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When G. J. (Hans) Wijers, Akzo Nobel's chief executive officer, hosted a stakeholders' conference last month to celebrate seven years of the Dutch Polymer Institute (DPI), it was a poetic closing of the circle. It was Wijers, in a previous post as Dutch minister for economic affairs, who directed DPI's establishment to focus polymer research through joint programs of the Netherlands' chemical industry, universities and research institutes, and government authorities. Wijers AKZO NOBEL PHOTO And he and the many representatives at the conference, held at Akzo Nobel's headquarters in Arnhem, are satisfied enough with the progress made to date--and the promise of more to come--that they see DPI as the kernel of what could become an expanded initiative within the European Union. Of course, there have been many joint projects between the European chemical industry and academia. However, the Dutch initiative expands the concept significantly. Rather than limited agreements between one company and a university, for example, DPI has put together a precompetitive, shared research program to benefit all of its members. Universities and research institutes work closely with industry to create know-how that is then transferred, as intellectual property, to the industrial partners for development and commercialization. DPI's corporate membership now numbers 21--up from nine companies in 1998, the first full year it functioned--with members drawn across an international field. Members with Dutch polymer production sites include Shell, Basell, Atofina, Dow Chemical, and SABIC. Other members are chemical suppliers Akzo Nobel and DSM, fiber producer Teijin Twaron, and polymer users, including the research arm of Philips. Member companies determine areas of research that will be investigated by the equivalent of nearly 140 research staff at 20 European universities and institutes supported by DPI. The institute's budget has grown from roughly $4.3 million in 1998 to nearly $20 million this year. In 1998, it had 24 referenced publications and no foreign patent filings; this year, it will have an estimated 140 referenced publications and 15 foreign patent filings. Many of the projects focus on new areas that industry's own researchers see as particularly promising. For example, Jef Vincent, director of R&D at SABIC EuroPetrochemicals, in Geleen, says: "We have an existing polymer base, so we will work on that. You don't have much chance in making a successful business out of making a new polymer." INSTEAD, he suggests, opportunities lie in optimizing existing technology and finding new applications as the market requests new products. "How can we modify or adapt what we have now?" he asks. "For example, how can I influence thermal expansion of polypropylene used in bumpers to go with the thermal expansion for metal? Or painting--we have to be able to modify the polymer so it can be coated. We are still optimizing the technology for low-density polyethylene--and it was introduced by ICI in 1936. It's not the same product or process anymore, but we're still working on it." DPI's Strategic Research Program consists of six technology areas: polyolefins, engineering polymers, coating technology, rubber technology, functional polymer systems, and high-throughput experimentation and combinatorial materials research. Another area of supported research, taking approximately 16% of DPI's budget, is in core science and emerging technologies. This includes areas such as nanotechnology, polymer characterization, biopolymers, and biomedical materials. Among the projects pursued by DPI teams are functional polymers, including solar-active polymers and polymers for electronic displays. The first product has appeared on the market as light-emitting diode material incorporated into a top-of-the line electric shaver from Philips Electronics, one of the members of the polymer LED team that recently received the European Union's top Descartes research prize (C&EN, Dec. 1, page 12). DPI benefits industry, which can then take what it needs for further development. And perhaps even more important in a world of dwindling university science enrollment, it supports the education and work of young researchers in chemistry and engineering, institute officials contend. That was partly the aim of the Dutch government when it set out to develop a new tool for promoting innovation--and eventually, employment--in the country. As Wijers points out, at the time, the government was faced with low economic growth, some loss of competitive strength, and a general attitude of hopelessness. "We decided to do two things at the same time," he says. "We had to restructure industry and invest in the future." The idea arose of a set of technology institutes to focus on a single basic area of research, working with companies and educational institutions and supporting Ph.D. theses. A number of sectors put together proposals for institutes, Wijers says. The polymers industry was one of four sectors selected for an institute, along with food science, telematics (information sciences), and metal materials. Managing Director George van Os says DPI formed the bridge between academics keen to concentrate on science and industrialists frustrated by what they perceived as academic research remote from industry's needs. Moreover, at the time, he adds, the chemical industry was making substantial cuts in R&D, particularly in longer term exploratory research. What R&D remained was increasingly focused on immediate problems and market opportunities. DPI was able to reinforce the basic research that underpins the industry's development work, he adds. The institute's funding comes 25% from industry, 25% from universities and institutes, and 50% from the Dutch government. In principle, companies share all the results of the research output generated, according to DPI rules, if they wish to participate in any of the areas covered in the organization's projects. Corporate members purchase "participation tickets" good for four years that enable them to guide areas of research through votes on project proposals submitted by universities. And officials at the organization foresee that--in view of the international interest in its work--its income from this participation could double within five years. The idea of joint corporate efforts initially caused some concern, particularly among U.S. corporate parents, says an executive with Dow's Benelux operations. The concerns rested upon two major areas: how intellectual property developed in the universities and institutes would be protected and shared and the antitrust implications of collaboration. DPI's concentration on precompetitive science, however, has shown that the process can be efficiently managed, points out C. A. Linse, who is head of contracting and procurement at Royal Dutch/Shell, a former board director at Basell, and chairman of the Dutch Chemical Industry Association. As it works, all results produced in DPI projects are the property of the organization, with participating universities and research institutes bound by secrecy obligations. Results enter the public domain after intellectual property rights, such as patents, are issued to DPI. "We don't want to keep inventions tightly in our possession," van Os says. "We will transfer these rights to our industrial partners interested in the patents. They get the patents free, although they may have to share." To date, he says, DPI has transferred five patents to industrial partners. "The exploratory research is at the beginning of a chain of development," he adds. "The initial invention may be crucial--may be underlying a whole new science or family of inventions. It's new technology. That's of interest to a company, which could further develop it." There are other joint projects between European industry and academia, of course. For example, in October, Bayer Polymers introduced a new technique for the laser welding of plastic components that, the company says, provides product designers with more color choices. AGLOW Among the projects pursued by DPI are functional polymers such as these polymeric light-emitting diodes. AVECIA PHOTO THE TECHNIQUE involves placing a laser-absorbing layer, such as a thin black film, in the seam between the components to be welded. The black film promotes maximum energy absorption from the laser beam, achieving optimal melting of the plastic and a satisfactory weld. The process was developed by Bayer in cooperation with Germany's Aachen Institute of Plastics Processing and systems designer Branson Ultraschall. And in another new development, the U.K.'s Loughborough University last month launched an innovation center dedicated to polyvinyl chloride, part of its Institute of Polymer Technology & Materials Engineering, to provide support and training to the polyvinyl chloride industry. The new center will update its PVC processing equipment and will provide R&D and training courses for the industry. "There has always been close cooperation between industry and academia," Linse says. "But companies finally saw the need for separate institutes funded by government and industry. DPI offers stability and a long time horizon. The management structure for institutes like this easily gets very heavy--everybody wants to see where the money goes, look over shoulders, and so on. You need a long time horizon to let people do their own thing. DPI can provide that continuity. In a hundred years, this will be a textbook case of good cooperation between companies and scientific research." In fact, the four Dutch technology institutes that Wijers helped found won the approval of the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development in a study published in September, "Public-Private Partnerships for Research and Innovation: an Evaluation of the Dutch Experience." According to the OECD study, the four institutes are a prime example of collaboration between industry and university: "[They are] one of the purest forms of public-private partnership, both in their rationale and organization. It is a proven good practice in mobilizing public and private research toward common objectives of high importance for the economy and society. Other OECD countries could learn from them." Wijers adds: "It is a pleasant surprise to see that the four institutes are doing pretty well--all four of them. There are some good ideas there. When I read the OECD report on them, I thought, 'That means the basic philosophy is right, and we have something to build on.' "This is a globalizing world. We will be where the action is--product markets are internationalizing, labor markets are internationalizing. So is the knowledge market," Wijers notes. "The Dutch government should be supporting this to the European Union," he argues. "There are lots of things everyone can learn from the Netherlands about what not to do; this is one area where we can learn how to do it--industry and science coming together. I truly hope that in seven years, it won't be DPI, but the Euro Polymer Institute. If that is the case, I'll be glad to host a meeting again." |
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