Luxinnovation, LIST Sign MoU to Develop €16m Sustainable Composite Materials Centre

On 4 April 2023, Luxinnovation and the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) regarding the development of the recently inaugurated Sustainable Composite Materials and Manufacturing Innovation Centre (SCMM). 

According to the statement published by Luxembourg's Ministry of the Economy, this cooperation agreement aims to strengthen business development activities, build community engagement, foster interactions between several stakeholders and improve knowledge-sharing.

The Sustainable Composite Materials and Manufacturing Innovation Centre was officially launched by LIST in December 2022 with support from the Ministry of the Economy, the Ministry of Higher Education and Research, and several industry players, who co-financed the initiative with a budget of over €16 million.

On 4 April 2023, Luxinnovation CEO Sasha Baillie and LIST CEO Thomas Kallstenius signed a memorandum of understanding on behalf of their respective organisations to enhance the centre’s operations by implementing a well-thought-out, multi-layered approach to stakeholder engagement in order to accelerate the development and usage of sustainable composite materials by industries.

The innovation centre’s aim is to develop sustainable and ultra-lightweight composite materials suitable for a variety of mobility applications in the rail, space, aeronautics and future urban air mobility sectors in order to combat the effects of climate change and achieve the net zero emission targets by 2050. The centre particularly targets the local transport sector currently accounting for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions in Luxembourg.

This MoU agreement specifically lays out the commitments of both institutions to advance the Sustainable Composite Materials and Manufacturing centre’s three core pillars including business development outreach, community and partnership management, and knowledge management.

Within the scope of the MoU agreement, LIST will lead the partnership development activities, and oversee the centre’s research programme, infrastructure management and operations.

Luxinnovation will support the development of the Centre through several outreach activities such as awareness raising and promotion, market intelligence and support to R&D and innovation project submissions to existing funding schemes. Luxinnovation will also facilitate interactions between the centre, industry players and the Ministry of the Economy, support the organisation of bi-annual partnership days and share in-house expertise and insights from the manufacturing ecosystem mapping.

"We are pleased to collaborate with LIST to drive the development of the Innovative Centre and to foster synergies among the various stakeholders who stand to benefit from its establishment. The SCMM not only gives Luxembourg companies tremendous opportunities to carry out innovative projects in the field of sustainable composite materials but also helps us to attract innovative international companies to develop new technologies in Luxembourg," said Sasha Baillie, CEO of Luxinnovation.

"Our Innovation Centre for sustainable composite materials and manufacturing proposes an efficient and open approach allowing the rapid transition of research results to the real economy by bringing together, in an ambitious innovation programme, LIST researchers with end-users (OEMs), and national and international stakeholders. We are committed to making a difference in addressing the climate change challenge, and the Centre will be a key instrument in this endeavour bringing innovative sustainable materials and solutions to our industrial partners. Luxinnovation is an excellent partner for us to expand our reach and have a significant impact. Together with our business partners, they will accelerate the promotion of the centre’s activities towards original equipment manufacturers but also national and international players in the composite materials sector," said Thomas Kallstenius, CEO of LIST.

Major automotive, aerospace, aeronautics and rail transport manufacturers in Europe including Toyota, Airbus, Thales Alenia Space, and Alstom are already involved in the effort and will contribute their ideas on the technological requirements for future mobility. These building blocks will inspire the development of demonstrators – for instance, bodywork, structural vehicle components, battery boxes, or hydrogen tanks – with the input of composite material producers and other SCMM members.