Kyocera to acquire 100% ownership of H.C. Starck Ceramics GmbH

Kyocera Corporation’s Germany-based European headquarters, Kyocera Fineceramics GmbH, concluded an agreement with H.C. Starck GmbH to acquire 100 percent of the shares of its subsidiary H.C. Starck Ceramics GmbH. H.C. Starck Ceramics will join Kyocera Group and begin operations in spring 2019, subject to regulatory approval.

ANSYS and material intelligence leader Granta Design sign definitive acquisition agreement

ANSYS, global leader and innovator of engineering simulation software, entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Granta Design, premier provider of materials information technology. The acquisition expands ANSYS’ portfolio, giving ANSYS customers access to material intelligence, including data critical to successful simulations.

Dalmia Bharat Group’s refractories business acquires GSB Group from Germany

Dalmia OCL, India’s second-largest refractory company, marked its first international acquisition with takeover of GSB Group GmbH, a German-based speciality refractory maker. The takeover provides Dalmia OCL access to customers in heart of steel/refractory making belt in Europe and state-of-the-art technology to make cleaner steel.

Avalon attracts development partner to Nechalacho rare earth elements project

Cheetah Resources Pty Ltd., a private Australian company, signed a binding Terms Sheet with Avalon Advanced Materials Inc. to participate in development of rare earth resources on Avalon’s mining leases collectively comprising the Nechalacho Project at Thor Lake near Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada.

World of Concrete draws its largest crowd in a decade

World of Concrete 2019, the 44th edition of the trade show, drew more than 60,500 people, making it the largest show in more than 10 years. The annual event for the international concrete and masonry industries also featured more than 1,500 companies, including 259 brand new companies.

Ardagh seeks to reboot US glass business with second closure

Ardagh Group plans to close a second United States glass-container plant in a little over a year, this time its Lincoln, Illinois, facility, which employs about 150 people. The group operates more than 100 facilities in 22 countries, employing about 23,000 people.

ZEISS develops first multifunctional smart glass

ZEISS integrated transparent glass and plastic with invisible, microstructured optics to permit a range of different applications, like gesture recognition or eye tracking without any visible optical systems. ZEISS will showcase its innovations as part of an exhibit at the SPIE Photonics West trade fair Feb. 5-7, 2019 in San Francisco.

Missouri S&T to host Missouri Concrete Conference in May

Missouri S&T will host the annual Missouri Concrete Conference May 6-7 at the Havener Center on the S&T campus. Conference organizers divided presentations into four major categories: pavements, construction, ready mix operations, and buildings and structures.

New glass processing unit commissioned in Oman

Al Tasnim Group became first company in Sultanate of Oman to indigenously process glass on a massive scale. Leading glass manufacturers such as Emirates Glass, Guardian Glass, Pilkington North America, and Saint Gobain Glass certified their glass processing unit.

Tesla to buy energy tech company Maxwell Technologies for about $218 million

Tesla plans to acquire energy technology company Maxwell Technologies for about $218 million. Maxwell makes ultracapacitors, devices that store and rapidly deliver surges of energy. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is a fan of the technology for electric cars.

Gauzy to build second factory in Germany

Materials science specialist Gauzy will build its second factory to produce smart glass by Research Frontiers in Stuttgart, Germany. Gauzy expects the new facility to be in production within the next six months.

New research offers first complete picture of lithium-ion battery performance

Researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Stanford University, and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory led a study to address misconceptions about lithium-ion batteries and provide a foundational understanding of properties.

Author

Lisa McDonald