Large global petrochemical company wanting to manufacture plastic/composite railroad ties from recycled material.
Braskem is a $15B global plastic manufacturer in Brazil. They are looking to manufacture Plastic/composite ties that will outlast wood, ideally using recycled material. They are currently able to, but process/technology costs are not yet cost effective.
Price point is always important; however, product performance is even more so. The advantage of the product should include benefits around:
- rail/wheel interaction;
- ballast’s maintenance consumption;
- Life Cycle cost of the tie;
- Environment requisitions
- pavement’s levels design
Members of the technical staff will be on campus at the end of May for meetings.
Braskem is hungry for new and innovative technology. It has a good process and contact for working with startups and has had past successes with MIT startups. They will provide follow-ups, and also has a venture arm. They are hoping to understand and create partnerships at MIT about research to work with composites in cold temperatures (above 0°C).
* Note this is a meeting opportunity, meaning there may or may not be a defined project as of the meeting. The purpose of the meeting is mutual discovery: for you to learn about the company's problem and for them to learn about your products and services. If there's mutual match, that could lead to more.