Kemira’s new R&D center in the heart of Atlanta takes the synergy of academic research, commercially focused technology and product development to a new level.
The Georgia Institute of Technology, located in Midtown Atlanta, has garnered an outstanding reputation for not only the strength of its academics, but for the focus it places on product commercialization and innovative research. In addition to graduate and undergraduate engineering programs that are consistently ranked in the top tier of national universities, Georgia Tech spends more than 500 million dollars annually – almost half of its total budget – on external research.
The Technology Enterprise Park, part of Georgia Tech, is a source of notable strength for Atlanta’s economic life. The park is designed to foster a cluster research community in close association with Georgia Tech that can attract companies to embark on joint research ventures and to otherwise collaborate with one another. The park will provide five research buildings and over 56,000 square meters (about 600,000 square feet) of wet-laboratory space in the Atlanta area including the park’s newest member, Kemira. Having opened its doors in June, the Atlanta center is now home to all of Kemira Research and Development activity in North America. Atlanta’s Research and Development Center is the fourth member of the global Kemira R&D network, which comprises centers in Finland, China and Germany. The fifth site is scheduled to open next year in São Paulo, Brazil.
“Our restructuring program is designed to provide an efficient and cost-effective global R&D network and the selection of Technology Enterprise Park is an important step in this effort,” says Johan Grön, Executive Vice President of R&D at Kemira.
An avenue for commercialization
The new R&D center is the result of the consolidation of four separate North American research locations into one larger, more cohesive research initiative. The facility closely links Kemira with Georgia Tech’s substantial and long-standing research infrastructure. In turn, Kemira will not only provide job and internship opportunities for Georgia Tech graduates, but will give university faculty and researchers an added avenue for turning academic innovations into marketable products.
“The goal of this consolidation was to create a site at which knowhow and competencies meet, making it a key component of Kemira’s global R&D network,” says Louis Rosati, Vice President of R&D at Kemira’s Oil & Mining segment.
“We were very excited when Kemira approached us and made a strong business case for constructing a location at the Technology Enterprise Park,” says Dr. Ann Schmierer from the Strategic Partners Office at Georgia Tech. “It became apparent that developing a strategic research and innovation partnership with Kemira would benefit both Georgia Tech and Kemira.”
The Technology Enterprise Park offered modern facilities with state-of the art infrastructure that could be tailored to meet Kemira’s specific technology needs.
“Our presence here in Technology Enterprise Park in association with Georgia Tech creates a new level of technical potential for our scientists and our business,” says Scott Rosencrance, Senior Manager of R&D for Kemira’s Paper segment.
“We talk a lot about the inventions and start-up companies that result from the work that we’re doing, and how these benefit the economy in the state of Georgia and bring with them new companies, jobs and revenue,” says Dr. G.P. Peterson, President of Georgia Tech. The university currently ranks second in the number of patents produced in the State of Georgia; these inventions have resulted in an estimated 120 start-up firms, EUR 69 million (USD 100 million) in profits, and a large number of jobs in the surrounding region.
“What’s also important is the synergy that occurs between the researchers that we have and the folks that are involved in the companies located in these parks,” Dr. Peterson adds. “Thanks to the close physical location, people are in continual contact with one another and participate in ongoing discussions. This results in a synergy that is tremendously beneficial to us in terms of not only the type of work that we do, but also the type of faculty that we are able to attract.”
By: Laura Palotie
Original article published in Kemira’s stakeholder magazine Waterlink 3/2009