Innovation Awards 2009: ICIS reveals the winners

Who dares wins!

19 October 2009 00:00  [Source: ICB]

After a record number of entries and two rounds of intense judging, ICIS now reveals the winners in this year's ICIS Innovation Awards

CONGRATULATIONS TO each of the winning companies in this year's ICIS Innovation Awards. A record number of entries and several close-fought categories mean they can feel doubly proud to have emerged victorious from the 13-strong short list.

The ICIS Innovation Awards, now in its sixth year, continues to be sponsored overall by US silicone and silicon technology specialist Dow Corning. But to demonstrate that the awards themselves are also a source of innovation, this year ICIS welcomed US consultancy CRA International as the sponsor of the Best Product Innovation category.

And, for the first time, the panel of five judges (listed opposite) was asked to nominate an overall winner from among the four categories. This award will be presented by Dow Corning when the companies gather to celebrate in London in mid-December.

So step forward, the CECA division of French specialty chemical company Arkema. Its entry for the development of a surfactant formulation that makes asphalt production and road laying less energy-intensive and less environmentally harmful won the category for Best Product Innovation and then went on to be judged the best overall entry.

THE WINNERS THIS YEAR ARE... OVERALL WINNER CECA/Arkema BEST PRODUCT INNOVATION CECA/Arkema Formulations for "greener roads" Special mention Lucite International Alpha technology for production of methyl methacrylate (MMA) BEST INNOVATION BY AN SME Oxford Catalysts/Velocys A microchannel reactor for distributed production of third-generation biofuels BEST BUSINESS INNOVATION DSM Moving down the value chain with claryl - the picture glass BEST INNOVATION IN CSR Tata Chemicals Greening of alkali and saline sediments

The judges believe this innovation is a significant development in a mature technology area and brings numerous benefits in terms of energy savings, and thus greenhouse gas emissions; volatile organic compound and dust reduction; and better working conditions for road contractors. And, given the potential scale of application - hundreds of millions of tonnes of bitumen/aggregate mix (asphalt) are used each year in Europe alone - the commercial rewards are huge.

Judge Gregg Zank noted: "It is really hard to get innovation in mature areas," while Gernot Klotz appreciated the fact that the innovation can improve health and safety in the road construction area.

CECA, however, had a hard fight on its hands to come out on top in the Best Product Innovation category. All four short-listed entries were impressive, and the judges eventually decided to give UK-based Lucite International a special mention for its development of a completely new route to the manufacture of methylmethacrylate (MMA).

Lucite's Alpha technology has many benefits over conventional routes to MMA, and late last year went into commercial use in a new plant in Singapore. The judges said the development, which took 15 years and involved multiple innovations, showed true determination to succeed.

Judge Neil Checker commented that there had been very few examples of this type of major process innovation in recent years. "Lucite persevered with this project, showing commitment to solve a number of problems and to pilot and then commercialize the process, which changes MMA economics substantially."

COMPETITIVE SMES
The Best Innovation by a Small or Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) was also closely fought between three of the four short-listed entries. The entry from new technology start-ups Oxford Catalysts, of the UK and US-based Velocys emerged as the judges' choice for its combination of process intensification, using a microchannel reactor, and Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) catalyst to turn municipal waste into liquid biofuels on a local scale.

Judge Rob Kirschbaum commented that the company was smart to focus on using waste to produce biofuels and to look at reactor and catalyst technology that reduces the need to transport waste over long distances to large, centralized processing facilities.

Zank added that the use of microchannel arrays in the reactor was a good approach, and that the use of an F-T catalyst was a "tough place to start." Nevertheless, "the volumes look good and people have been working on the technology for a while - we are now seeing the fruits."

There was no dispute over the winner in the Best Business Innovation category. Here, DSM was a clear winner for the way it took an innovative business approach to commercialize its novel glass coating technology. [Kirschbaum abstained from judging in this category, given his DSM affiliation.]

The Dutch life science and materials company decided that, rather than license the technology and merely supply the coating chemicals, it would retain greater profit margins by entering the retail picture framing market with its own-brand product, claryl.

This route also allowed it to take the innovation to market quickly and to prove the technology platform before expanding its applications into areas, such as solar cells.

Judge Paul Hodges applauded the move as one not often found in the chemical industry. "DSM has worked out the value proposition well here and instead of merely accepting margin on the basis of square meterage of glass sold, has captured more value by going downstream," he commented.

Zank concurred, noting that the volume of coating was minimal, so making good money simply by selling the chemicals would be hard to do. "The question is: where is the real pull in the market and who will drive it through?" And Klotz added that DSM's approach "gives a clear signal of the way the industry needs to go. It should not just rely on the distribution of materials. It is a good business approach for European industry to keep money flowing back."

The entry from PTT Polymer Marketing, of Thailand, had also gained several plaudits from the judges. The company entered its innovative project to develop a fully electronic system to handle letters of credit and associated export papers and documentation.

INDIAN SUCCESS
And so to the final category - the Best Innovation in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). This new category in the ICIS Innovation Awards attracted several good CSR projects, but the clear winner in the end was Indian soda ash producer Tata Chemicals, for its novel approach to reducing dust nuisance to people living near its soda ash solid waste site.

"Lucite persevered showing commitment to solve a number of problems" Neil Checker, panel judge and vice president, Europe and Middle East, CRA International

The judges felt the company had taken an innovative and considered approach, involving the local community, not just in the development, but the execution of the project, which involved planting specially chosen and treated plants to create a plantation on the alkaline and saline solid waste.

Kirschbaum commented that "mimicking nature is a good starting point to determine how to solve a problem," and Zank added that the overall solution, including special irrigation techniques "was very neat. The look at nature and concern for the planet is a strong theme."

The judges also commented that the entry from the Agrochemical Intermediates Manufacturers in Europe consortium, part of European trade group Cefic's European Fine Chemicals Group, deserved recognition, bringing together as it did a diverse industry group to work on product stewardship issues along the agrochemical and intermediates supply chain. As Hodges noted: "This is very difficult but worthwhile and even if the discussion is still in the qualitative stage, it has got a lot of people focused on the key issues."

You can read all about the successful entries on the following pages. Each winner has been interviewed and the background to the innovations, the problems overcome and the benefits to be gained outlined and explored.

The winning entries demonstrate that there is plenty of scope for new business, both in mature sectors like road building and emerging areas like biofuels.

More on the ICIS Innovation Awards

 

INNOVATORS OF THE FUTURE
As we celebrate the achievements of this year's ICIS Innovation Awards winners, let's also look to the future and ask: "Who will be the innovators of tomorrow?"

For our companies, our industry and our societies to respond to megatrends such as green energy, clean and accessible water, and sustainable urban environments, we will need the engineers, product developers and research scientists of tomorrow to combine technical brilliance with insatiable curiosity, intellectual rigor and a relentless passion for trying new approaches.

Teaching, mentoring and nurturing these future innovators is one of the key priorities for our industry and our society.

At my own company, Dow Corning, we're taking some steps through science days around the world - from China and South Korea to North America and the UK - which give more than 500 children the chance to experience at first hand what it feels like to be an innovator.

We recognize that instilling a spirit of exploration and experimentation at an early age leads to well-educated, skilled and motivated young people in society.

But as we recognize the accomplishments of the innovators of today, we should also challenge ourselves to think how we can do more to help teachers get students excited about science. As companies, we have many opportunities to inspire. We can invite children and students to visit our facilities and we can send our employees out into the classrooms so that young people get the chance to meet with "real life" scientists.

Small steps perhaps - and ones that do require effort. But as the Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu, said: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

Dr. Stephanie Burns, chairman, president and CEO, Dow Corning

 

THE JUDGES THIS YEAR ARE...

Dr. Neil Checker
vice president and head of the Europe & Middle East region for chemicals at CRA International

Paul Hodges
chairman of UK-based consultancy International eChem, an adviser to the chemical industry and the financial community

Robert Kirschbaum
vice president of open innovation at DSM, in the office of the chief technology officer

Dr. Gernot Klotz
executive director for research and innovation at Cefic and manager of the SusChem sustainable chemistry platform

Dr. Gregg Zank
vice president, chief technology officer and executive director for science and technology at Dow Corning

By: John Baker
+44 20 8652 3214

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