LONDON, Oct. 19, 2009 (PR Newswire Europe) -- v> ICIS (http://www.icis.com ), a leading global provider of news and information for the chemical and energy sectors, today announces the winners in the ICIS Innovation Awards 2009 (http://www.icis.com/awards ).

The annual awards are supported by Dow Corning (http://www.dowcorning.com ) as lead sponsor, with CRA International (http://www.crai.com/chemicals ) sponsoring the category for Best Product Innovation.

The winners of the four categories are:

Best Product Innovation: CECA/Arkema (France)

Best Innovation by an SME: Oxford Catalysts/Velocys (UK/US)

Best Business Innovation: DSM (Netherlands)

Best Innovation in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Tata Chemicals (India)

Lucite International (UK) was nominated for a special mention in the Best Product Innovation category.

Overall winner for 2009

The panel of five leading industry experts (see below) awarded CECA/Arkema the prize for best overall innovation.

This is the first year the ICIS Innovation Awards have selected an overall winner.

These five innovative companies were chosen as the best from the shortlist of 13 entrants, details of which were published earlier this year in the 3 August issue of ICIS Chemical Business ( http://www.icis.com/Assets/GetAsset.aspx?ItemId=23575 ).

Full details of the winning entries and interviews on innovation strategy with the two sponsors are published in today's 19 October issue of ICIS Chemical Business (http://www.icis.com/v2/magazine/issue.aspx ).

(See below for full details of the winning innovations.)

GROWING SUPPORT FOR THE AWARDS

John Baker, who launched and runs the awards at ICIS, comments: "The Awards continue to grow. We were delighted to welcome CRA as an additional sponsor this year. Also, the expanded marketing for the Awards resulted in a record level of entries.

"The winning innovations illustrate once again the resourcefulness of the chemical industry in meeting the needs of its customers, end consumers and, increasingly, the environment. When innovations can simultaneously address business and environmental needs then the chemical industry really is a winner and shows itself to be part of the solution, not the problem," added Baker.

Dr Stephanie Burns, chairman, president and CEO of Dow Corning, added: "Successful innovation takes courage. It requires a clear vision and a strategy. But more importantly it takes commitment and tenacity. The winners of these awards are proof of what can be achieved when a company makes innovation an integral element of its business and pursue that goal with steadfast determination and commitment."

Dr Neil Checker, vice president for chemicals at CRA, noted: "We are particularly encouraged by the unprecedented number of high quality submissions ... a fact that reinforces our view that innovation remains vibrant in the chemical industry despite the current industry environment.

"We would like to extend our congratulations to the winner, CECA/Arkema. Its surfactants for "greener roads" are an innovation, built on sound commercial and environmental advantages, which bring extensive collaborative technology developments to market."

DETAILS OF THE WINNING ENTRIES:

Best product innovation/overall winner

CECA/Arkema - Formulations for "greener roads"

Surfactant formulations developed by the CECA subsidiary of France's Arkema reduce energy consumption during road construction and improve working conditions and environmental impact in terms of emissions of carbon dioxide, dust, volatile organic compounds and nitrous oxides.