Industry News

Prince Philippe visits Glaverbel R&D Centre in Jumet

December 19, 2005

On Friday, 16 December, HRH Prince Philippe paid a visit to Glaverbel's R&D Centre in Jumet. The prince, who has a keen interest in R&D and innovation as sources of prosperity and welfare, was met on his arrival by Arthur Ulens, CEO of Glaverbel and President of AGC Flat Glass.

Behind the scenes of advances in glassmaking

After meeting the Glaverbel management, the prince visited various laboratories including those of the melting, processes and coatings departments. With the aim of constantly improving the products and processes, these departments deal respectively with the composition and physical properties of clear and coloured glass, phenomena that occur during production of glass, and the application of coatings* on the surface of the glass. The field of coatings is of particular strategic importance, and here Glaverbel has established a firm leadership position thanks to its wide range of products and the progress made by it over the past 20 years. The visit closed with an informal meeting with the research teams.

A history of innovation

As pointed out by Arthur Ulens on this occasion, many of the R&D Centre's innovations have been of major significance for the glass industry. "The latest example is our Energy NT, the first toughenable coated glazing, which combines solar control with thermal insulation against cold." In the past, the same expertise in surface treatment and coating deposition was fully exploited in the development of Mirox New Generation Ecological. This lead-free, copper-free mirror glass, made to very strict quality standards, has won several prizes for innovation in the "ecological" category since it was first introduced.