The sixth annual “Henkel Innovation
Challenge” kicks off this September. Students from 25 countries are invited to
participate. The task for the participants in the “Henkel Innovation Challenge”
is to develop a concept for an innovative and sustainability-related product or
technology for a Henkel brand, according to the vision and market needs in
2050. Interested students can register until December 12, at
www.henkelchallenge.com.
Coinciding with the start of the new academic
year, students are invited to develop innovative ideas in teams of two – for
one of Henkel’s business areas: Adhesive Technologies, Beauty Care or Laundry
& Home Care. New this year: the concepts must be in alignment with Henkel’s
sustainability strategy under the theme “Achieving more with less”. Students
should consider how their new product or technology will drive progress along
the entire value chain – from the selection of the raw materials, through
sustainable production and distribution processes, to its use and disposal.
For the first time, the international final
will be organized outside Europe, in China, the home country of last year’s
winners, as a sign of the growing importance of the emerging markets.
The “Henkel Innovation Challenge” is open to
students of all subjects, including economics, engineering and natural
sciences. Students from all over the world including teams from 12 European
countries, 9 Asian-Pacific countries, 4 Latin American and North American
countries will compete for a final place in the “Henkel Innovation Challenge”.
After the application period, selected
students in each participating country will develop their project with the
support of a Henkel manager and will present it in national or regional
semi-finals. The semi-finals will take
place in February 2013. The winning team of each semi-final will get the
opportunity to compete in the international final, which will be held on March
18-20, 2013, in Shanghai. The three winning teams will meet the Henkel CEO
Kasper Rorsted and will receive an additional prize: the winning team will get
an around-the-world ticket worth 10,000 euros, the second place will be awarded
4,000 euros and the third place 2,000 euros.
Apart from thrilling learning experiences and
plenty of fun, the competition offers young talented minds an opportunity to
put their acquired theories into practice and establish valuable personal
contacts with Henkel at an early stage in their career. During the Henkel
Innovation Challenge, the best teams will be assisted by experienced Henkel
managers, who will act as mentors and advisors. Henkel stays in touch with many
participants even after the end of the competition; a number of talented past
participants have already been recruited in the past years.
Potential participants can gain an initial
idea about the competition by visiting the website www.henkelchallenge.com and
the dedicated Facebook fan page www.facebook.com/henkelchallenge, which has
over 11,000 fans. It also includes videos of the finals of previous
competitions.
