RIYADH — SABIC has announced the launch of an annual innovation award, SABIC Innovation Award, a new initiative specific to Saudi Arabia that will grant cash awards of up to SR10 million, along with the necessary research and commercial support, for innovative ideas in the field of smart plastics. The award will identify promising future technologies and avenues to support downstream development in Saudi Arabia, address community interests, and meet sustainability needs. The award program is open to both individuals and businesses in Saudi Arabia who can send in their entries through the SABIC website (www.sabic.com/innovationaward) from Jan. 15 to May 31, 2015. Applicants will need to submit their ideas relevant to the field of plastics and participate in either the SABIC Growth Fund or the SABIC Ideas Award. Commenting on the award's pivotal role in achieving excellence and advancing science to serve Saudi society, Prince Saud bin Abdullah bin Thenayan Al-Saud, Chairman of the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu and Chairman of SABIC, said this is a unique opportunity to localize innovative solutions on a national scale. He said he is proud of the company's initiative in launching the award. “In SABIC, we continue to pursue excellence through innovation. We believe in the importance of innovation as a basis for development and achieving our goals successfully. We have opened the door to society to be part of this vision and join us in developing Saudi Arabia.” Prince Saud added that SABIC is working toward encouraging innovation locally. The award is one of the tools it employs to achieve this objective. He called on everyone to participate and register their ideas with the company, “because every project starts with an idea.” In remarks on the initiative and its role in supporting national development, Mohamed Al-Mady, SABIC Vice Chairman and CEO, said “SABIC has always played a leading role in supporting the betterment of society and economic development, not only with its strong commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility, but also by encouraging innovation to develop new products to meet present and future societal needs. This new initiative has been created to extend opportunities and drive innovation within Saudi Arabia to encourage the development of specialized and advanced plastics and polymer applications for the national industry.” The SABIC Ideas Award is a cash prize for those ideas with most potential that are still at an early stage of development. The SABIC Growth Fund, represents an opportunity for the applying individual or establishment to form a long lasting business collaboration with SABIC. The SABIC Growth Fund will offer successful applicants access to SABIC's extensive resources, including some of the world's brightest scientists and engineers and state-of-the-art technology and innovation facilities. This includes access to the SABIC Plastics Applications Development Center (SPADC), located in the Riyadh Techno Valley, where new and exciting plastics applications are explored and developed for personal electronics, automotive, healthcare, agriculture and construction applications. Commenting on why SABIC is embarking on this initiative, Ernesto Occhiello, Executive Vice President, Technology and Innovation, said “the world needs more innovative ideas. We know that opportunities for innovation are increased significantly when experts work with experts and the very best resources available are at hand. The SABIC Innovation Award has been instituted to enable these conditions as well as to raise innovation levels and help establish Saudi Arabia as a center for creative thinking and innovation.” The initiative is a reflection of SABIC's efforts to advance innovative technologies for societal and business applications in Saudi Arabia as well as in the markets where it operates globally. The company has significant research resources across the globe, with more than 10,000 patents and patent applications worldwide. — SG
