InnoCentive, Inc. the global leader in open innovation crowdsourcing competitions, and The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW), today announced the Oil-Sol Challenge to expand the use of Dow's novel oil-soluble polyalkylene glycol (oil-soluble PAG) technology. The Challenge will award a payout of $15,000.
While Dow has identified industrial and automotive lubricants as markets for oil-soluble PAGs, the chemistry has potential for a much wider market. This Challenge will serve as an opportunity for industry experts to collaborate, innovate and problem-solve – validating new applications and markets where oil-soluble PAGs can offer clear advantages.
"Dow has consistently been an innovator, bringing useful and important products to market for many years. They understand that crowdsourcing ideas to spur research and development can lead to better solutions faster," said Alph Bingham, co-founder and board member of InnoCentive.
"This Challenge enables Dow to tap into InnoCentive's diverse network of hundreds of thousands of Solvers who can work collaboratively to suggest ways for Dow to serve new industries."
"Dow recognizes the potential for oil-soluble PAGs. We believe there is a broad spectrum of applications, and in order to reach those untapped areas, we need to reach across multiple industries," said Lisa Inoue, strategic marketing leader for oil-soluble PAGs at Dow. "Experience shows open innovation and collaboration with a diverse pool of experts accelerates, magnifies and improves the caliber of solutions."
The Oil-Sol Challenge will enable participants to work with Dow, be recognized for innovations, and make a lasting mark in the fields of science and technology. In addition to prize money, Challenge winners may go on to work with Dow over the long term.
