LOWELL, MASS. — Solutia Inc. of St. Louis is donating nylon reactive pultrusion technology with an appraised value of $5.8 million to the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. The gift, including intellectual property rights, patents, related assets and equipment, was announced March 20 during a signing ceremony at the school.
"We've known about UMass and their expertise level in plastics applications for a long time," Hameed Bhombal said by telephone. He is Solutia's vice president of technology and chief technical officer. "Because of the area it is in, we really needed somebody to develop the technology."
The technology was developed in the mid-1980s to early 1990s as part of an effort to create short-fiber-reinforced plastics. According to Bhombal, the technology can be used in the manufacture of reinforced nylon composites, and profile shapes like I-beams, reinforcing bars for concrete or ski poles.
Because the technology was not central to Solutia's current growth strategies, the firm decided to give UMass Lowell an opportunity to develop and commercialize it, Bhombal said.