Chennai :  On the eve of its fourth anniversary, DuPont Knowledge Center at Hyderabad, India, announced plans to expand its work in the areas of the three global megatrends of food, energy and protection. As part of the expansion, additional space and facilities are being added for global research inseed traits and for new application development tailored to India.

Homi C Bhedwar, Technical Director, South Asia and ASEAN, DuPont, said, “The last four years has been an exciting journey at DuPont Knowledge Center. Our work at this center is focused on global as well as local market needs. The intellectual property we are developing will enable us to commercialize products from our innovation pipeline.”

Rajeev Vaidya, President – South Asia, DuPont, said, “The proposed expansion at the DuPont Knowledge Center demonstrates the company’s focus on India, a strategic market for DuPont. I am confident that these proposed new application development capabilities will strengthen the company’s innovation pipeline and help accelerate our growth in the region by developing local solutions that will address our customer needs in key growth segments”.

The DuPont Knowledge Center is one of the global centers of excellence for DuPont. Set up in November 2008, it will celebrate its fourth anniversary tomorrow.The proposed expansions at this center include:

             Global research in agriculture biotechnology -This expansion supports the company’s seed trait discovery research. DuPont Knowledge Center is rapidly transitioning into a key integrated resource for the DuPont Pioneer businessand is its largest R&D Center outside the USA.

             Application development facilities for five DuPont businesses -these facilities will develop solutions tailored to local market demands and customer needs. These include:

o             DuPont Industrial Biosciencesapplication development capabilities for fabric care, textile processing and grain processing

o             DuPont Performance Polymersdevelopment facilities for light-weight applications for the growing automotive market in India

o             DuPont Packaging & Industrial Polymerslabs with capabilities to develop applications in food packaging

o             DuPont Titanium Technologiesfacilities that will use the company’s expertise in particle technology and polymer processing for applications in plastics

o             DuPont Protection Technologiesdevelopment facilities that will leverage the company’s flagship products under theDuPont™ Kevlar® and DuPont™ Nomex® brands for automotive applications like tires, conveyor belts, hoses, others.

DuPont Knowledge Center is the company’s only R&D center outside the USA that has developmental activities in all the three global megatrend areas of food, energy & protection under one roof. It undertakes advanced research in agriculture biotechnology, crop protection, industrial biotechnology such as biomaterials & biofuels, and advanced material applications in high-performance polymers, alternative energy & protection. The research & development capabilities at the DuPont Knowledge Center support the company’s global R&D programs and also application development to meet local customer needs for various DuPont businesses.