BASF North American Science Competition looking for lightweight solutions for a sustainable future
- Open to U.S. and Canadian Ph.D. students and young researchers
- Winning team receives trip to International Summer Course in Ludwigshafen, Germany
FLORHAM PARK, N.J., Feb. 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- BASF is sponsoring a North American Science Competition as part of its 150th anniversary. The competition aims to solve the following challenge: What chemistries can be used to create lightweight solutions with improved end of life management?
Open to Ph.D. students and young researchers in the U.S. and Canada (excluding Quebec), in teams of two-four participants, the competition encourages innovative and game-changing ideas that address global lightweight challenges in three areas: Food, Smart Energy and Urban Living.
The top five teams will be awarded $5,000 to present their proof-of-concept to BASF executives June 4 and 5 in Florham Park, N.J. The winning team will win an all-expense paid trip to the BASF International Summer Course in Ludwigshafen, Germany in August.
"We're looking to move from a cradle to grave mentality to a cradle to cradle mentality," said Elvira Stesikova, Ph.D. MBA, BASF Project Manager. "We see an increased demand for innovative lightweight solutions that can tackle many of these challenges and pave the way to a sustainable future."
By the year 2050, the population on the planet is expected to reach nine billion. This presents a number of unique challenges and translates into an increased demand for food, energy and materials. Past technological advances significantly increased materials performance, capabilities and production output to keep up with the demand thus far. Today's technology offers very limited options when it comes to reuse and recycling. When such products and materials reach the end of life cycle, their contribution to waste becomes equally significant.
It is evident that the current "cradle to grave" approach to materials design contains inefficiencies, generates waste and cannot be sustained. This competition is focused on finding novel solutions to design and produce advanced lightweight materials that later can be reused – moving to a holistic approach from "cradle to cradle."
Proposals will be accepted until March 18, 2015. For more information, and to enter the competition, visit www.basf.us/science-competition. Questions can be emailed to [email protected]
About BASF
BASF Corporation, headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, is the North American affiliate of BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF has nearly 17,000 employees in North America, and had sales of $19.3 billion in 2013. For more information about BASF's North American operations, visit www.basf.us.
At BASF, we create chemistry – and have been doing so for 150 years. Our portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products and crop protection products to oil and gas. As the world's leading chemical company, we combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. Through science and innovation, we enable our customers in nearly every industry to meet the current and future needs of society. Our products and solutions contribute to conserving resources, ensuring nutrition and improving quality of life. We have summed up this contribution in our corporate purpose: We create chemistry for a sustainable future. BASF had sales of about €74 billion in 2013 and over 112,000 employees as of the end of the year. Further information on BASF is available on the Internet at www.basf.com.
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SOURCE BASF Corporation
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