Henkel on the lookout for tomorrow’s visionaries

Düsseldorf – Coinciding with the start of the new academic year, the fifth annual “Henkel Innovation Challenge” international student competition is set to begin. Students from all disciplines are invited to develop innovative ideas in teams of two. Participants have until December 12 to register at www.henkelchallenge.com
Students from all over the world will participate in the “Henkel Innovation Challenge”, as teams from 14 European countries and the Asia/Pacific region will compete. This year’s international final will be held in Poland, the home country of last year’s winners, in April 2012. The winning team will receive an around-the-world ticket and a travel voucher worth 1000 euros.
The “Henkel Innovation Challenge” is open to students of all subjects, including economics, engineering or the natural sciences. The task is to develop a concept for a product under a Henkel brand or for an innovative technology which will meet the needs of customers in the year 2030 – for one of Henkel’s business areas: Cosmetics/Toiletries, Laundry & Home Care or Adhesive Technologies. New this year: the product ideas and technologies must contribute to sustainable development, such as reducing energy or water consumption.
Apart from thrilling experiences and plenty of fun, the competition offers young talented minds an opportunity to establish valuable personal contacts with Henkel at an early stage in their career. During the “Henkel Innovation Challenge”, the best teams will be assisted by experienced Henkel managers, who will act as mentors and advisors. Henkel stays in touch with many participants even after the competition has finished; a number of talented youngsters have already been recruited from among past participants.
Students interested in business and innovation who want to pit themselves against other students on an international level must register at www.henkelchallenge.com by December 12, 2011.

Potential participants can gain an initial idea of the competition by visiting the dedicated Facebook fan page (www.facebook.com/henkelchallenge), which has over 5,000 fans. It also includes videos of the finals of previous competitions.

Henkel operates worldwide with brands and technologies in three business areas: Laundry & Home Care, Cosmetics/Toiletries and Adhesive Technologies. Henkel employs about 48,000 people and reported sales of 15,092 million euros and adjusted operating profit of 1,862 million euros in fiscal 2010. Founded in 1876, Henkel is especially known for brands like Persil, Schwarzkopf and Loctite. Henkel’s preferred shares are listed in the German stock index DAX and the company ranks among the Fortune Global 500.

Henkel AG & Co. KGa
40191 Düsseldorf

Hanna Philipps
Corporate Communications
+49 211 797 3626
hanna.philipps@henkel.com

This release was published on openPR.