The agreement was signed by Ernesto Occhiello, SABIC Executive Vice President, Technology & Innovation, and Professor Klavs F. Jenssen, Head of Chemical Engineering, at MIT in Boston on April 1.
“This agreement marks a starting point for collaboration between SABIC and MIT. SABIC will be able to and tap into MIT’s multidisciplinary research capabilities to achieve research excellence,” said Occhiello. “Along with focusing on the important areas of developing unconventional feedstock and innovative new material solutions, SABIC will also focus on innovating in multiple parts of the energy equation,” he said.
This future collaboration will also allow SABIC researchers to work with world class teams of scientists at MIT in the respective joint research areas.
The research relationship with MIT is just one of many SABIC has already established around the world to bring world-class expertise to the company and its customers. SABIC currently has research relationships with Cambridge University in the UK, the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics in China, ETH Zurich in Switzerland, the National Research Council in Italy and the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft in Germany.
About SABIC
Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) ranks among the world’s top petrochemical companies. The company is among the world’s market leaders in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and other advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers.
SABIC recorded a net profit of SR 24.72 billion (US$ 6.59 billion) in 2012. Sales revenues for 2012 totaled SR 189 billion (US$ 50.40 billion). Total assets stood at SR 338 billion (US$ 90.13 billion) at the end of 2012.
SABIC’s businesses are grouped into Chemicals, Polymers, Performance Chemicals, Fertilizers, Metals and Innovative Plastics. SABIC has significant research resources with 18 dedicated Technology & Innovation facilities in Saudi Arabia, the USA, the Netherlands, Spain, Japan, India, China and South Korea. The company operates in more than 40 countries across the world with around 40,000 employees worldwide.
SABIC manufactures on a global scale in Saudi Arabia, the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific.
Headquartered in Riyadh, SABIC was founded in 1976 when the Saudi Arabian Government decided to use the hydrocarbon gases associated with its oil production as the principal feedstock for production of chemicals, polymers and fertilizers. The Saudi Arabian Government owns 70 percent of SABIC shares with the remaining 30 percent held by private investors in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Cooperation Council countries.
