An innovative process developed at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP), which makes it possible to provide sun protection to cork, was recently licensed to TMG Automotive, a Portuguese manufacturer of interiors for the automotive industry and a supplier of major OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers).
The project, which relies on the cork's pigmentation, was born out of Rita Almeida's PhD thesis in Chemical Engineering at FEUP and caught the attention of TMG, where the thesis was carried out. "We want to move forward with the industrial scale-up of this technology, ensuring that the process is optimized for large-scale production,” say the representatives of the company, which is also the co-holder of the patent application since 2024.
The project, which relies on the cork's pigmentation, was born out of Rita Almeida's PhD thesis in Chemical Engineering at FEUP and caught the attention of TMG, where the thesis was carried out. "We want to move forward with the industrial scale-up of this technology, ensuring that the process is optimized for large-scale production,” say the representatives of the company, which is also the co-holder of the patent application since 2024.
