Hydro and University of Michigan Launch $2.5M Aluminum Research Partnership

Eivind Kallevik, President and CEO of Hydro, and Karen A. Thole, Dean of Engineering at the University of Michigan, sign aluminum plaques of an agreement to launch the USD 2.5 million CREATe Partnership, which stands for Center for Recycling, Extrusion, and Aluminum Technology. Photo: Brenda Ahearn / University of Michigan

Ann Arbor and Cassopolis, Michigan (Oct. 29, 2025). Global aluminum producer Hydro and the University of Michigan announced a five-year, $2.5 million research partnership to advance aluminum recycling and next-generation extrusion alloys.

The collaboration, Hydro’s first U.S. university research partnership, aims to strengthen domestic supply chains for mobility and other industries while accelerating circular, low-carbon materials.

The program establishes CREATe: the Center for Recycling, Extrusion and Aluminum Technology, to tackle a core challenge in circular aluminum: maintaining strength and performance over multiple recycling loops despite impurities, notably iron. Three U-M research teams will pursue complementary approaches, including electric-current-assisted refinement of intermetallics, composition-enhanced solidification, and computational alloy design. Project leads include Professors Alan Taub, Ashwin Shahani, and John Allison.

Hydro frames the partnership as part of its expanding U.S. footprint. In recent years the company has invested over $1 billion in U.S. manufacturing capabilities, including a $150 million recycling plant and R&D center in Cassopolis, Michigan, additional R&D in Troy, and strengthened extrusion capacity in Cressona, Pennsylvania. These sites support advanced alloys for crash management and structural applications across the automotive sector.

Why it matters: aluminum’s lightweight and recyclability make it central to vehicle efficiency and to grid and solar infrastructure, but quality losses during repeated recycling can limit use in demanding parts. By engineering alloys that tolerate higher recycled content without sacrificing performance, Hydro and U-M aim to boost circularity, cut emissions, and keep more value and know-how anchored in Michigan’s manufacturing ecosystem.

Both partners positioned the collaboration as a lab to factory bridge. U-M will also pilot a research-focused master’s track aligned with industry needs, helping translate scientific advances into deployable materials for automotive and beyond.