Wacker opens silicones R&D center in US - draft

Munich, Germany - Wacker Chemie AG has officially opened its silicones R&D centre in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to support its overall business and product development in North America.

The facility, which opened 13 June, is located at Wacker’s co-work campus of the Michigan Innovation Headquarters (MI-HQ) in Ann Arbor, and offers labs for R&D and analytics as well as product development for the Americas market.

The labs will be operated by Wacker Chemical Corp. (WCC), Wacker’s Adrian, Michigan-based subsidiary for North and Central America and the North Andean region of South America.

Investments for equipment and interior construction measures were in the “single digit million US dollar range”, Wacker has announced.

“Right from the start we are engaged in projects involving health and medical care, paints and coatings, electronics and personal care products, all of which are key industry growth segments, particularly for silicone-based chemistry,” said David Wilhoit, WCC president & CEO at the opening.

“With the Adrian, Michigan, manufacturing plant, the pyrogenic silica plant under construction in Charleston, Tennessee, and our Silmix^® custom compounding facilities located in Chino, California and North Canton, Ohio, we are able to offer customers leading-edge technology, product innovation and a broad range of silicone products,” said Axel Schmidt, WCC’s vice president – division silicones.