Continuing its focus on innovation, AGC Glass Europe has announced that it will build a new R&D Centre in the Gosselies airport technology park near Charleroi, Belgium. The centre, which is intended t…
Continuing its focus on innovation, AGC Glass Europe has announced that it will build a new R&D Centre in the Gosselies airport technology park near Charleroi, Belgium. The centre, which is intended to become the Centre of Excellence and Competences in flat glass for AGC, will be staffed by 250 researchers and technicians as of the end of 2012. Other than its size, the centre will also feature the most advanced equipment and facilities available, enabling researchers to continue their ground-breaking research in innovative products and processes. The site has the further advantage of being close to the group“s plants where innovations can be put into industrial production and scaled up, as well as being located within a technology park served by an efficient transport network (motorways and the airport). “Backed by a budget that has tripled over the past three years, our commitment to innovation has led to real advances in glass, as confirmed by numerous awards, most recently the Best Innovator Award Belgium 2009,” declared Jean-Franois Heris, President and CEO of AGC Glass Europe. “AGC therefore fully deserves this new research environment, which will multiply its efforts towards radical innovation, thanks to its links with neighbouring industries, laboratories and universities, making it a pole of attraction for international researchers. The scope of our research can only widen as a result.” The investment of around EUR 30 million is supported by subsidies of EUR 8.4 million from the Walloon Region. The start of the project was marked by a press conference attended by ministers Jean-Marc Nollet and Jean-Claude Marcourt (respectively for R&D/sustainable development and the economy/new technology). Based in Brussels, AGC Glass Europe produces and processes flat glass for the construction industry (external glazing and indoor decorative glass), the solar industry, the automotive industry and specialist industries. It is the European branch of AGC Glass, the world“s largest producer of flat glass. AGC Glass Europe currently employs some 14,500 people.