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ANNUAL REPORT 2018 WELCOME TO our world of plastics2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Editorial 3 Our proposition 4 Our core business and relevance 6 Partnership in research 8 Research highlights 12 Additive Manufacturing 16 Sustainable Buildings 24 Lightweight Automotive 32 Corporate highlights 40 Facts & Figures 44 Our partners 46 Publications 49 Colophon 54 3 Brightlands Materials Center is a rapidly growing Research and Development center with the ambition to develop innovative materials solutions that contribute to a sustainable future. Brightlands Materials Center was founded March 2015 by TNO and the Province of Limburg and is located at the Brightlands Chemelot Campus in Geleen, The Netherlands. We have recently moved to brand new facilities called Brighthouse, at the Brightlands Chemelot Campus in Geleen, the Netherlands. Here we have 800m2 of modern offices and labs, in the middle of a strongly growing innovation Campus with a great variety of companies and with many students. In short time, we will move our polymer processing labs to new facilities as well, with an additional floor space of 250m2. Facilities and equipment are very important for a R&D center. However, even more important are our people. We have continued hiring over the last year and we are very happy that our program teams, consisting of scientists, technicians, and business developers, are working full force to develop new and innovative materials technologies. Our three programs, Lightweight Automotive, Additive Manufacturing, and Sustainable Buildings are more and more creating exciting new results, supported by demonstrator products. We have stepped into a number of new projects and we have acquired new industrial and academic partners. Highlights have been our presence at three industry fairs, IDTechEx, Glasstec, and Formnext, with our own booths. We are driven to contribute to a sustainable society and to support the ambitions as laid down in the UN Global Development Goals. We believe that collaboration between organizations, connecting people, sharing insights and ideas are crucial to build a sustainable society. Let’s innovate together! This third annual report gives an overview of our progress over the last year. It also gives insight in the development of the roadmaps of our three programs. We hope you enjoy the reading and we look forward to discussing with you opportunities for intensified or new collaboration. Peter Wolfs & Marnix van Gurp Managing Directors EDITORIAL4 2. Collaborations in shared research programs Lower costs Lower risk of innovation 1. Application driven programs along the value chain Efficient problem solving Innovative idea generation BRIGTLANDS MATERIALS CENTER our proposition5 4. A combination of entrepreneurial activities and fundamental knowledge build-up Accelerate your technology development 3. A network of global partners embedded in a regional innovation campus Inspiration business opportunities6 Polymeric materials innovations Functional demonstrators Market applications Sustainable developments 6 BRIGTLANDS MATERIALS CENTER our core business our relevance78 Mission The mission of Brightlands Materials Center is to develop innovative materials solutions for a sustainable future, with inspired talents and in collaboration with industry, academia and entrepreneurs. Shared Research Programs We develop innovative solutions meeting societal challenges and industrial needs in a limited number of shared research programs: Lightweight Automotive, Additive Manufacturing and Sustainable Buildings. We use all available knowledge through our partnerships with academia to develop new and innovative application technologies required by our industrial partners to bring new and sustainable products to the market. Business model Due to the increasing speed of development of new products and new technologies, R&D costs to stay ahead of competition in the long run are more and more difficult to bear with the existing company revenues. Our vision is that combining efforts, investments and risks in shared programs is the new strategy to reduce time to market for new product generations. At Brightlands Materials Center partners complement their own in-house R&D with shared R&D, and R&D projects, leveraging talents and know-how in a well-structured and professional R&D-like setting. Typically, Brightlands Materials Center results are shared on a non-exclusive basis with program partners according to customized agreements, tuned to each partner’s needs and situation. Whenever appropriate, Brightlands Materials Center also facilitates more dedicated research projects. PARTNERSHIP in research“Materials innovations will play a crucial role in our journey towards a sustainable society”. Marnix van Gurp - Managing Director 9Next >