Wesel, Germany, November 15, 2018 – The specialty chemicals company ALTANA presented the ALTANA Innovation Award for the seventh time. This year, the redevelopment of specific additives was awarded. As an international team of the BYK division, Byungdu Bae, Dr. Marc Eberhardt, Mark Heekeren and Dr. Guillaume Jaunky developed a new family of hydrophilic additives based on advanced technologies and, most notably, brought the flagship BYK®-3560 from the lab onto the market. The product series is highly innovative due to the fact that it offers completely new solutions for recoatability in multilayered systems.
“We are pleased to honor outstanding teamwork and state-of-the-art technology with the ALTANA Innovation Award again this year. Taking a completely new approach, the winners were able to establish an innovative product family of hydrophilic additives on the market. As a result, BYK’s leading position in this segment is further supported,” said Dr. Petra Severit, CTO ALTANA AG.
Various unresolved issues with recoatability were the drivers and motivation for developing new products with new technical solutions. With BYK®-3560 the team took a new, innovative path by drastically increasing the surface energy of coatings and thus significantly improving the adhesion of subsequent coats. “We are proud to have secured a further competitive edge for BYK with our innovative additive product series and thus successfully positioned ourselves for the future,” said Dr. Guillaume Jaunky from the winning BYK team.
The BYK Team prevailed against 14 strong teams from the four ALTANA divisions. The submitted projects were evaluated based on different criteria. The innovative strength of the projects played a role, as well as the economic advantage that the company can gain from the implementation.
ALTANA is a global leader in true specialty chemicals. The Group offers innovative, environmentally compatible solutions for coating manufacturers, paint and plastics processors, the printing and packaging industries, the cosmetics sector and the electrical and electronics industry. The product range includes additives, special coatings and adhesives, effect pigments, sealants and compounds, impregnating resins and varnishes, and testing and measuring instruments. ALTANA's four divisions, BYK, ECKART, ELANTAS, and ACTEGA, all occupy a leading position in their target markets with respect to quality, product solution expertise, innovation and service.
Headquartered in Wesel, Germany, the ALTANA Group has 52 production facilities and 60 service and research laboratories worldwide. Throughout the Group about 6,300 people work to ensure the worldwide success of ALTANA. In 2017, ALTANA achieved sales of more than €2.2 billion. About 7 percent of sales are invested in research and development every year. Its high earning power and high growth rate make ALTANA one of the most innovative, fastest growing, and profitable chemical companies in the world.
