About NEWMAT

A functional materials platform for physical intelligence and advanced manufacturing

NEWMAT is a functional materials platform for physical intelligence and advanced manufacturing. Building on functional polymer design, interlayer interfaces and precision compounding, we connect materials R&D, experimental validation, process scale-up and product delivery.

Platform

From molecule to contact part

The materials and engineering experience we have built in glove coatings, rail transit, automotive and lightweight PV now supports the development of robotic contact interfaces. We start from the customer’s real task, turn the requirement into a material, structure and process solution, and bring products in through project validation.

Polymer network flowing into layered material films and a soft robotic fingertip

Cross-industry

One materials platform, several industries

Glove coatings, rail transit coatings, automotive materials and lightweight PV materials feed a shared base of materials, interface and engineering methods, which supports robotic contact materials and parts. Glove coatingsRail transit coatingsAutomotive materialsLightweight PV materials Shared know-how materials · interfaces engineering methods Robotic contact materials & parts
What carries over is materials knowledge, development methods and engineering experience—not the same formulations or certifications.

Method

We reuse a development method, not a formulation

Starting point

Real tasks from customers

  • Turn the requirement into the language of materials

Established raw-material systems

Acrylic · polyurethane · silicone

  • Resins and formulations redesigned for each target property

Shared across applications

Functional design · interlayer interfaces · precision compounding

    Product forms

    Different products from one method

    • Functional coatings gloves · rail · automotive
    • Lightweight composite front sheets lightweight PV for roofs and vehicles
    • Flexible contact modules robotic visuotactile sensing
    What we reuse is the development method, not a single formulation. Experiment, validation and engineering experience flow back into the next round.

    How we work

    How we work

    Each project runs the same loop, and what we learn goes back into the next one.

    1. 1Real task
    2. 2Functional breakdown
    3. 3Materials & interfaces
    4. 4Testing
    5. 5Process scale-up
    6. 6Product delivery
    7. 7Learning fed back

    Capabilities

    R&D and manufacturing capabilities

    From materials R&D to volume manufacturing, four functions work together. They describe the company’s overall set-up; production capacity for robotic contact parts is set up project by project and is not implied here.

    Process: Automated experimentation & material screeningReal photos, animated (slow pan + cross-fade) · Illustrates the process type; not footage of a specific facility.

    Materials R&D & automated experiments

    Research

    • Materials R&D
    • Experimental validation
    • Automated experiments
    Process: Injection moulding & toolingReal photo, animated (slow pan) · Illustrates the process type; not footage of a specific facility.

    Process validation & reaction scale-up

    Pilot

    • Process validation
    • Reaction scale-up
    • Bridge to industrialisation
    Process: Thin-film glove material samplesReal footage, looped · Illustrates the process type; not footage of a specific facility.

    Volume manufacturing of powder materials

    Manufacturing

    • Volume manufacturing of upstream powder materials for solar and automotive
    Process: Automated dosing & mixingReal photo, animated (slow pan) · Illustrates the process type; not footage of a specific facility.

    Industrialisation of waterborne coatings & related materials

    Industrialisation

    • Industrialisation of waterborne coatings and lightweight PV front sheets

    AI

    AI is not only in the lab

    Three layers: who we serve, how we work, and how we run research.

    1. 01

      Serving AI

      Physical intelligence and advanced manufacturing

      Our robotics work supplies the contact materials and parts that AI-driven robots need to handle the physical world.

      Current work
    2. 02

      Working with AI

      In R&D and company operations

      We use AI tools in materials research and day-to-day operations, alongside automated experimental equipment in our research lab.

      Current work
    3. 03

      Faster experiments

      A data–experiment–feedback loop

      We are building a loop in which experiment results, project data and field feedback steer the next round of development.

      In development

    Team

    From lab to production — built to deliver

    Materials, industry and commercial teams work together on every project.

    • Capability

      Materials R&D

      Full-stack formulation from molecular design to coating application, built over years of functional-polymer work.

    • Capability

      Sensor interface engineering

      A dedicated visuotactile materials group: silicone tuning, marker-layer optimisation and optical characterisation, working directly with robot-hand teams.

    • Capability

      Manufacturing & scale-up

      A lab-to-line path proven in industrial coatings; capacity for robotic contact parts is set up project by project.

    Continuous capability from lab to manufacturingEquipment and on-site photos, animated
    • Rapid iterationPolymer smart lab · automated experiment equipment
    • Material screeningThickness · softness · surface · effect on signal
    • Geometry fitFlat · curved · fingertip · whole-hand structures
    • Small-batch manufacturingTooling · moulding · process window · inspection

    Animated from real photos of our lab, line and tooling (slow pan); not video footage.

    Team background

    • TIGER
    • PPG
    • LONGi
    • CAS
    • U Washington
    • USC
    • Tsinghua

    Organisations where members of our team studied or worked. They are shown as individual background, not as customers or partners of NEWMAT.

    Contact

    Ready to build a better tactile interface?

    Start with the task and the problem you are seeing. No drawings or confidential files are needed for a first conversation.

    zhangxiaochen@newmater.cn
    Discuss your application
    NDA available on request·Samples agreed per project·Bay Area contact available