polyurethanes Business Unit, at a press conference. „Catalysis became a key technology in the chemical industry a long time ago“, he added. „We think there remains a big potential for innovation, and it is our goal to gain competitive advantages through this type of research“.

„The development of entirely new catalytic processes, which we would like to realize with this joint center, opens many opportunities. It also represents a central scientific challenge in order to achieve sustainable development in the value-added chain of materials,” explained Professor Dr. Walter Leitner, scientific head of the new center. Among the planned research projects are questions pertaining to the synthesis of lower-molecular polymer building blocks for special plastics, or the exploration of alternative raw material sources, for example through the activation of CO2 as a building block of synthesis. Sustainable chemistry helps making processes more efficient, which in turn leads to reduced energy consumption and lower CO2 emissions.

Cooperation between industry and universities
Bayer maintains wide-ranging cooperation with institutes and universities in Germany and abroad. With the establishment of a joint center for fundamental research at a leading German university, the company enters a new road in its cooperation strategy. „With innovative ideas, even decade-old processes can be made significantly more economical. Innovative ideas also lead to the development of new processes that make daily life better, in perfect synchronization with our corporate motto ‚ Science For A Better Life’“, says Dr. Helmut Mothes, head of Process Technology at Bayer Technology Services.

At the Seffent/Melaten site, and in immediate proximity to the Institute for Technical and Macromolecular Chemistry (ITMC) of the RWTH, which is also headed by Professor Leitner, the university will provide the necessary laboratory space of a total of 400 square meters. The laboratory wing was completely modernized with the support of the State of North Rhine Westphalia and the RWTH, and equipped and furnished in cooperation with Bayer MaterialScience. At the new catalysis center, up to sixteen young researchers will undertake fundamental catalysis research in close cooperation with experts from Bayer MaterialScience and Bayer Technology Services.

About RWTH Aachen

More than 30,000 students are enrolled in the nine departments and more than 85 fields of study of the RWTH Aachen, including 5,000 international students. The RWTH has 440 professors and 6,800 employees. The RWTH Aachen was selected for all three lines of funding by the German Federal Excellence Initiative. In addition to the future concept, a total of three excellence clusters and a graduate school are now being funded.