Culture & Education | Wednesday 25 February, 2015 2:24 pm |

The concept of Henkel’s Innovation Challenge is simple. Build a team of 2 students, create an innovative concept, be coached by Henkel mentors, compete with students around the world, learn about sustainability, and bring your creative and strategic management skills to the next level.

In the GCC semi-finals, hosted in Le Meridian JBR in Dubai, UAE on Thursday February 19th, attended by Henkel President in GCC Erdem Kocak, students came up with ambitious ideas such as GLISS ID (1st runner) the first hair care customization machine, ReVhy (2nd runner) a customizable spray that cleans the body empowered by a smartphone app and QHQ, an adhesives pen that closes and heals the wounds. The winners for the evening were Team Persil Eco-Gent (Ohoud AlArifi and Maha Aba AlKhail) from Al Yamamah University for their concept: A detergent that cleans both water and clothes, where water is recycled and can be reused. “It is a privilege to be able to participate in a prestigious competition like this and present our ideas in front of a jury of this calibre. Winning was just the icing on the cake” said Ohoud AlArifi from team Persil Eco-gent.
“The Henkel Innovation Challenge is one of several Henkel initiatives designed to celebrate innovation. Our aim is to recognise and nurture young talent and recruit them as new members of the Henkel family”, says Derya Ersin, Head of Human Resources GCC.

Now in its eighth year, the challenge attracts participants from 30 countries. In the GCC semi-finals, the eight participating teams represented various institutions of higher education in GCC, including Al Yamamah University of KSA, the American University of Sharjah and the Carnegie Mellon University of Qatar. The event began with welcome speeches from jury members greeting the participants.

For the challenge, participants had to register online as a team of 2 students and submit their idea for an innovative and sustainable product or technology for any Henkel brand in 2050. The last date for submissions was 10 December, 2014. After registrations, teams were given access to an e-learning platform with helpful material, hints and tips and each of these teams was assigned an experienced Henkel professional as a mentor. The applications were then assessed to select the 8 teams going on to the country finals.
Sami Qahar, the mentor of the Creative Stars Team, said “The competition is fierce each year. And as mentors it is our job to ensure that we offer our teams all the support they need. This involves telephone conferences, e-mails and also at least one personal meeting to clarify all their doubts.” The mentors do not only share their professional knowledge but they also give insights into Henkel as a company, its values and culture.

The participating teams presented their concepts in front of a jury of Henkel business managers in an attempt to pitch their innovation as the best. The jury studies the concepts and asks relevant questions to the teams regarding their presentations. This year’s jury comprised the likes of Nikolai Lihotzky, Head of Human Resources for IMEA, General Managers of the three business units as well as Head of HR GCC.

The winners have been invited to the international finals, which will be held from 8 to 11 of April in Vienna, Austria where the winning team will have to present its concept again.