Project Houses

With a scope at least as broad as the field of chemistry itself, the project houses at Evonik Industries have covered a vast range of topics and made vital contributions to the group’s research effort. There’s no doubt at all that the idea has been a major success story.

The history of Evonik`s Project Houses has been started in 2000 with the first Project Houses in the field of nanomaterials. Till this day eight Project Houses have been started. By now, seven of them have been concluded.

The first: Nanomaterials

It was back in 2000 that the first project house was established. It focused on the development of materials and production processes with special properties that paved the way for new applications in attractive markets in the cosmetics, electronics, optics, paint, and pharmaceuticals industries. The project house, which was supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, first continued as an internal start-up under the name of Advanced Nanomaterials before being in corporated into New Business Development at Aerosil & Silanes.

The second: Biotechnology

In 2001, Degussa regrouped its biocatalysis research activities in the Biotechnology Project House. Eleven of the then 23 business units were involved. The aim was to develop new processes and products by means of enzymes generated from microorganisms and then used as biocatalysts. The work of the project house continued at the biocatalysis Service Center and the ProFerm Project House.

The third: Catalyses

The Catalysis Project House was set up in 2001 with the ambitious goal of providing methods capable of developing, within three to five years, a completely new catalytic process from scratch. The work of the project house was mainly continued at the Exclusive Synthesis and C4 Chemistry Business Units as well as the start-up Degussa Homogenous Catalysts, which marketed the new catalyst systems.

The fourth: Functional Polymers

The Functional Polymers Project House was established at the end of 2003 with the aim of amalgamating know-how in the use of nanotechnology and polymers to develop new materials with innovative properties. In the growth field of laser technology, which is used for applications such as inscribing, etching, and welding plastics, High Performance Polymers has established its own Laser Applications Center to deal with customer requirements.

The fifth: ProFerm

Launched at the beginning of 2004, the ProFerm Project House continued the work of the Biotechnology Project House. The aim was to exploit the metabolic pathways of micro organisms and to use new fermentation processes for the production of innovative substances.

The sixth: Process Intensification

Process Intensification, the sixth project house, commenced work at the start of 2005. With a focus on new process strategies and reaction concepts, its aim was to increase the flexibility of the production facilities used in specialty chemicals and to enable the development of new products.

The seventh: Functional Films & Surfaces

Functional Films & Surfaces started work at the beginning of 2007. Taking up where the fourth project house, Functional Polymers, left off, it focused on the development of functional plastic films, surfaces, and semi-finished products with new or enhanced properties.