The EZD in Selb celebrates its 10th anniversary

On May 5, 2014, the time had come: the EZD was officially opened in bright sunshine by the then Bavarian Minister of Economic Affairs, Ilse Aigner (CSU), after just nine months of construction. The EZD was the result of an impressive joint effort. The original idea came from several companies from the local economy who recognized the necessity and potential of such a facility in the Fichtelgebirge. The EZD is a flagship project in Upper Franconia, which was set up by Germany’s largest plastics institute, the SKZ Plastics Center, in close cooperation with industry and with considerable support from the Free State of Bavaria. The Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs supported the EZD with funding amounting to 5.2 million euros.

Contact point for small and medium-sized companies
The enormous variety of issues relating to the optimal dispersion of materials from a wide range of sectors is enormous and one of the challenges that the institute has been tackling for ten years now. The Research and Innovation Center is primarily intended to act as an industry-oriented contact point to which small and medium-sized companies in particular without their own development capacity can turn. The EZD currently has eleven permanent employees, who are regularly supported by students writing their theses at the EZD.

Expansion of the site in 2023
The research institute reached a major milestone in 2023, just nine years after it was founded. After a construction period of just under 15 months, the site was expanded to include another building, which was officially opened on July 31, 2023. The new building doubled the existing space: an additional 700 m² are now available for research and development. As part of the expansion, a laboratory for the coating and characterization of surfaces and a dispersion pilot plant were set up. The institute will thus expand its industry-oriented research into paints, coatings and inks, and will be able to offer complete solutions from raw material to application. The focus is particularly on the development of bio-based and functional coatings. The new dispersion pilot plant will focus on the upscaling and digitalization of dispersion processes and the energy-efficient production of dispersions. The Bavarian State Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy funded the expansion of the EZD in Selb with around 4.1 million euros.

Active partner network
The EZD also maintains an active partner network in the interdisciplinary field of dispersing. Improvements in the field of dispersing a wide variety of material systems are of essential importance to a number of industrial partners. The institute’s range of training courses includes online and classroom courses as well as individual training courses on the topics of dispersion and characterization of suspensions, dye and pigment dispersions, formulation and characterization of inkjet inks and filled resin systems. It is precisely the remarkable combination of theory and practice in the laboratory and in training and further education that makes the EZD an institution with an absolutely unique selling point throughout Europe.

Collaboration with more than 500 companies
“We look back on the last ten years with pride. Since the EZD was founded, we have established ourselves as a research partner for industrial companies in the field of formulation, production and characterization – we have already worked successfully with more than 500 companies. In addition to our research and development activities, we are also active in the field of training and knowledge transfer. As a recognized development partner to the paint, coatings and plastics industry, we support companies in the development and manufacture of innovative products,” says Dr. Felipe Wolff-Fabris, Branch Office Manager of the EZD. “Many partners have supported the EZD in Selb from the very beginning and we are looking forward to the coming years.”

The EZD is an institution of the SKZ Plastics Center and, as an interdisciplinary and non-profit research and innovation center, deals with the production and characterization of dispersions such as adhesives, resins, inks, coatings and elastomers. It was established in 2014 in close cooperation with industry and with the support of the Free State of Bavaria. A high priority of the EZD is the transfer of scientific research to applied industry.