ICIS Innovation Awards 2015 - entries now required

After a break of some time, I'm back to tell you about the ICIS Innovation Awards 2015.
This is the 12th year I've organised these awards, which seek to recognise and promote innovation in the chemical industry.
I'm looking for entries to be in by 26th June and hoping that as usual we will get some super innovations from large and small companies alike.
The Awards seek to recognise and reward companies that show high levels of innovation in products, processes and ways of doing business, as well as providing benefits to the environment and sustainability.
Winners will be those companies that have made significant steps forward in technological and business innovation, with tangible results emerging during 2014 and the early part of this year.
You can read all about last year's winners in a 16-page publication.
The Awards are open to companies around the world, reflecting ICIS's global coverage of the industry
ICIS is pleased to have Roland Berger Strategy Consultants as the overall sponsor again this year and to welcome back U.S. Chemicals as a category sponsor. We are also delighted to welcome ExxonMobil Chemical as a new category sponsor for 2015.
There are five innovation categories for you to choose from to enter, depending on the type of innovation and size of company.
They are:

• Best Product Innovation
  Sponsored by Roland Berger Strategy Consultants
• Best Process Innovation
  Open to sponsorship
• Best Innovation by a Small or Medium-Sized Enterprise (SME)
  Sponsored by ExxonMobil Chemical
• Best Business Innovation
  Open to sponsorship
• Innovation with Best Benefit to Environment or Sustainability
  Sponsored by U.S. Chemicals

You can see full details of the Awards at www.icis.com/awards, and learn a little more by watching these two short videos. I look forward to receiving your entry!

ICIS Innovation Award winners celebrate

As this innovation blog is brand new, I thought I'd take the chance to bring everyone up to date with the results of the ICIS Innovation Awards for 2010.

These Awards are sponsored overall by silicone specialist Dow Corning and with category sponsorship by consultancy CRA International and distributor U.S. Chemicals. Full details are on the Awards website.

A strong emphasis on sustainability and the environment was evident in many of the better entries for this year's ICIS Innovation Awards

The overall winner was India's Tata Chemicals for its innovative Swach domestic water filter using silver nano-scale technology and recycled rice husk ash. In the seven years that the ICIS Innovation Awards have been running, no entry has generated as much admiration and acclaim among the judges as the Tata Chemicals' water purifier.

The four category winners were: Best Product Innovation - Tata Chemicals Tata Swach nanotech water purifier; Best Innovation by an SME - NiTech Solutions Use of innovative NiTech reactor by Genzyme; Best Business Innovation - Huntsman Advanced Materials New generation of rapid manufacturing equipment and resins; and Innovation with Best Environmental Benefit - Teijin Fibers
ECO CIRCLE innovative closed-loop recycling system for polyester.

Winners and sponsors enjoy the award

presentation and lunch in London

Tata Chemicals' winning innovation was judged to cover all bases. It includes a novel use for a readily available natural waste stream - rice husk ash; it exploits hi-tech nanotechnology in the active biocidal ingredient - silver; and it addresses a huge social problem at an economic cost - the provision of safe drinking water in developing areas of the globe.

Judge Alfred Oberholz, formerly of board member for innovation at Evonik Degussa, commented that the Tata Swach addresses global problems with great social impact. Dow Corning's CTO Gregg Zank added that clearly the Tata Swach shows how chemicals and
chemical innovation are helping people everywhere. The innovation , he said, "resonates" with the needs of today and "tells a compelling story."