JEDDAH — The semifinals of the Henkel Innovation Challenge held on Feb. 19, 2015 in Dubai declared Team Eco-Gent the winners for their innovative and sustainable concept. They will go on to the international finals, which will take place on April 8-11, 2015 in Vienna, Austria. 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 semifinals, hosted in Le Meridian JBR in Dubai, 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 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 caliber. 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 recognize and nurture young talent and recruit them as new members of the Henkel family,” said 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. – SG
