ICIS Innovation Awards 2013

ICIS Chemical Business has recently launched their Innovation Awards for 2013. And SusChem coordinator Dr. Jacques Komornicki will be part of the judging panel this year. The ICIS Innovation Awards were launched in 2004 by European Chemical News and are celebrating their tenth anniversary this year. The awards have grown in popularity with each succeeding year and SusChem has been proud to have contributed to their judging panels on many occasions.

Innovation is a key driver for growth and profitability in the chemical sector. And the ICIS Innovation Awards are designed to recognise the best in chemical innovation.

The awards are open to any chemical company or collaborative effort between industry and academia anywhere in the World. The judging panel will be looking for innovative projects that solve problems or provide solutions for the company or its customers or that demonstrate an innovative approach to business, the environment and sustainability.

"I am really pleased to be part of this year's ICIS Innovation awards judging panel," said Jacques. "And am looking forward to seeing some truly innovative and sustainable entries."

Jacques (pictured left) has extensive experience of both managing international, interdisciplinary research and development projects and translating business goals into R&D objectives and planning. These are skills that will come useful in the judging process.

Jacques joined Cefic as Innovation manager and SusChem coordinator in September 2012 following an industrial career, his last position being Global R&D Director 'Oxygenated Products' at the Arkema Centre de Recherche Rhône-Alpes (CRRA) in Lyon, France.

He has a masters degree in Chemical Engineering from ESPCI Paris Tech and he gained his PhD in Chemistry at the Paris VI University in 1981 with his thesis on the “Application of Micro-Emulsions to Liquid-Liquid Metals Extraction”.

Other members of the 2013 judging panel include Dr Klaas Kruithof director of research, development and innovation at AkzoNobel’s Performance Coating business, Gianni Girotti who heads up R&D at ENI Versalis’s new green chemistry division and Dr. Neil Checker a partner at the Roland Berger consultancy – the overall sponsor of this year’s ICIS Innovation Awards.

How to enter?
Past ICIS awards winners have included the largest multinational and the smallest ‘micro’ SME – but the common denominator for success has always been the quality of the innovation.

This year there are five prize categories to choose from:

• Best Product Innovation
• Best Innovation by a Small or Medium-sized Enterprise (SME)
• Best Business Innovation
• Best Innovation for Sustainability
• Innovation with Best Environmental Benefit

An overall winner will be picked from the winners of the five individual categories. In 2012 the overall winner was Dow Chemical for its INFUSE olefin block copolymers entry and 2011 saw Teijin Group win with its mass production technology for carbon-fibre reinforced composites. Will 2013 be your year for success?

To get involved this year just visit to the ICIS Awards website, select the award category you want to enter, complete the simple online application form, upload any supporting materials and click ‘submit’.

A confirmation of receipt of your entry will be sent to you by email and the closing date for entries is 3 July. A short list of entries will be published on 12 August and the winners revealed on 21 October. Good luck!

For more information about the ICIS Chemical Business Innovation Awards or for specific queries contact John Baker at ICIS.

EFIB evolves for 2013

Now in its sixth year the European Forum for Industrial Biotech (EFIB) has transformed into the premier marketplace for the European biobased economy. Responding to the tremendous success of EFIB 2012 organisers EuropaBio and Smithers Rapra are aiming to deliver the biggest and most ambitious congress in the sector in 2013. And the full event programme published today (30 April) shows that their ambitions are on course for fulfillment.

EFIB 2013 will be held in the prestigious SQUARE conference venue in Brussels on 30 September to 2 October. This year’s event marks the transformation of EFIB from a large conference to a full scale congress. The event will attract over 1,000 professionals working within the dynamic and sustainable biobased industry to meet, debate and shape the future of the sector. EFIB 2013 will build on its growing reputation as the place where business and policy makers meet with an exciting new format.

In this its sixth year, EFIB is expanding its programme to consist of two high-level plenary sessions including senior ministers and commissioners; CEO’s from global biotechnology leaders participating in Question Time; two focused workshops and roundtable discussions. Attendees can customise their experience with themed conference tracks on Innovation, Feedstocks and Finance.

Pre-confernce workshops on 30 September will cover the 'Wood-based bioeconomy' and 'Marine Biotechnology'. A particular highlight on the second day is a session dedicated to the SusChem supported BRIDGE 2020 Public -Private-Partnership proposal.

In addition an exhibition hall with over 50 stands, and featuring a Technology Showcase running over two days, will be visited by delegates from around the globe.

Collaboration and partnership
“Collaboration and partnerships are essential catalysts for enabling biobased industries to deliver on their potential for providing sustainable solutions. EFIB has become the definitive meeting place for establishing and strengthening these links throughout the value chain,” explained Joanna Dupont-Inglis, Industrial Biotechnology Director at Europabio. “The return of EFIB to Brussels represents an excellent opportunity to increase engagement between industry, policy makers and stakeholders. Capturing the momentum generated by this innovative and transformative industry.”

Ciaran Little, Head of Events at Smithers Rapra commented “EFIB 2012 in Dusseldorf set records for both attendance and value to the industry, but the bar is raising with exciting plans to transform EFIB into a major congress.  We are confident we can add value for attendees and sponsors, heightening awareness and exposure for the developments in this dynamic sector.’

One delegate to EFIB 2012 in Dusseldorf described the event as “An excellent opportunity to be informed about the latest technical and business trends.” And EFIB promises to be even bigger and better.

EFIB 2013 will be held at the Square Conference Centre in Brussels

More information
EFIB debuted in Brussels in 2008 and featured an elite group of 100 industry leaders and has grown in every successive year. To be part of EFIB 2013 visit the website and find out more. The full programme for EFIB 2013 is here and registration details can be found here.

Raw Material Synergy

Following on from Monday’s successful CRM_InnoNet workshop, today (Friday 19 April) sees both SusChem and SPIRE joining with CRM_InnoNet to provide input to a Conference on Initiatives relating to the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) on Raw Materials organized by the European Commission DG Enterprise in Brussels. The conference will focus on five panel sessions looking to identify synergies between the various work packages defined for the EIP on Raw Materials.

Loredana Ghinea, Executive Director of the proposed Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) on resource and energy efficiency (SPIRE) will be part of the panel discussing work package one on technologies for primary and secondary raw materials production together with representatives from relevant technology platforms, the European Investment Bank and ERA-nets.

Antonia Morales-Perez, Innovation Manager at Cefic, will contribute for SusChem to the discussion on the second work package on technologies for substitution of raw materials together with delegates from CRM_InnoNet and other technology platforms.

The session on work package three (Improving Europe’s raw materials regulatory framework, knowledge base and infrastructure) will see interventions from JRC, the KIC on Raw Materials and Eurostat among others.

Work package four on improving Europe’s waste management regulatory framework conditions and excellence will see contributions from the European Resource Efficiency Platform and the final session will feature  work package five on international cooperation with contributions from OECD and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) among others.

More information?
You can find out more about the EIP on Raw Materials at the DG Enterprise webpage.

Strategy for Substitution

Ensuring that European industries can access Critical Raw Materials (CRM) is a major strategic objective for the EU’s political and economic agenda. The recently launched Critical Raw Materials Innovation Network (CRM_InnoNet) FP7 project aims to support this objective with the creation of a strategic innovation network for individuals and organizations working on the substitution of CRM. This network was initiated at a workshop in Brussels on 15 April. The workshop was an important event for the CRM research and innovation community and attracted some 110 participants.

This first strategic workshop launched the project ‘Innovation Network’ on Monday 15 April 2013 at the Diamant Conference complex in Brussels. The Network provides an identity and focus for researchers and businesses with an interest in substitution by drawing together a community which contains representatives from different disciplines and sectors together with a focus on CRM substitution for the first time.

Interviews with CRM_InnoNet project coordinator Claire Claessen of CIKTN and Pablo Tello of PNO Consultants were recorded at the workshop (see below).



The workshop included a general panel discussion to allow participants to get involved with the structure and mission of the network. This was followed by breakout sessions around strategic sectors such as Energy, Transport and ICT, as well as cross-cutting application areas to allow participants to exchange ideas about the challenges and opportunities in those sectors.

What is CRM_InnoNet?
The project is a Coordination and Support Action (CSA) funded under FP7 that will act to create an integrated community to drive innovation in the field of critical raw material substitution for the benefit of EU industry.

The European Innovation Partnership (EIP) on Raw Materials aims to play a major role in securing a sustainable supply of raw materials for Europe and has set itself an ambitious list of targets to achieve by 2020. CRM_InnoNet’s goals complement those of the EIP on Raw Materials and the project will seek to align its outputs with those of the EIP.

The CRM_InnoNet consortium is comprised of recognised and experienced key actors across the value chain of substitution of CRM representing academic, research and industry bodies of relevant sectors that will ensure a wide European coverage and high potential to engage other necessary players across the ERA.

More information?
For more information visit the CRM_InnoNet website that includes a blog, news and events, or the contact project secretariat at CIKTN.

One Month to 2013 Stakeholder Event – Now with added F3!

It is just one month until our eleventh SusChem Stakeholder event takes place on 14 – 15 May in Brussels. With well over 100 delegates already registered it is time to reserve your place now – you won’t want to miss out! And you will also not want to miss a special pre-event meeting on the morning of 14 May: the F³ Factory Project Closing Event. The F³ Factory event will take place at the same venue as our Stakeholder event - the Hotel Sofitel Europe - but requires separate registration. Book for both today!

The theme of the main SusChem event is ‘Essential elements for EU Growth and Jobs: Innovative Materials and Processes’ and the meeting will primarily address the benefits of innovation partnerships and joint public-private initiatives to boost EU growth and improve competitiveness and how SusChem and sustainable chemistry will play a role in this. Join us and get the latest insights!

F³ Factory event

On the morning of the Stakeholder event (14 May) SusChem is pleased to be hosting a very special session on future concepts for the chemical industry developed and implemented under the SusChem-inspired F³ Factory modular manufacturing platform and FP7 project.

The F³ Factory project is a €30 million collaborative research programme that will strengthen the European chemical industry’s global technological leadership through faster, more flexible production methods. It is one of the leading projects in the Nanotechnologies, Materials and Production research priority of the European Community’s FP7 research programme.

The  F³ Factory project is a excellent example of collaborative research in Europe and a springboard for significant innovation in the process industries. Within the project 26 partners worked together across company and national borders shaping a modular, container-based manufacturing platform.

Project partners included seven major European chemical companies (Arkema, Astra Zeneca, BASF, Bayer, Evonik, Procter & Gamble, and Rhodia-Solvay) working together to implement Process Intensification and modularization concepts with horizontal networking between these leading companies and research institutes boosting the implementation of leading edge innovation to develop novel sustainable processes.

The closing event will showcase the potential impact of intensification, modularization and standardization, and process design on different product groups from pharmaceuticals to bulk chemicals and how the results of this highly successful project can lay the path for future sustainable innovations across the process industry sector.

The programme for the F³ Factory event is now available and to participate in this landmark event make sure to register. Registration is free but separate to that for the SusChem event. You will also need to register for the SusChem stakeholder event, if you intend to participate in both events. The F³ Factory session will run from 9:30 to 12:00 on 14 May.

The main event
The SusChem Stakeholder event itself kicks off from 12:00 on 14 May with high level speakers from SusChem, the European Commission, the European Council and European Parliament debating the role of SusChem and European Technology Platforms in Horizon 2020, innovation and the new EU Industrial Policy, improving competitiveness and much, much more. The first day concludes with a networking cocktail.

The second day includes parallel sessions on the European Innovation Partnerships (Water Efficiency, Raw Materials, Energy materials and Smart Cities) and the two Public-Private-Partnerships (SPIRE and BRIDGE 2020) that SusChem is involved with. Delegates will also be updated on progress in the SusChem ‘Educate to Innovate’ initiative.

Confirmed speakers include:

• Waldemar Kütt, from the Cabinet of the Research and Innovation Commissioner Maire Geoghegan-Quinn, who will outline the expectations of the new ETPs framework
• Paul Rubig MEP who will reassert the needs of manufacturing in and for Europe
• Klaus Sommer, SusChem chairman, who will speak about the added value that SusChem can bring to  Horizon 2020
• Sue Fleet, from Britest Ltd., and Michael Matlosz, coming from the University of Lorraine, who will describe how SusChem is looking to bridge education and innovation for Europe's future

More details about our speakers see the event programme!

Where and when?
The Eleventh SusChem Stakeholder event will take place at the Hotel Sofitel Europe on Place Jourdan in the heart of the European Quarter in Brussels on 14 - 15 May.

For more information on SusChem activities, please contact the SusChem secretariat. Places are limited so you are advised to register as soon as possible for these events!

EIS5: Watch the Video!

The Fifth European Innovation Summit (EIS5) organised by Knowledge4Innovation (K4I) will take place in the European Parliament in Brussels from 30 September to 3 October. To promote the event K4I has just released a new video trailer. 



K4I believes that Europe’s competitiveness is declining and with high unemployment rates there is a drop in the average living standards of European citizens. At the same time investment in research and innovation also appears to be declining.

EIS5 will be the culmination of K4I’s Wake up Europe initiative, which aims to put forward proposals to reverse these negative trends.

As the new instruments proposed for the next Financial period (2014 – 2020) will be in their final negotiation phase at the time of the event, EIS5 will be as the perfect opportunity to discuss and address any issues that remain unresolved and put forward suggestions to optimize the crucial decisions which remain to be taken.

By EIS5 much attention will have shifted towards the implementation of Horizon 2020 and other European instruments. The summit is a great opportunity for innovation stakeholders to debate and discover how they can embrace these new opportunities.

SusChem will, of course, be there!

More information
For more information visit the Fifth European Innovation Summit website or contact the K4I secretariat.

SPIRE, BRIDGE Joint Presentation

!UPDATED 12 April 2013! On the opening day of Europe's largest Science and Business Congress on Chemical Engineering and Applied Biotechnology the two proposed Horizon 2020 Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) initiatives, SPIRE and BRIDGE 2020, will be giving a joint lunchtime plenary presentation. The two complementary concepts will also be presented by SusChem board director Marcel Wubbolts of DSM at a latter plenary session of the conference.

This important  European congress has the theme ‘Shaping a Sustainable Future’ - the ultimate objective of both the PPP initiatives - and combines two major scientific and industrial innovation events: the Ninth European Congress of Chemical Engineering (ECCE9) and the Second European Congress of Applied Biotechnology (ECAB2). The event takes place from 21 to 25 April in The Hague, Netherlands.

At lunchtime on Monday 22 April the SPIRE and BRIDGE 2020 PPP initiatives will be presented jointly. This plenary session, which is scheduled to take place in the World Forum Theatre, will see Pádraig Naughton, Innovation Manager - Resource and Energy Efficiency, from Cefic present on the SPIRE initiative and Annita Westenbroek, director of the Dutch Biorefinery Cluster give an overview of BRIDGE 2020.

With no parallel presentations anticipated in the programme at present it is expected that the session will be very popular and an ideal opportunity to get to know more about these two exciting proposals and their synergies. Following the presentations there may be an extended question and answer session.

Relevant and important
The Biobased and Renewable Industries for Development and Growth in Europe (BRIDGE 2020) and Sustainable Process Industries through Resource and Energy Efficiency (SPIRE) initiatives are the most relevant and important European PPP initiatives for this forum as their aims and objectives coincide perfectly with the audience from the chemical engineering and applied biotechnology communities in Europe and worldwide.

“This is a great opportunity to present SPIRE together with BRIDGE,” commented A.SPIRE aisbl Executive Director Loredana Ghinea. “It will allow us to emphasise the synergies between SPIRE and BRIDGE and the importance of both initiatives to future competitiveness and sustainability in Europe.”

SusChem and A.SPIRE aisbl board member Dr. Marcel Wubbolts of DSM will also be including SPIRE and BRIDGE 2020 in his opening plenary lecture ‘Sustainable Solutions for a Changing World’ on Tuesday morning thereby ensuring maximum exposure for these two ‘SusChem inspired’ initiatives at this important conference.

The two PPPs will also be presented together at this year's SusChem Stakeholder event that takes place on 14 and 15 May in Brussels. The two initiatives will feature in the Resource Efficiency stakeholder dialogue session to be held on the morning of the second day. This will be an opportunity for an in-depth discussion on the two programmes.

Registration offer
The 9th European Congress of Chemical Engineering (ECCE9) and Applied Biotechnology (ECAB2) takes place from 21-25 April in The Hague, The Netherlands and the organizers have just announced a ‘last minute’ registration offer.

You can register for the whole four and a half day programme for €650 – 750 or for just one day the fee is €395 Euro.

The theme of the conference ‘Shaping a Sustainable Future’ promises a first-class scientific programme and a special Innovation Track that will deliver cutting-edge examples on “How to drive the bumpy road from science and technology to business”.   Delegates can also visit the high-tech innovation market, career fair, and there are plenty of opportunities for networking.

Registration via the conference website is open until 18 April. After that date only on-site registration in The Hague is possible.