Alcoa Extends R&D to Russia, India, and China

Alcoa announced in late February 2007 that it is establishing an Innovation Center of Excellence with leading universities in Russia to work on research and development projects focused on innovative mining, refining, and smelting technologies. The Center of Excellence will have facilities at Moscow State University in Moscow, St. Petersburg State Mining Institute in St. Petersburg, and Ural Polytechnic University in Ekaterinburg. The initiative follows complementary research efforts being established by Alcoa in India and China and is in addition to an Alcoa Foundation program in Russia to support education at technical universities in Moscow, Samara, and Rostov-on-Don, the three key regions in the country where the company has offices and production facilities.

In India, Alcoa signed a memorandum of understanding in January 2007 with India’s Council of Scientific & Industrial Research to partner in collaborative research projects that address issues such as energy efficiency, alternative and renewable energy sources, and environmental technologies, as well as multimaterial engineered solutions.

In China, Alcoa has established programs at Northeastern University in Shenyang and Central South University in Changsha, with an R&D focus on innovative process technologies, energy efficiency, and nanotechnology.

“By establishing relationships with leading universities, national labs, and industry partner research and development organizations in growing countries, Alcoa is multiplying its knowledge pool and is continuing to position the company on the cutting-edge of innovations within our key markets,” Alcoa Executive VP for market strategy, technology and quality Mohammad Zaidi said. “By collaborating with the best and brightest around the world who have expertise in the sciences that are the foundation of our key markets, we are creating a powerful leveraging engine.”