BRAND NEW

Evonik Joins the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab to Accelerate Innovation with Artificial Intelligence

Evonik extended its collaboration with IBM in the field of digitalization until 2025 and became the first chemical company in the world to participate in the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab for research and development of AI.

Evonik has extended its strategic partnership with technology firm IBM until 2025. Making this decision early creates more opportunities for longer-term projects. Additionally, Evonik will be part of the R&D project for artificial intelligence at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), becoming the world’s first chemical company to join. Artificial intelligence is a critical tool for innovation and improvement in the chemical industry and Evonik is looking forward to joining the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab and its advisory board to help with its ideas and applications through materials discovery, formulation technology, knowledge management and market analysis to advance general applications of AI in the chemical industry. At the MIT campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, experts are studying the potential uses and effects of AI. “Bright minds from science and business are working jointly together on digital progress. We are delighted to be part of it,” says Henrik Hahn, chief digital officer (CDO) of Evonik. “The work on artificial intelligence is also a litmus test of what digital systems can do: for example, we are looking at how decisions can be made better, more systematically and faster with the help of algorithms,” says Hahn. “Ultimately, it’s about the value AI can add to the company,” he says. Hahn has a positive view of the strategic partnership with IBM, which has been in place since 2017: “The joint work has helped to drive forward digital transformation in a targeted manner. Evonik sees itself as a pioneer in digitization in the chemical industry. Our partnership with IBM and our new commitment to the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab further substantiate this claim”. During these years, Evonik and IBM have already studied new opportunities to create a collaborative intelligence between humans and machines, in pilot projects. Experts now have the ability to access and analyse valuable information in an easy and intuitive way. New connections between data can now be found and chemist can intuitively explore and compare formulations and their related properties to find ideas for new products. Evonik and IBM have also managed to build Artificial Intelligence that will further accelerate the research for new materials. Working in close collaboration with IBM Research, a Deep Neural Network that predicts properties or new formulations for high-performance polymers was also developed and trained. These forecasts support researchers in their search for new products and solutions.

For further information: https://corporate.evonik.com/en

© Evonik © Evonik

Henrik Hahn.

Dr. Martin Welp Resigns as Managing Director at Dörken

After more than 11 years, Dr. Martin Welp, Managing Director of Dörken Coatings GmbH & Co. KG, has left the company for personal reasons.

After more than a decade, Dr. Martin Welp resigned from his position as managing director at Dörken Coatings GmbH & Co. KG. On February 1st, 2010, the graduated chemist joined Dörken MKS-Systeme GmbH & Co. KG, and with his management partner, Dr. Gerhard Reusmann, developed the company into the leading supplier of micro-layer corrosion protection system. Then, in 2020 he first took over the management of CD Color GmbH & Co. KG and Protec® Systempasten GmbH, and then was appointed managing director of the newly founded Dörken Coatings, into which the Dörken MKS, CD-Color and Protec® companies were transferred. In order to continue the initiated strategy, Dörken board Thorsten Koch will temporarily join the management of Dörken Coatings with the support of Dr. Gerhard Reusmann. Dörken Coatings’ customers will retain their usual contacts and can continue to rely on the company’s expertise in corrosion and surface protection, decorative design and tinting technology. “The management and employees of Dörken are saddened to lose Dr. Martin Welp, a real ‘doer’ who had a decisive influence on the company over so many years,” said Thorsten Koch. “Together with the shareholders, we express our appreciation and special thanks to him - and wish him all the best for his private and professional future.”

For further information: www.doerken.com

© Dörken

The drying racks in different colours for which Gimi is famous all over the world.

FOCUS ON TECHNOLOGY

Effective Passivation at Room Temperature: The Pre-Treatment Innovation that Convinced Gimi

Monica Fumagalli ipcm®

FHP Monselice – Freudenberg Household Products, former Gimi Spa, a long-established household goods manufacturer, was one of the first firms to use the nano ceramic surface conversion products developed by DN Chemicals. The aim was providing excellent paint adhesion performance, good anti-corrosion performance, and low sludge production, while working at room temperature for the entire process.

© ipcm

A segment of the conveyor.

© ipcm

Drying racks are among the most commonly used everyday items: a simple object created a long time ago as a practical solution for hanging laundry, first outdoors and then indoors in homes with increasingly small areas and no outdoor spaces or with limited terraces and balconies – and, precisely because of these dual characteristics, not easy to manufacture. Gaudenzio Preti, the Engineering Manager of the company, which is a long-established producer and distributor of household products, confirms it: “Clothes drying racks have always been considered outdoor products, although their industrial differentiation has led to the development of different solutions. We distinguish between outdoor and indoor racks, but the latter, although designed for indoor use, must still guarantee a five-year outdoors use without corroding.” This has an impact on the choice of the most suitable materials and coatings. “Gimi’s drying racks are made of mild steel, with a few exceptions made of stainless steel or aluminium and some accessories made of plastic. These products need to be able to withstand a high moisture degree due to continuous contact with wet clothes, so perfect adhesion of the powder coating to the substrate is essential. This explains why we turned to DN Chemicals, a Group specialising in the provision of surface pre-treatment solutions, which is already a supplier to other Freudenberg’s divisions. We urgently needed a solution for the pre-treatment of steel that would guarantee higher paint adhesion and, at the same time, simplify the management of our process and the maintenance of tanks by reducing sludge formation.”

Gimi, a brand that is present in every home

“Want to bet we’re already in your house?” was the claim of Gimi’s advertising campaign a few years ago – a bet certainly won by this firm based in Monselice (Padua, Italy), given its brand’s worldwide