Materia and QAPCO ink MoU to study the development of the next generation of materials

29-May-14

As Qatar continues to grow its energy and industrial sectors, and attempts to further optimize its hydrocarbon resources utilization, research and innovation are set to propel the future success of these sectors. To further this goal, Materia, Inc. (Materia) and Qatar Petrochemical Company (QAPCO) have forged a partnership, through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), to further reinforce their collaborative R&D efforts, and to study the development of the next generation of materials produced from Qatar's existing feedstocks. Materia's expertise and breakthrough catalyst technology combined with QAPCO resources will provide for the development of new products. Materia specializes in efficient feedstock utilization and the extraction of specific petrochemical and chemical compounds thanks to its unique and innovative technology. Together, they will explore the possibilities to further optimize the use of Qatar's natural resources, by studying how to extract new products from QAPCO's current feedstock, with the aim to maximize the value related to QAPCO's existing processes. Dr. Mohammed Yousef Al Mulla, Vice Chairman and CEO of QAPCO stated: "Joint industry-academia R&D, such as our collaboration with Materia and Texas A&M at Qatar, is very promising and paves the way to infinite possibilities while supporting the growth of Qatar's knowledge-based economy. Collaborating with some of the world's leading experts on research projects focusing on olefins, polymers and petrochemicals has the potential to add further value to our feedstock, which could be strongly beneficial for QAPCO and ultimately for the hydrocarbon resources of the State." Dr. Michael A. Giardello, Materia's President, CEO & CTO stated: "This envisioned collaboration should enable QAPCO to extract greater value from some of its by-product streams, therefore unlocking greater value from Qatar's natural resources thanks to Materia's unique and advanced technologies."