The annual ICIS Innovation Awards are designed to recognize those companies that have made significant steps forward through R&D and innovation. This year’s winners were chosen by a panel of judges from DSM, Dow Corning, NNFCC, CRA International and New Scientist.
2011 Winners
► Teijin Group, Osaka, Japan, was the overall winner and won the award for Best Product Innovation.
The awards recognize Teijin’s mass-production technologies for carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics (CFRPs) for use in car production. Teijin’s use of thermoplastic resins instead of conventional thermosetting resins has cut production cycle times to less than one minute and allows CFRP components to be welded together or to other materials such as steel.
► BioAmber, Minnesota, USA, was awarded in the Best Business Innovation category.
The panel recognized BioAmber’s use of open innovation and technology sourcing to speed development of its bio-route to succinic acid. This has brought to market a sustainable, cost effective technology that produces a range of C4 chemicals including succinic acid and 1,4-butanediol.
► Novomer, New York, USA, won the Innovation with Best Environmental Benefit category.
Novomer is developing technology that allows waste carbon dioxide to be converted into polyols, such as polypropylene or polyethylene carbonate, for high-performance coatings, adhesives and composites. Their key catalytic step enables some novel chemistry to create polymers that consist of up to 50 % CO2 by weight.
► LanzaTech, Auckland, New Zealand, won the Best Innovation by a Small or Medium-sized Enterprise.
This company is developing carbon-capture technology based on a modified organism that converts syngas or industrial flue gases such as steel-mill off-gases into ethanol or 2,3-butandiol. Their use of fermentation to process the off-gases, rather than Fischer-Tropsch, means a wider range of syngas composition can be tolerated in the process.
