Covestro Taiwan Ltd (台灣科思創) yesterday launched a new research and development center that is to specialize in resin synthesis and fiberoptic coating after its parent company, Covestro AG, acquired a resins business from Royal DSM, it said.
The German company in September 2020 agreed to buy the resins and functional materials business from Royal DSM for about 1.61 billion euros (US$1.69 billion), corporate data showed.
The Dutch company’s local units, such as Covestro Resins (ROA) Ltd (帝昇) and Covestro Resins (Taiwan) Ltd (新力美), are next month to be integrated into Covestro Taiwan Ltd, with their employees continuing resins development, Covestro Taiwan said.
Photo courtesy of Covestro Taiwan Ltd
The Covestro Global Energy Curing Innovation Center was established at National Central University (NCU) in Taoyuan as part of its collaboration with local universities, the company said.
The 1,322m2 facility marks the first global research center located on a Taiwanese university campus and managed by a foreign company, it said.
Aiming to find new solutions to make its ultraviolet (UV)-cured resin synthesis process more sustainable, the company asked eight NCU professors, along with about 20 students, to work on four projects, and expects results by the end of next year, research center head Steve Shih (石健學) told the Taipei Times in an interview.
“Tin is a key production component, and we have managed to minimize tin residues to lower than one part per million, but in the event something goes wrong, we need another material with comparable performance that can substitute for tin,” Shih said, citing an example of one of the center’s projects.
The company is also attempting to seek appropriate bio-based materials, such as plant matter, to replace fossil-based material, as 25 percent of its products are to be made from bio-based materials by 2030, Shih said.
Covestro Taiwan is also working with National Taiwan University and National Chung Hsing University on cutting-edge research on resin development, Shih added.
UV-curable resin is used in a variety of coating applications for fiber optic cables, solar panels, electronic materials, ink printing, floors, premium wood items and papers, Covestro Resins Ltd general manager Troy Shao (邵仲益) told the Taipei Times.
It can also be used inside computing technology given its ability to refract light, Shao said.
A leading Taiwanese semiconductor company has utilized Covestro Taiwan’s technology to make its manufacturing process more sustainable and efficient, he said.
Covestro Taiwan is optimistic that its technology will be applied in Taiwanese 5G networks and to help install thinner glass fibers, he added.
BYPASSING CHINA TARIFFS: In the first five months of this year, Foxconn sent US$4.4bn of iPhones to the US from India, compared with US$3.7bn in the whole of last year Nearly all the iPhones exported by Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) from India went to the US between March and last month, customs data showed, far above last year’s average of 50 percent and a clear sign of Apple Inc’s efforts to bypass high US tariffs imposed on China. The numbers, being reported by Reuters for the first time, show that Apple has realigned its India exports to almost exclusively serve the US market, when previously the devices were more widely distributed to nations including the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. During March to last month, Foxconn, known as Hon Hai Precision Industry
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) yesterday announced the launch of the TSMC-UTokyo Lab to promote advanced semiconductor research, education and talent development. The lab is TSMC’s first laboratory collaboration with a university outside Taiwan, the company said in a statement. The lab would leverage “the extensive knowledge, experience, and creativity” of both institutions, the company said. It is located in the Asano Section of UTokyo’s Hongo, Tokyo, campus and would be managed by UTokyo faculty, guided by directors from UTokyo and TSMC, the company said. TSMC began working with UTokyo in 2019, resulting in 21 research projects,
Ashton Hall’s morning routine involves dunking his head in iced Saratoga Spring Water. For the company that sells the bottled water — Hall’s brand of choice for drinking, brushing his teeth and submerging himself — that is fantastic news. “We’re so thankful to this incredible fitness influencer called Ashton Hall,” Saratoga owner Primo Brands Corp’s CEO Robbert Rietbroek said on an earnings call after Hall’s morning routine video went viral. “He really helped put our brand on the map.” Primo Brands, which was not affiliated with Hall when he made his video, is among the increasing number of companies benefiting from influencer
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) yesterday expressed a downbeat view about the prospects of humanoid robots, given high manufacturing costs and a lack of target customers. Despite rising demand and high expectations for humanoid robots, high research-and-development costs and uncertain profitability remain major concerns, Lam told reporters following the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Taoyuan. “Since it seems a bit unworthy to use such high-cost robots to do household chores, I believe robots designed for specific purposes would be more valuable and present a better business opportunity,” Lam said Instead of investing in humanoid robots, Quanta has opted to invest
RSS