Packaging

Borealis sponsors chaired professor seat at Abu Dhabi Petroleum Institute

Tuesday 16. February 2010 - Borealis, a leading provider of chemical and innovative plastics solutions, announces the establishment of a chaired professor seat at the Petroleum Institute in Abu Dhabi to support polymer science education in the region. The Borealis Chaired Professor will be funded for an initial four year period within the University's Material Science department.

The Chaired Professor will be selected by a committee on the basis of academic and research credentials. The annual contribution from Borealis will cover manpower requirements and research costs.

“Borealis’ pledge to add value to its customers’ operations and products makes it essential to further research into plastics solutions that can deliver step change innovations to benefit the whole industry,” comments Alfred Stern, Borealis Senior Vice President for Innovation and Technology. “The Middle East’s emerging polymer science and engineering sectors require grassroots support to recognise their potential. Through this new professorship and together with our Borouge joint venture with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) we aim to make a positive contribution towards their success.”

The Petroleum Institute (PI) was created in 2001 with the goal of becoming a world-class institution in engineering education and research in areas of significance to the oil and gas and the broader energy industries. The PI’s sponsors and affiliates include ADNOC. Currently there are over 1000 undergraduate students, nearly 30% female and 70% male and close to 50 graduate students enrolled at the University.

Borealis’ commitment to education in plastics is firmly rooted in the company’s strategy and goes beyond the Middle East. To support the increasing demand for highly qualified staff in the plastics industry, Borealis recently became joint sponsor of a new Plastic Engineering degree programme at Johannes Kepler University in Linz, Austria. Together with OMV, a total of EUR 3 million has been contributed towards the implementation and expansion of four new departments within the School of Technical Science.