The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW), in partnership with its joint venture, DowAksa, and a consortium of composites-related businesses, academic leaders and government organizations, is pleased to have been selected by the Obama Administration to establish the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI).

IACMI will help advance the state of knowledge and commercialization of carbon fiber composites technology in response to market demands for strong, lightweight materials by creating a platform to overcome technological and cost barriers to the wide-scale adoption of carbon fiber composites in a variety of industrial sectors including pressure vessel, infrastructure and wind, and automotive.

A key example is the collaboration between Ford and DowAksa to develop manufacturing innovations in automotive-grade carbon fiber. IACMI creates a strategic platform for ongoing collaboration between the two companies, which began in 2012 with a joint development agreement between Ford and Dow to develop lost-cost, high-volume carbon fiber composites.

DowAksa, a 50/50 joint venture formed in 2012 between Dow and Aksa Akrilik Kimya Sanayii A.Ş., one of the world’s largest acrylic fiber manufacturers based in Turkey, has become a leader in the production of carbon fiber and carbon fiber intermediates and high quality composite materials, which are extremely value for downstream high-tech manufacturing.

“Dow recognizes the importance of public-private partnerships such as IACMI to create innovative and strategic commercial opportunities aligned to attractive, high-volume industrial markets,” said Heinz Haller, Dow executive vice president and Board Chairman of DowAksa. “IACMI enables further growth with our commercial partners such as Ford to meet demands for lighter weight, competitively priced composite automotive parts.”

“IACMI provides us the perfect venue to de-risk and accelerate many of the significant innovations required to meet the high-volume and competitive pricing requirements of our partner Ford,” said Doug Parks, Dow’s global director of Lightweight Materials and Government Markets and a DowAksa Board member.

About Dow

Dow (NYSE: DOW) combines the power of science and technology to passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. The Company is driving innovations that extract value from the intersection of chemical, physical and biological sciences to help address many of the world's most challenging problems such as the need for clean water, clean energy generation and conservation, and increasing agricultural productivity. Dow's integrated, market-driven, industry-leading portfolio of specialty chemical, advanced materials, agrosciences and plastics businesses delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in approximately 180 countries and in high growth sectors such as packaging, electronics, water, coatings and agriculture. In 2013, Dow had annual sales of more than $57 billion and employed approximately 53,000 people worldwide. The Company's more than 6,000 products are manufactured at 201 sites in 36 countries across the globe. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com.

About DowAksa

Established in 2012, DowAksa is an international 50:50 joint venture between The Dow Chemical Company and Aksa Akrilik Kimya Sanayii A.Ş. Combining the strengths of both partners, the joint venture will manufacture and commercialize carbon fibers and derivatives with a specific focus on the energy, infrastructure and transportation markets. www.dowaksa.com