ICIS Innovation Awards 2015: ICIS begins search for best innovation

Once again, ICIS is looking for the most outstanding examples of innovation in the chemical industry, as it launches the ICIS Innovation Awards for 2015. If you have the winning formula, now is the time to enter

The search is on to find the very best in chemical industry innovation. The ICIS Innovation Awards, now in their 12th year, are open for entries and widespread recognition and extensive press coverage await this year’s batch of winners.

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 have made significant steps forward in technological and business innovation, with tangible results emerging during 2014 and the early part of this year.

Last year’s overall winner was Huntsman Textile Effects, with its novel AVITERA SE reactive dyes that reduce energy and water usage in textile production. Seen here being presented with the Award by sponsors Neil Checker of Roland Berger (left) and Carol Piccaro of U.S. Chemicals (right) are: (left to right) Paul Hulme, Athanassios Tzikas and Patrice Carreau

The Awards are open to companies around the world, both large and small, reflecting ICIS’s global coverage of the industry.

ICIS is pleased once again to have Roland Berger Strategy Consultants as the overall sponsor this year and to welcome back U.S. Chemicals as a category sponsor. Both have shown continued commitment to support the Awards over many years.

As Neil Checker of Roland Berger points out: “Our sponsorship of this prestigious programme reflects Roland Berger’s commitment to helping clients develop and improve their innovation capabilities, from innovation strategy through to implementation of innovation processes and organisation structures.”

This year ICIS is delighted to welcome a new sponsor, for the Best Innovation by a Small or Medium-sized Enterprise, in the form of ExxonMobil Chemical. The major chemical producer, the third largest in the world, believes that: “Gains in technology will remain essential and should be promoted. This is vital to maximising economic opportunities and boosting living standards the world over.”

The growth in the popularity of the Awards has paralleled the growing focus on innovation in the chemical sector, with companies not only taking an increasingly sophisticated approach to how they develop new processes and products, but also to where they spend their research and development (R&D) budgets. Direction today is often informed by the mega-trends affecting society, notably global population growth, transportation, urbanisation, energy efficiency, and food and water security. The chemical industry has a huge part to play in addressing the issues these trends create, and it will do so largely through targeted innovation.

Last year’s overall winner, Huntsman Textile Effects, is a perfect example of this. The textile industry has traditionally been a huge user of water and energy, but Huntsman’s new reactive AVITERA SE dyes have proven effective in reducing environmental impact substantially, improving the sustainability of the sector.

Huntsman Textile Effects’ president Paul Hulme explains that “from a commercial point of view, the [textile] industry needs more sustainable products and processes, both from an environmental and a cost perspective. This has led to strong demand for shorter, more robust dyeing procedures and reduced water and energy consumption. The timing is right for AVITERA SE. These are the first new reactive dye molecules that have been invented for almost 20 years.”

PANEL OF JUDGES
To ensure we identify the very best in innovation from the global chemicals industry, we have enlisted a panel of seven leading innovation experts from the industry, who will select the winners in each of five categories and an overall best innovation for 2015. They will be looking for innovative projects that solve problems and provide solutions for companies, their customers and society at large, as well as the environment.

The deadline for submissions is Friday 26 June 2015 and initial judging will take place in early July. A short-list of entries will be selected and published in ICIS Chemical Business in August, to go forward to the final judging round in early September.

Winners will be revealed in late October. Further details are on the Awards web site (www.icis.com/awards), which also includes more information on this year’s sponsors and judges.

FIVE CATEGORIES TO CHOOSE FROM
There are five innovation categories for you to choose to enter, depending on the type of innovation and size of company. This is designed to recognise the breadth of innovation in the chemical sector and the growing importance of environmental and sustainability considerations as new products and processes are developed and brought to market. Companies can enter as many innovations as they wish, but can submit each innovation only once, designating clearly which category is being entered.

Best Product Innovation

Sponsored by Roland Berger

The Best Product Innovation category gives entrants a chance to show how innovative they are in the more traditional but still vital area of product development. It is this, after all, that brings in new business and/or makes existing products more attractive and competitive. The judges will be looking for quality of scientific involved, scale of challenges overcome, potential market impacts and degree of wider applicability, among other things.

Previous winners

• 2014 – Solvay – Emana: A polyamide fibre that emits far-infrared radiation
• 2013 – Solvay Aroma Performance – Govanil: Pioneering the new reference of vanilla flavours

Best Process Innovation

The Best Process Innovation category, revived last year, gives entrants a chance to show how innovative they are in the fundamental areas of new process development and process improvement – vital areas of innovation underlying better use of energy and raw materials, improved economics, safer performance and lower environmental impact. And, of course, leading to improved products for the market.

Previous winners:

• 2014 – Honeywell UOP/INEOS/Total: 
Advanced methanol-to-olefins (MTO) process
• Special mention: Clariant: Heat-generating material for on-purpose olefin production

Best Business Innovation

The Best Business Innovation category is intended to highlight wider-based innovation in the way chemical companies do business, beyond traditional product and process development. New business solutions can be as important as technological or product development. Business innovation can add value and drive the right solutions to customers, and the industry. This may be with new service offerings to customers or partnerships with suppliers and downstream collaborators; new approaches to the route to market; or even novel supply chain or business process operations.

Previous winners:

• 2014 – No award made
• 2013 – Archroma: “One Way” sustainability service in textile chemicals

Best Innovation by a Small or Medium-sized Enterprise

Sponsored by ExxonMobil Chemical

This category allows small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) a chance to shine with a product or process innovation. SMEs are defined as having less than 250 employees and a turnover below $75m.

Previous winners:

• 2014 – Argex Titanium – Argex technology (AT): A third-generation process to manufacture titanium dioxide
• 2013 – Renmatix: Advances in sugar conversion technology using supercritical hydrolysis

Innovation with Best Benefit to Environment or Sustainability

Sponsored by U.S. Chemicals

The chemical industry and its innovative expertise can play an important role in addressing many of today’s environmental concerns, including global warming, pollution, recycling, water supply security and nutrition. The category is designed to recognise those companies that have incorporated the ideas of environmental performance and sustainability into their innovation in the areas of product and process developments and approach to business overall.

Entries might include improved manufacturing processes or products, with reduce environmental impact, or new products that tackle the issues above.

They should show a distinct benefit to the environment and to the sustainability of 
the company and its customers. Entrants should show how environmental and sustainability criteria are built into the innovation being entered for the Awards, and how it impacts their environmental, economic and social performance.

Previous winners:

• 2014 – Huntsman Textile Effects: Revolutionary dyes confront textile industry sustainability challenges
• 2013 – (Sustainability award) Virent: Converting plant sugars to paraxylene for renewable, recyclable packaging and fibres

(Environment award) Cabot Corporation – Aerogel for eco-friendly building and construction.

Past winners have included the largest multinationals and the smallest of SMEs. But in all cases it has been the quality of the innovation that has counted in the end. With such a wide range of innovations to be recognised, all I can do is urge you to enter – simply go to www.icis.com/awards.

Entering is the only way you can get your company name on the honour roll, and garner the publicity and accolades that ICIS 
can generate.

Good luck!

HOW TO ENTER

• Go to www.icis.com/awards
• Select the appropriate category
• Complete the online application form
• Upload any supporting documents
• Click submit
• Confirmation of receipt of your entry will be sent to you by email
• Closing date for entries is 26 June 2015
• If you have any questions, contact John Baker on +44 20 8652 3153 or 
john.baker@icis.com
• A shortlist will be published on 17 August 2015 in ICIS Chemical Business and the winners revealed on 19 October.