In a move signaling a new, innovative approach to multidisciplinary research with university partners, Eastman Chemical Company has entered into a multiyear agreement with North Carolina State University to conduct joint cutting-edge research in chemistry, materials science and other scientific disciplines.

As part of the agreement, Eastman will provide $10 million over six years in support of the Eastman Chemical Company Center of Excellence (ECCE) partnership. It also establishes the Eastman Innovation Center (EIC) laboratory. The lab will be located on Centennial Campus, NC State s nationally recognized research campus.

We re excited about the possibilities the Eastman Innovation Center being established at NC State brings, said Dr. Greg Nelson, senior vice president and chief technology officer at Eastman Chemical Company. Our partnership launches a world-class, open innovation collaboration with a leading university. That relationship will help us bring differentiated new ideas, technologies, and materials from early stage research to the market more quickly than traditional approaches.

This agreement demonstrates NC State s commitment to be a leader in public-private research partnerships, said NC State Chancellor Randy Woodson. Our work with Eastman Chemical Company provides NC State researchers and their students many exciting opportunities to address real-world problems in chemistry and material sciences, and will reduce the time required to take innovative solutions to market.

The developing research agreement with NC State should ease the collaborative process, said Dr. Terri Lomax, NC State vice chancellor for research, innovation and economic development.

In addition to a unique intellectual property agreement, the university has created one central point of contact for Eastman to coordinate activities with both academic and administrative units, Lomax said. From the very beginning, we want to demonstrate that collaborating with NC State is unlike working with any other university.

"Having pre-established cost and intellectual property arrangements makes it easy to start new projects quickly and to encourage easy interactions with North Carolina State University, said Bob Clemens, Eastman s vice president of corporate technology.

The agreement also allows visiting Eastman scientists to work in NC State labs and allows NC State researchers to do the same at Eastman sites. NC State students are also expected to participate in the research projects.The Eastman Innovation Center lab will be located in the Partners II building on Centennial Campus. The company is expected to move into the space in early 2013.