Materials maker Chemours Co. has opened a major new innovation center at the University of Delaware.
The Chemours Discovery Hub covers 312,000 square feet and houses more than 300 researchers and scientists, officials with Wilmington, Del.-based Chemours said in a news release. The Hub is located on the University of Delaware's Science, Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) Campus in Newark, Del.
The facility consolidates most of the company's U.S. innovation efforts into one location to maximize collaboration and efficiency, officials said. The Hub contains more than 130 individual laboratories and was built over the course of 24 months.
Officials said that the Hub is one of the largest R&D centers both in the state of Delaware and within the chemical industry. Some of the company's own products were used in the building's construction, including Teflon-brand fluoropolymers. Teflon materials were used to insulate the building's 112 miles of networking cable.
At the Hub, Chemours will deepen its research partnership with the University of Delaware and perform experiments alongside professors and students to develop new applications for its products. Officials said that the firm also will use the Hub to attract and recruit potential interns, co-ops and employees.
"This is about so much more than a new R&D facility; it's about our company's investment in young minds who will be introduced to chemistry at the Discovery Hub, our continued investment in Delaware, and our investment in an innovation pipeline that will empower our customers and change the world for the better," Chemours President and CEO Mark Vergnano said.
"The Chemours Discovery Hub is a living symbol of the company we are becoming — open, collaborative, imaginative, and focused on the future," he added.
We are thrilled to see what innovations our team will dream up in this building, all within the creative environment of a public university."
"When we broke ground on the Chemours Discovery Hub here on the STAR Campus two years ago, we expressed our shared vision of a state-of-the-art research partnership," UD president Dennis Assanis said. "Today, we see that vision becoming a reality."
Chemours employs 7,000 worldwide. The firm posted sales of $5.5 billion in 2019.