Integral Technologies opened a research and development tech center in Canton late last year and is working toward staffing it up in 2014.
"We will be expanding it early this year," says Doug Bathauer, CEO of
Integral Technologies. "It will be focused on the engineering side of things."
The Washington-based company and its subsidiary,
ElectriPlast, develop and make hybrid conductive plastics. ElectriPlast is a non-corrosive, electrically conductive resin-based material engineered to replace traditional metals such as steel or aluminum. It can be used for electrical and magnetic shielding applications in such industries as automotive, aerospace, consumer electronics, cable and alternative energy. Using ElectriPlast reduces the components' weight by 40-60 percent.
Integral Technologies has signed up a number of large automotive suppliers for ElectriPlast, including Delphi and BASF. Proximity to customers like that played a significant role in the decision to open the R&D tech center in Canton.
"It's really central to a lot of what we're doing," Bathauer says. "Our material, Electriplast, is very well suited for the transportation industry, particularly automotive."
Integral Technologies' Canton office is currently staffed by two full-time employees and 1-2 part-timers. Bathauer expects to hire a couple more people, primarily engineers, as the year goes on and demand for ElectriPlast increases. The tech center will serve as hub for potential customers to design ways to incorporate the material into their products.
"We want it to be an all-inclusive, one-stop-shop for applications of our material," Bathauer says.
Source: Doug Bathauer, CEO of Integral Technologies
Writer: Jon Zemke
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