14 March 2014
Details
The Group will extend and modernise
its Paris-Saclay research centre, near Versailles,
which is its main Research & Development centre in the world.
A single building will house
the 350 current researchers and the 46 laboratories
and will have pilot platforms with equipment
for designing and testing technologies
in industrial-scale conditions.
It will allow Air Liquide to
reinforce its "open innovation" strategy
through academic and industrial research partnerships
with players from the Paris-Saclay innovation ecosystem.
Air Liquide thereby reinforces its presence in this ecosystem,
which now includes 10,500 researchers and 48,000 students,
and which by 2020 will be
one the 10 biggest innovation hubs in the world.
Moreover, Air Liquide will also create
a centre for the development of gas packaging
for Industry and Health
on its Paris-Saclay site.
And finally, building on the investments carried out
by the Group in cryogenics for over a century,
Air Liquide will create
a technical centre of excellence
for cryogenic production technologies
in Vitry-sur-Seine, near Paris.
François Darchis,
member of Air Liquide's Executive Committee, commented:
"The Group's innovation is based on
our comprehensive knowledge of our markets,
on the mastery of our technologies and on
our capacity to interact with the innovation ecosystem.
These major projects,
which bring together diversified expertises,
will allow us to sustain our innovation activity
in France, and will contribute to
Air Liquide's profitable growth over the long term.
France is a key country in terms of innovation
for Air Liquide as it has a critical mass of talent.
Our strategy relies on competitiveness in our operations,
targeted investments in growing markets,
and innovation to create new markets and opportunities."
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