Saint-Gobain's European R&D center specializing in advanced ceramics, high-temperature alloys, and SiC materials for energy and mobility applications.
Saint-Gobain CREE is the European research center of the Saint-Gobain Group, one of the world's largest building materials and high-performance materials companies. They develop advanced ceramic and refractory materials, high-temperature components, and specialty alloys for energy, automotive, and power electronics applications. Their R&D spans from additive manufacturing of ceramics to heat exchangers for concentrated solar power and silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductors for e-mobility. As a corporate R&D lab, they bridge fundamental materials science with industrial-scale deployment across Saint-Gobain's product lines.
Core competence demonstrated across AMITIE (ceramic 3D fabrication), ATHOR (thermomechanical modelling of refractory linings), and OxiGEN (solid oxide fuel cells requiring ceramic components).
COMPASsCO2 focuses on materials for supercritical CO2 power plants, including particle/sCO2 heat exchangers and novel high-temperature alloys — their largest funded project (EUR 702,800).
AMITIE focused specifically on 3D fabrication and AM technologies development for ceramic-based materials.
TRANSFORM (2021-2024) targets the European SiC value chain for power electronics in e-mobility, smart grids, and industry automation.
EAGLE project (2016-2020) on efficient lean gasoline engines, likely contributing substrate or catalyst support materials.
In the early period (2016-2018), Saint-Gobain CREE focused on traditional materials R&D: ceramic additive manufacturing, refractory linings, and automotive engine components. From 2020 onward, their focus shifted decisively toward energy transition technologies — concentrated solar power materials, solid oxide fuel cells, and SiC semiconductors for electrification. This evolution tracks a clear move from process-oriented materials research toward application-driven clean energy and green mobility solutions.
Saint-Gobain CREE is pivoting its materials expertise toward decarbonization applications — expect future work in high-temperature energy systems, wide-bandgap semiconductors, and green hydrogen components.
Saint-Gobain CREE never coordinates H2020 projects — they consistently join as a participant or third party, contributing specialized materials expertise to consortia led by others. With 96 unique partners across 18 countries in just 6 projects, they operate in large, diverse consortia rather than tight bilateral collaborations. This is typical for a corporate R&D lab: they bring deep technical capability to the table without taking on project management overhead.
Broad European network spanning 96 partners across 18 countries, built through participation in large research and innovation consortia. Their reach reflects the geographic diversity of Saint-Gobain's operations rather than a specific regional cluster.
Saint-Gobain CREE offers something rare: a corporate R&D center with deep ceramics and high-temperature materials expertise backed by one of the world's largest materials manufacturers. Unlike university labs, they can take research from lab scale to industrial production within the same corporate ecosystem. For consortium builders, they bring credibility with industry reviewers and a direct pathway to market deployment that few academic partners can match.
