SHANGHAI, CHINA: Air Liquide broke ground on its new Research and Technology Centre, the Shanghai Research & Technology Centre, located in the industrial park of Xinzhuang, in the Minhang district of Shanghai, China. This new centre will ultimately house 200 highly skilled employees – who include researchers, experts in customer applications, and business development teams – to contribute to the acceleration of the Group’s innovation in Asia-Pacific. The scientific experts of Air Liquide will be working in several different areas of research, such as energy efficiency, technologies designed to reduce industrial emissions of carbon dioxide, water treatment, and processes for preserving and freezing food. The centre will be operational at the end of 2015.
This new Air Liquide Research and Technology Center bolsters the Group’s research capabilities in Japan and South Korea. It will be connected with the innovation teams based in Europe and in North America. It will first focus on bringing to market innovative solutions adapted to the usages of Chinese customers and consumers. It will leverage the main innovation ecosystems in China, building on existing partnerships with Shanghai Jiao Tong University, as well as Zhejiang University and the research institutes affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Covering 12,000 square meters, the center represents an investment of nearly €25 million. It will house laboratories as well as large pilot platforms with equipment for designing and testing technologies in industrial-scale conditions for the Group’s customers. The building is designed in compliance with LEED certification (Leadership in Energy and Environment Design), a global standard in sustainable building that factors in the efficient water management, good use of energy, and the reduction of emissions.
“This new centre illustrates the Group’s commitment to pursuing its growth in China and to developing partnerships with its customers, as well as with the research laboratories and universities in Asia. The Shanghai hub thus reinforces its capacity to attract talent in Asia and to seize new growth opportunities through innovation,” said Francois Darchis, member of the Executive Committee supervising Innovation, Air Liquide.
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