1.16.2007 - 11:29am ET

(CSRwire) NEW DELHI, India & NEW YORK, January 16, 2007--Alcoa (NYSE:AA) announced today that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with India’s Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) to partner in collaborative research projects that address critical global issues such as energy efficiency, alternative and renewable energy sources, environmental technologies as well as multi-material engineered solutions.

The MOU establishes the CSIR/Alcoa Leadership Innovation Council that will steer and support innovations that generate value for both organizations.

“CSIR is happy to partner with Alcoa on challenging R&D activities that will help make tomorrow’s world better,” said Director General R.A. Mashelkar of CSIR. “We are looking forward to connecting researchers with common purposes and common goals around innovation.”

“We are excited to partner with the research community in India and leverage our combined capabilities to develop solutions for some of the most difficult problems that face governments and business,” said Dr. Mohammad Zaidi, Executive Vice President, Market Strategy, Technology and Quality, Alcoa. “We are anxious to begin working on projects with CSIR that we have identified as areas of mutual interest.”

Both CSIR and Alcoa will each have four standing members on the council, which will be co-chaired by Dr. Swaminathan Sivaram, Director, National Chemistry Laboratory of CSIR, and Dr. Ashok Nayak, Director, External Innovations & Technology Strategy, Alcoa.

Some of the areas of initial focus include energy innovations to ensure long-term sustainability of operations, environmental innovations that use nano-technology and biotechnology to convert waste to products, packaging innovations that provide next-generation solutions to customers, and multi-material engineered solutions for a number of markets.

About CSIR

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research is a premier R&D organization of India, with a chain of 38 research laboratories spread all over the country. CSIR covers a wide spectrum of science and technology. It carries out research of value not only to industry, but also to the other vital sectors of economy. Several national and international companies have strategic linkages with CSIR to jointly develop a new knowledgebase.

About Alcoa Technology

Alcoa’s global technology organization is comprised of thousands of scientists, engineers and researchers around the world dedicated to discovering and developing the next-generation of Alcoa products, processes and services. Alcoa’s scientific community is connected globally to research centers and universities in Russia, China, India, Europe and the United States. Founded on the innovative spirit of Charles Martin Hall and his patent that sparked the entire aluminum industry, Alcoa has more than 2,600 active patents today. The company also owns the world’s largest light metals research and development center, one of only two light metals R&D centers in the world. Alcoa annually invests approximately 1% of its revenues in R&D, which is helping to build a foundation for Alcoa’s future.

About Alcoa

Alcoa is the world's leading producer and manager of primary aluminum, fabricated aluminum and alumina facilities, and is active in all major aspects of the industry. Alcoa serves the aerospace, automotive, packaging, building and construction, commercial transportation and industrial markets, bringing design, engineering, production and other capabilities of Alcoa's businesses to customers. In addition to aluminum products and components, Alcoa also markets consumer brands including Reynolds Wrap(R) foils and plastic wraps, Alcoa(R) wheels, and Baco(R) household wraps. Among its other businesses are closures, fastening systems, precision castings, and electrical distribution systems for cars and trucks. The company has 129,000 employees in 44 countries and has been named one of the top most sustainable corporations in the world at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. More information can be found at www.alcoa.com