Speaker
Dr
Wolfgang Hater
(Kurita Europe GmbH)
Description
Kurita Europe GmbH is located in Ludwigshafen, Germany and has more than 500 employees and is operating in Europe, Middle East and frica. It was founded 1989 and is an affiliate of the Kurita Water Industries Ltd with headquarters in Tokio. Founded in 1949 the Kurita group achieved a turnover of ca. 1.8 Billion US-$ with worldwide 5400 employees. The Kurita Group produces chemicals and equipment for water treatment and water purification and provides services to their customers.
Research and development is done both in Japan and Germany in the technical centers. The topics are mainly related to all kinds of phenomena related to water, such as corrosion, scaling, microbiological growth and purification. There are co-operations with universities, research centers and institutes.
A key difference to academic research is the focus on markets and economy and the protection of the know-how (intellectual property) by patents and trademarks. This has also a strong impact on the publishing strategy. Furthermore, time to market is a more critical issue in industry.
The researcher in industry has to have a broad spectrum of capabilities besides his scientific know-ledge, just to mention high communication skills and to be able to work in an international environment. Furthermore, legal aspects and salesmanship play an important role in his work. In the ever changing world still an efficient and innovative R&D is a key for the long-term success of the company.
Primary author
Dr
Wolfgang Hater
(Kurita Europe GmbH)
