EZD celebrates its 10th anniversary

On May 5, 2014, the European Center for Dispersion Technologies (EZD) was officially opened by the then Bavarian Minister of Economic Affairs, Ilse Aigner (CSU), after just nine months of construction. The EZD was the result of an impressive joint effort. The original idea came from several companies from the local economy who recognized the necessity and potential of such a facility in the Fichtelgebirge. The EZD is a flagship project in Upper Franconia, which was set up by Germany's largest plastics institute, the SKZ Plastics Center, in close cooperation with industry and with considerable support from the Free State of Bavaria. The Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs supported the EZD with funding amounting to 5.2 million euros. The enormous variety of issues relating to the optimal dispersion of materials from a wide range of sectors is enormous and one of the challenges that the institute has been tackling for ten years now. The Research and Innovation Center is primarily intended to act as an industry-oriented contact point that small and medium-sized companies in particular can turn to without their own development capacity. The EZD currently has eleven permanent employees, who are regularly supported by students writing their theses at the EZD.

In 2023, just nine years after it was founded, the research institute reached a major milestone. After a construction period of just under 15 months, another building was added to the site, which was officially opened on July 31, 2023. The new building doubled the existing space: an additional 700 m² are now available for research and development. As part of the expansion, a laboratory for the coating and characterization of surfaces and a dispersion pilot plant were set up. The institute will thus expand its industry-oriented research into paints, coatings and inks, enabling it to offer complete solutions from raw material to application. The focus is particularly on the development of bio-based and functional coatings. The new dispersion pilot plant will focus on the upscaling and digitalization of dispersion processes as well as the energy-efficient production of dispersions. The Bavarian State Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy funded the expansion of the EZD in Selb with around 4.1 million euros. "We look back on the last ten years with pride. Since the EZD was founded, we have established ourselves as a research partner for industrial companies in the fields of formulation, production and characterization - we have already worked successfully with more than 500 companies. In addition to our research and development activities, we are also active in the field of training and knowledge transfer. As a recognized development partner to the paint, coatings and plastics industry, we support companies in the development and manufacture of innovative products," says Dr. Felipe Wolff-Fabris, Site Manager of the EZD. "Many partners have accompanied the EZD in Selb from the very beginning and we are looking forward to the coming years."