The Dow Chemical Company (Midland, Mich, www.dow.com), in partnership with its joint venture, DowAksa, and a consortium of composites-related businesses, academic leaders and government organizations, is pleased to have been selected by the Obama Administration to establish the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI).
IACMI will help advance the state of knowledge and commercialization of carbon fiber composites technology in response to market demands for strong, lightweight materials by creating a platform to overcome technological and cost barriers to the wide-scale adoption of carbon-fiber composites in a variety of industrial sectors including pressure vessel, infrastructure and wind, and automotive.
DowAksa, a 50/50 joint venture formed in 2012 between Dow and Aksa Akrilik Kimya Sanayii A.Ş., a Turkey-based acrylic fiber manufacturer, has become a leader in the production of carbon fiber and carbon-fiber intermediates and high-quality composite materials, which are extremely valuable for downstream high-tech manufacturing.
“Dow recognizes the importance of public-private partnerships such as IACMI to create innovative and strategic commercial opportunities aligned to attractive, high-volume industrial markets,” said Heinz Haller, Dow executive vice president and board chairman of DowAksa. “IACMI enables further growth with our commercial partners such as Ford to meet demands for lighter weight, competitively priced composite automotive parts.”
“IACMI provides us the perfect venue to de-risk and accelerate many of the significant innovations required to meet the high-volume and competitive pricing requirements of our partner Ford,” said Doug Parks, Dow’s global director of Lightweight Materials and Government Markets and a DowAksa Board member.