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Company from Akron's sister city in Germany opens office at Canal Place
By Bob Downing
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Saturday, Nov 29, 2008
Akron's sister-city relationship with a city in Germany is developing more than just cultural ties and exchanges.
A German company on Friday held a ribbon-cutting ceremony, followed by a champagne toast, to celebrate opening an Akron office to strengthen its U.S. presence.
Advanced Machinery and Technology for Experimental Chemistry (AMTEC), based in Chemnitz, Germany, opened an office in the Akron Global Business Accelerator, becoming its 40th tenant.
Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic and Lord Mayor Barbara Ludwig of Chemnitz both said they were pleased by the business opportunity that developed from the Akron-Chemnitz connection.
Plusquellic said he was thrilled that the connection helped AMTEC locate in Akron and said he envisioned the day when Akron companies wanting to spread into Europe might locate in Chemnitz.
AMTEC is not a start-up company and has been in operation since 1997, said company spokesman Michael Krusche.
The company offers a highly automated parallel reactor system for materials testing for clients that include Procter & Gamble, Shell, BASF and Bayer, he said.
It offers a wide range of laboratory equipment for the screening of catalysts, nanotechnology and materials, he said.
Such testing is essential in developing more reliable products for client companies, he said.
The firm, a privately held limited liability corporation, was founded as a technology promoter and networking agency. Its main focus initially was on mi
cro-system technology-based sensors and actuators for fluidics developed at the Center of Microelectronics at the Technical University of Chemnitz.
Krusche said he has been working with city of Akron officials since January to get the new office opened.
He said a small staff will be hired early next year.
Akron could become the U.S. headquarters for the company's expanded operations in the future, he said.
Prior to the ribbon cutting, Plusquellic and Terry Martell, director of operations at the city-run incubator at Canal Place, gave Ludwig a tour of the facility in the former B.F. Goodrich plant off South Main Street.
That included stops at Niche Vision, where Victor Meles explained that his forensic DNA company has developed equipment and a computer program for conducting a microscopic search for sperm cells to help analysts in crime labs solve rape cases more quickly by locating as few as one or two sperm cells. Twelve of the systems are in use in American crime labs, he said.
InSeT Systems LLC is working to develop an inertial navigation guidance technology that could be used to locate miners in underground coal mines in case of disasters.
The inspiration was the 2006 Sago coal mine accident near Buckhannon, W.Va., where 12 miners died because there was no way to determine where the miners were trapped underground.
The company is developing a system similar to that used for missile guidance systems or in navigating submerged submarines, Martell said.
The InSeT system in June was named a Top 10 Invention for 2008 by Popular Science magazine.
Ludwig appeared impressed by what she saw on her tour. Through an interpreter, she likened what she saw in the Akron incubator companies to a concert because of the inspiration offered.
Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com.
Akron's sister-city relationship with a city in Germany is developing more than just cultural ties and exchanges.
Get the full article here.
