TactoTek and Marquardt announced that the companies are developing an injection moulded structural electronics (IMSE) solution for a leading automotive OEM in their first collaboration project. The pre-development project is for a specific vehicle family and includes full automotive validation of the IMSE parts.

The collaborative project for circularity in plastics, Circularise Plastics, founded by Domo, Covestro and the supply chain transparency start-up Circularise, has reached the first milestone. With the support from the founding members Circularise successfully developed the first version of the platform tailored to the plastics industry. The group is piloting the system this year and has demonstrated it on the market in a production environment in early 2020.

Huntsman has developed a polyurethane midsole material for the safety and military shoe market, which has been tested and qualified by uvex for use in its uvex 1 G2 safety shoes. The lightweight polyurethane material Daltoped DuraLite Energy is said to combine the high cushioning and energy return properties expected of sports footwear, with the durability needed to create long-lasting, protective work shoes. The material was launched at Simac Tanning Tech 2020 (hall 14, stand B39), which takes place from 19 – 21 February 2020 in Milan, Italy.

Frimo will exhibit at the international composites show JEC World 2020 (hall 5, stand M79), which will take place from 3 – 5 March 2020 in Paris, France. According to Frimo, it will present its new developments for a wide range of technologies for the mass production of composites. The company is a leading supplier of system solutions for the manufacture of plastics components. As a global player with long-time and broad experience in the manufacture of tooling and machinery for the material saving and economic processing of composites, Frimo offers customised production equipment, e.g., for RRIM, SRIM/GMPU, Long Fibre Injection, CFK, GMT, LFT, BMC, SMC and RTM.

A virtual concept shoe made entirely of BASF materials, a 3D printed shoe made from TPU, interesting creations by young designers, this and other product-related innovations were presented by BASF at Simac, the international machine and technology fair for shoes in Milan from 19-21 February 2020.

The Automotive Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) is announcing a “Call for Nominations” for its 50th annual Automotive Innovation Awards Gala, the oldest and largest recognition event in the automotive and plastics industries, and due dates for the event’s annual Parts Competition. This year’s Awards Gala will be held Thursday, 19 November 2020, at the Burton Manor in Livonia, MI, USA.

Covestro has showcased its latest materials for healthcare applications at MD&M West Conference and Exposition (stand 2221) from 11 – 13 February 2020 in Anaheim, CA, USA.

Lanxess has attended World Of Concrete from 4 – 7 February 2020 in Las Vegas, NV, USA, where Bruno Motta, North American Sales Director, and Tyler Ryan, Global R&D Chemist, were onsite to promote new urethane systems for concrete forming applications.

On 28 January 2020, Lubrizol Engineered Polymers announced the commercial launch of its thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) Estane 3D TPU M95A, which is said to be the only TPU certified for HP’s Multi Jet Fusion 4200 series 3D printing solution.

A research team with participation of Evonik has achieved a breakthrough in the field of carbonylation chemistry. Carbonylation is one of the most important types of reaction in the chemical industry. It involves the catalysed introduction of a CO group (carbonyl group) into organic compounds. For more than 60 years, science and industry had been looking for a way to implement the now successful reaction step.