In the recent carve up of former UK chemicals behemoth ICI, most went to Akzo Noble of the Netherlands, including ICI Imagedata who make plastic film for printed electronics - and to Henkel of Germany, including the National Starch subsidiaries Emerson & Cuming and Acheson, the leaders in materials for printed electronics. Henkel was already active in materials for electronics.
As part of its commitment to promoting electronics material advancement in the burgeoning China region, Henkel and Shanghai University, in conjunction with several leading research universities, have now entered into an agreement to form a Shanghai Region Joint Electronics Research and Failure Analysis Center.
One-third of Henkel's Shanghai-based 150-person research and engineering team is dedicated to technology development activities and over 3% of their research and development expenditure is reserved for joint efforts with universities and technology institutions.
Under the project management and executive committee leadership Henkel; Shanghai University, China; and Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, the roadmap of the three-year project includes five key areas of research to be carried out at various universities. The fields of study include:
- Study of the interfacial bonding mechanisms between metals and organic polymers
- New latent curing systems for advanced electronics polymer applications
- Fundamental studies of the rheological behaviour of microelectronic assembly materials
- Nanocomposite microelectronic packaging materials
- Advanced microelectronic thermal solutions
"Indeed, the sizeable resource Henkel has budgeted for this project and the universities' investments of equipment, time and talent will certainly yield materials solutions that will benefit the entire electronics marketplace," said Dr.Tim Chen, Henkel Electronics General Manager of China and Hong Kong.
The official signing ceremony marking the commencement of the partnership took place on June 10, 2008 at Henkel Asia-Pacific and China Headquarters in Shanghai, China.
The duration of the project is currently scheduled from April 1, 2008 through March 31, 2011.
Top image: (pictured from left to right) Dr. Tom Lim, Director of Shanghai R&D Center of Henkel Corporate Research; Mr Faruk Arig, President of Henkel China; Mr. Wangmin, Vice Principal of Shanghai University; and, Mr. Johan Liu, Professor of Shanghai University, China and Professor of Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden sign the official agreement for the new Shanghai Region Joint Electronics Research & Failure Analysis Center.
For more on printed electronics attend Printed Electronics Asia 2008.
Source: www.henkel.com 
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