DuPont to expand China R&D facility

ERJ staff report (PN)

Wilmington, Delaware -- DuPont Co. is doubling the size of its research and development facility in China to focus on new materials for photovoltaic, bio-based and automotive applications, as part of what the company said is a strategy to accelerate growth in developing economies.The company announced the news in a press release dated 21 December.

The Wilmington, Del.-based company plans to add about 200 science and technology jobs at its facility in Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park in Shanghai over the next two years, doubling employment there. The company said demand for those technologies is “rapidly increasing” in the Asia Pacific region.

“Asia Pacific and other regions around the world are undergoing transformational change, driven primarily by global population growth and a rising middle class” said Senior Vice President and Chief Science and Technology Officer Douglas Muzyka. “This research expansion, along with similar lab expansions in Brazil and India, is another important step to meet specific customer needs in key growth markets.”

DuPont said it opened research centers in Paulinia, Brazil, and Hyderabad, India, in 2010, along with two new solar energy centers in Switzerland and the United States, and agriculture research facilities in the Ukraine, United States and the Philippines.

The company opened the Shanghai facility in 2005.

From Plastics News (A Crain publication)

Press release from DuPont