Argos constructs new Innovation Centre in Colombia

Cementos Argos is constructing a new Innovation Center in Medellín, Colombia. The project is being developed alongside EAFIT University and will become a new meeting place for Argos employees, researchers, academics and the community. The Innovation Center will focus on the fundamental goal of contributing to the cement and concrete industry’s technological and sustainable development.

The Innovation Center will address the industry’s biggest challenges, as well as those of the construction sector and the world in general, which can be divided in two main categories: experimental development and research. The first category will work on new material and product technologies (the development of new materials with better characteristics in terms of performance, quality, aesthetics, functions, eco-efficiency and sustainability). The second category will be focused on new process technologies (better production processes aimed at reducing energy consumption, increasing productivity and improving environmental performance).

Activities at the Innovation Center will cover different fields of knowledge across the following key processes: chemical and physical processes, thermal processes, biotechnological processes, energy processes, experimental processes, materials tests and applications, the development of construction systems, knowledge management, the technical supervising and monitoring of innovation systems and incubation processes, and the development of technology-based businesses. For these activities, it will count on a variety of teams with highly developed analytical skills, and who possess experience and knowledge in the different fields of interest, and the most advanced technology for the different laboratories and each of the key processes mentioned above (e.g. electronic field emission microscopes, X-ray diffractometers and X-ray fluorescence testers, as well as other equipment used for materials analysis).

The Innovation Center will be located on the main campus of EAFIT University and will be open to the complete innovation ecosystem, setting a precedent for the development of the relationship between universities, companies and the state in Colombia.

Adapted from press release by Rosalie Starling

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/the-americas/29092014/argos-constructs-new-innovation-centre-in-colombia-564/