POLYKEY receives the BASF-ICIQ award for best business project

On May 25th we had the honour of attending the first edition of the BASF-ICIQ Awards for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, held at the ICIQ in Barcelona.

The ICIQ being Instituto Catalán de Investigación Química, an international research center of excellence, and the BASF being a chemical company, where they create chemistry for a sustainable future.

The BASF-ICIQ Awards for Innovation and Entrepreneurship aimed to recognize projects or research that contribute to industry/innovation challenges in the field of chemistry. Three categories were considered: best doctoral thesis, best patent and best business project.

The first edition of these awards received numerous nominations, which lengthened the discussions and deliberations of a jury of recognised prestige, made up of Professor Emilio Palomares (Director of the ICIQ), Dr. Álvaro Gordillo (Sales Manager Performance Ingredients & Solutions at BASF), Dr. Francesc Díaz (Vice-Rector for Research and Scientific Planning at the Rovira i Virgili University), Dr. Esther Alza (co-founder of Treellum Technologies, an ICIQ spin-off) and Cristina Vicente (technical advisor to the AEQT Safety Department)

POLYKEY was pleased to receive the award for the best business project, which was collected by Andere Basterretxea and Coralie Jehanno.

The award for the best doctoral thesis recognized the research carried out by Dr. Diego Mateo, in which he applied photocatalysis for the production of hydrogen. The award winner, who travelled from Saudi Arabia where he is doing his postdoctoral research, stressed the importance of these awards that recognize scientific work.

Marina Galià, Gerard Lligadas and Maite Guillén received the prize for the best patent for the development of more ecological polymers in the textile sector.

The event concluded with the words of Xavier Ribera, Director of Communication, Institutional Relations and Sustainability of BASF in the Iberian Peninsula, who expressed the importance of research and science to address the main challenges of society to enable a sustainable future.

From Polykey we want to congratulate all the winners and thank the support and recognition received by BASF-ICIQ.

Do not miss the video of the event.