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Fourcault |
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Innovation starting with the mechanical production of glass was just the beginning and later steps followed that would lead us to incremental impulse remitters, the central start boxes for fluorescent lamps and lately research into plasmagenetic integrated circuits. The Fourcault Foundation supports such research, notably in the Glass and Paper Industry. Polymer composites and nano celulose resulting in a new generation of clothes. On the glass side the Fourcault Organisation is preparing the way for glass microchips with Integrated Circuits switched by light, in stead of electricity. Every five year the “Grand Prix Emille Fourcault & Emille Gobbe” is awarded to those who contribute to innovation. |
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Support for innovative technologies and research |
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History
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The innovative spray of the Fourcault Group started at the beginning of the twentieth century with the invention of the Fourcault Glass Manufacturing Machine (procedee Fourcault) by Emile Fourcault (1862-1919) and Emile Gobbe (1849-1915). Emile Fourcault, born in St Joost -ten-Noode (Belgium), decided to modernise the glass factory owned by his family (Verrerie de Dampremy). Even though Fourcault and Gobbe patented their invention already in 1902, the fine-tuning of the production process took longer than expected and the first mechanical flatglass (sheetglass) production started only in 1914. The principle of the Fourcault Machine consists in pulling the viscosic glass vertically between a set of rollers. The worldwide introduction of this technique meant the end for manual flatglass fabrication and a tremendous increase in production. It made Belgium the largest glass producing country in the world. In the 1920’s there were 46 Fourcault glass furnaces worldwide, capable of producing 10 million square meters of flatglass a month. |
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Fourcault Media Group |
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After the sale of most of the obsolete Industrial sites the Fourcault Organisation focusses since 1997 on media development. The Fourcault Media Group (FMG) is probably the most important part of the Fourcault Organisation. Although it operates in a distinct niche, FMG covers a spectrum that ranges from scientific publications to children’s books, from publishing to film and music production. From printing to distribution. FMG and the whole Fourcault Organisation support a policy of inclusivity and diversity. We are part of the global alliance against air polution. |