This year we celebrate the 10th anniversary of ChemStream.
On the 29th of April 2010, ChemStream was created by 3 enthusiastic founders:
Roland Claes, Frank De Voeght and Geert Deroover, each former employee of Agfa-Gevaert N.V.
In September 2010 they inaugurated a laboratory of 50 m2 in the then UBCA (Antwerp University Business Centre) in Edegem (Belgium), and in May 2011 a first employee was recruited.
Over the past 10 years, the small business has steadily grown to a total occupancy of 14 people and a total floor space of 550 m2, and ChemStream proved to be a class example of an independent chemical R&D company that according to Graydon is among the 10% best performing companies in its sector. Every year, profits are made that are reinvested into the company.
A quick overview of the development of ChemStream over the past 10 years can be found in the following list of activities and memorabilia:
01/01/2011
First subsidized IWT project ECOBLOCK (Development of UV-curable hydrogel coatings for yarn used as a protective component in optical cables), which led to 1 of ChemStream's patents EP2835385A1 (Poly-electrolyte polymer composition and its use).
Meanwhile, ChemStream has been a partner in at least 9 other VLAIO projects, linked to FISCH (Flanders Innovation hub for Sustainable Chemistry), CATALISTI (the spearhead cluster for the chemical and plastics industry of Flanders) or SIM (Strategic Initiative Materials in Flanders).
ChemStream is a member of FISCH and a member of the Board of Directors of CATALISTI.
Sept 2011
Installation of a first modular inkjet printing system by VDW-Consulting bv, after which 3 more systems followed in increasing complexity (moving belt -> X, Y, Z-table / 2D -> 3D inkjet printing).
Participation in 1st fair - EUROFINISH 2011 at Flanders Expo Ghent.
In the meantime, ChemStream participated to many local and international fairs and created its own modular stand in collaboration with stand builder White House Design, which this year won a World Exhibition Stand Award in the category of Print Events (stand at INPRINT 2019).
01/11/2011
The launch of the first European project participation ‘PANNA’ (Plasma And Nano for New Age "soft" conservation) in the context of the protection of cultural heritage.
Meanwhile, ChemStream has been involved in 4 European projects, including 3 Horizon 2020 projects:
ROBOX - Expanding the industrial use of Robust Oxidative Biocatalysts for the conversion and production of alcohols (01/04/2015-31/03/2019)
LORCENIS - Long Lasting Strengthened Concrete for Energy Infrastructure under Severe Operation Conditions (01/04/2016-31/03/2020)
InDIRECT – Direct and Indirect Biorefinery Technologies for Conversion of Organic side-streams into multiple marketable products (01/11/2016-31/10/2019)
Oct 2012
Birth of the ChemStream LOGO.
2013
Birth of the first website of ChemStream, after which a worthy more modern successor was designed and launched in 2017.
27/06/2014
ChemStream's 1st patent was filed.
Meanwhile, 2 patents have been published with ChemStream as the Applicant:
1. SURFACE ACTIVE AGENT AND PREPARATION THEREOF
Publication info: EP2818237 (A1) 2014-12-31
2. POLY-ELECTROLYTE POLYMER COMPOSITION AND ITS USE
Publication info: EP2835385 (A1) 2015-02-11, US2016040352 (A1) 2016-02-11
27/06/2014
Participation in the first Inkjet Conference (Düsseldorf), in which we have participated every year since then and where we have already won 3 Best Speaker Awards.
Many other conferences were also visited by ChemStream, often with contributions such as lectures, posters or table tops.
2017
First batch synthesis of a polymerized dispersing agent (up to volumes of 8 Kg), after which flow chemistry was introduced as an alternative synthesis method.
25-28/03/2019
First ESMA INKJET ESSENTIALS Workshop organized at and by ChemStream. This workshop focused on ink design and integration and provided a mix between lectures and hands-on training to better understand the possibilities of inkjet printing in an industrial production environment.
13 People from all over the world and from very different kinds of companies attended this course.
Over the years ChemStream invested in a wide range of measuring devices and other equipment to support its research and development. Some examples are listed below:
Nordson UV-conveyor MiniCure and Aktiprint T-E UV Cure Station
Brookfield viscometer
Kruss EasyDrop system
GCMS Varian 3800/Saturn200 and Agilent GCMS
Agilent LCMS en GPC
Bruker Alpha FTIR spectrometer
Ocean Optics Jaz spectrophotometer
TIGRES PLASMA BLASTER
2 Dynomill Research Lab
Malvern Mastersizer 2000
RETSCH centrifugal mill ZM200
DATACOLOR Check 3 Lab-meter
Agilent Cary 60 UV-VIS spectrophotometer
...