Data management for BASF combinatorial

BASF and Creon Lab Control, Cologne, have developed a new data management system which supports combinatorial materials research. This is the outcome of a strategic cooperation agreement between the partners which began in March 2002.

BASF expects combinatorial materials research to provide significant cost and time savings in the development of novel or improved polymers and materials. This revolutionary automated technique offers parallel small-scale synthesis, formulation, application and testing of many materials.

Sophisticated data management is needed to enable the control of complex combinatorial workflows, to handle and evaluate the enormous amounts of data produced, and finally to identify promising materials and to identify structure property relationships.

'The innovative software solution of Creon Lab Control fulfills these demands. It integrates hardware and software components into the combinatorial workflow with great flexibility. It controls, archives and reduces the amounts of data produced. As a result, the total research productivity is vastly improved', commented Dr. Thomas Lorenz, who coordinates the project within BASF's combinatorial materials research.