JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #79 - March 2013 - 36

Advertorial
NORTH RHINE-WESTPHALIA:
An innovAtive locAtion
thAnks to new mAteriAls
New materials form an important basis for innovative products
and applications. North Rhine-Westphalia is already one of the
leading locations for materials technology in Germany. As a
result of the intensive cooperation between industry and research, the federal state possesses excellent credentials.
The performance, cost-effectiveness and resource efficiency
of many industrial products depends to a large extent on the
materials used. For example, innovations in the materials sector
can conserve material and energy resources or reduce pollution.
Their possible applications range from automotive engineering and optics through electronics, modern communications
technologies and medical technology to architecture and the
construction industry.
For North Rhine-Westphalia the field of new materials is one of
the most important future industries. Today, 40 percent of the
North Rhine-Westphalian gross domestic product is already generated with products and services based on innovative materials.
With 6,110 companies and research facilities, 726,000 jobs and
approx. 200 billion euros in sales, North Rhine-Westphalia is one
of Germany’s leading locations for new materials. Internationally
renowned players such as 3M, Bayer, Evonik Industries, Henkel, Hydro Aluminium, Saertex and ThyssenKrupp develop and
utilize new materials here. Many companies in this sector have
their headquarters in the Ruhr Metropolis and the Rhineland
in particular. For example, Bayer MaterialScience is working at

Chempark Leverkusen on manufacturing high-grade plastics
from the climate-damaging waste product carbon dioxide.
Besides large corporations with international operations, the
industry in North Rhine-Westphalia is characterized by innovative SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises). Zoz GmbH in
Wenden, for example, is a world market leader in nanostructured
materials. The ‘Zentallium’ product developed here is as light
as aluminum yet stronger than steel. Success stories like these
are possible only as a result of close cooperation between science and industry. North Rhine-Westphalia offers the densest
research network in Europe and ideal conditions for technology
transfer. More than 22 universities and non-university research
institutes, including 120 specialized professorships, conduct
research in North Rhine-Westphalia into the development of
marketable products and processes in the field of new materials.

Münsterland –
top location for materials in North Rhine-Westphalia
Situated in the north of North Rhine-Westphalia, Münsterland offers a broad spectrum of materials competences. The companies
and research institutes based here are particularly innovative
when it comes to the development of technical textiles, paints
and varnishes. BASF Coatings and Brillux, for example, have an
internationally operating corporate location here. Companies in
the region are also world leaders in the production and application of composites and high-performance plastic and metal materials. How existing competences – such as the manufacture of
textile surfaces – become future-oriented technologies through
innovative materials is demonstrated by SAERTEX. The company
makes extremely resilient industrial textiles out of fiberglass,
carbon and aramid – so-called non-crimp fabrics (NCF). These
extremely lightweight materials are processed individually as
components for aircraft, wind turbines, bridges, ships and automobiles.

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JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #79 - March 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #79 - March 2013