'Bridging the gap’ between chemical industry and academia in India through open innovation

In the introduction, the fundamental role of collaboration between industry and academia for successful market-oriented innovation will be outlined. Examples from BASF’s over 150 years of history demonstrate that collaborative innovations strongly enhanced the progress of society and the prosperity of nations. A key factor for successful R&D is the early anticipation of future market needs by industry, combined with fundamental capabilities and scientific knowledge from academia. The examples illustrate the importance of an open innovation culture, supporting collaboration between industry and academia and fostering creativity and serendipity. 

For an important and populous country like India, innovation holds the key to increasing the nation’s prosperity and overcoming poverty. Unlike developed nations, India lacks a track record of world-class innovation, e.g. patented products for global markets. With its huge domestic market and extensive talent pool, India offers a thriving breeding ground for industrial innovation, yet its potential remains largely untapped. While instances of market-relevant innovations are few in the country, there is much to be learnt from countries leading in translational research. In the main part of the talk issues and hurdles facing both, the Indian chemical industry and the Indian academia, are explored and solutions to help to promote collaboration between the two are offered. Open innovation, inviting collaboration between industry, R&D institutes and academia, has proven to be very successful as it helps to overcome the traditional silo mentality of corporate research units and academic institutions.

About the Speaker:
Dietmar Hueglin holds a Diploma in Chemistry and a PhD in Natural Sciences, both from University Freiburg in Breisgau, Germany. During his 32 years of career in industrial research, he assumed scientific and management positions in Germany, Switzerland, and India. Photo-polyimides for semiconductors developed for OCG, Rhode Island, USA, and cosmetic UV absorbers are key products from his own research activities. Both have reached worldwide acceptance in their markets. Dietmar Hueglin is the key author of 45 US patents and numerous written and oral papers. For his contributions to progress in applied chemical sciences, he received the Sandmeyer Award 2004 from the Swiss Chemical Society. In 2011 he was honoured with the BASF Innovation Award and in 2013 with the BASF Business Excellence Award. From 1992, Dietmar Hueglin regularly visited India for R&D projects, business activities and investment projects. In 2001 he became responsible for the Indian Research Centre of Ciba Specialty Chemicals. His present role as director of BASF’s Innovation Campus Mumbai he assumed in January 2018.