Team Darmalite, comprising students Darla Bautista and Marco Del Valle from the University of the Philippines Diliman, showcased their breakthrough innovation, the Buchstrahl – a coating applied on the body of a car that harnesses energy from any source of light and powers the vehicle’s engine. Supported by their Henkel mentor, Tyrone Williams, Source-to-pay Manager from Shared Service Center Manila, the team impressed the judges with their creative thinking and pragmatic strategy for making their idea a reality.
May 22, 2015 Jakarta
The Philippines team creates history at Henkel Innovation Challenge International Final in Vienna
After three days of intense competition that saw nearly 50 students from 28 countries battle it out for the topspot, Team Darmalite from The Philippines clinched second place at Henkel Innovation Challenge 8 (HIC). It was the first time in the history of the competition that a team from Southeast Asia (SEA) had finished among the top three of the international competition, which was held in Vienna, Austria, from 8-10 April.
Commenting on their unprecedented success, Marco said, “We were up against the best in the world. It was really intimidating, but the challenge brought out the best in us andwas a great learning experience. Not only did we learn immensely from our mentor, Tyrone, who assisted us at every juncture, but also from the competing teams who inspired us to push ourselves to new limits.”
Indonesia was also represented in Vienna by Team Hurricane, Ratih Siahaan and Hariawan Christophorus, electrical engineering students from the Institute of Technology Bandung. They came up with the idea of a dishwashing wrapper that can be stuck on dirty dishes and remove dirt and grease when the wrapper is peeled off. Sharing her experience, Ratih said, “We managed to learn how to communicate and convince people regarding our ideas, calculate the profit and loss statement for our product, and time and stress management. Notably, the most important part is the international exposure we got and the network that we built with other students and Henkel managers from various countries.”
The achievement of both teams is further proof of the talent that the SEA region possesses. Byproviding such opportunities to the youth, Henkel continues to pave the way for tomorrow’s leaders to drive future innovations.
About HIC
Organized on an annual basis, the Henkel Innovation Challenge is an international student competition where university teams from different countries, coached by Henkel managers, devise and present innovative ideas for the future. Under the slogan of “Create. Learn. Grow.”, student teams are invited to submit their innovative and sustainable ideas for the future. The winners receive an around-the-world-ticket with a value of 10,000 euros and, along with the second and third place teams, will have the opportunity to meet Henkel CEO Kasper Rorsted in person. This year, Team Sharp Shepards from Belgium emerged victorious, and Team Darmalite from the Philippines, and Team Cyanofix from Italy came in second and third place respectively.
To find out more about HIC, please visit http://www.henkelchallenge.com/
