Awards recognize innovative research papers on polyolefins, olefins or melamine

Polyolefins supplier Borealis has named the 2010 recipients of its Borealis Student Innovation Award. The award, presented annually since 2008, recognizes innovative research papers on polyolefins, olefins or melamine for master's and doctorate degree students. The winners were presented with an award, certificate and monetary prize at Borealis' annual Innovation Day on January 20 in Porvoo, Finland.

The 2010 winner of the Borealis Student Innovation Award for the best doctoral graduate thesis is Vassileios Touloupides for his research on "Mathematical Modeling and Simulation of an Industrial a-Olefins Catalytic Slurry Loop Reactor Series." The winner graduated from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece) in 2005 with a degree in chemical engineering. He continued his studies as a PhD candidate and is currently attending medical school, also at Aristotle University. Touloupides' findings were published in Computer Aided Chemical Engineering and submitted to Molecules. He received a monetary award of €5000.

At the master's degree level, Jukka Räsänen was awarded the Borealis Student Innovation Award for his master thesis entitled "Optimization of the Recovery Section of a Polyolefin Catalyst Manufacturing Process." Räsänen graduated from Lappeenranta University of Technology in Lappeenranta, Finland with a chemical engineering. He continued his studies at Chalmers University of Technology (Gothenburg, Sweden) in Innovative and Sustainable Chemical Engineering under the supervision of Professor L. Vamling (Chalmers), K. Nyfors (Borealis) and M. Lylykangas (Borealis). His findings led to one patent application in the area of catalyst production technology. For his work, Räsänen received a monetary award of €3000.

"We at Borealis support the development of new talent and thought processes by offering the Borealis Student Innovation Award," commented Alfred Stern, Borealis senior VP for innovation & technology. "Dr. Touloupides' research clearly aligns with our "Value Creation through Innovation" path. The high quality and detail of all submitted theses ensures a bright future in the world of plastics."

Applicants
 for next year's 2011 Borealis Student Innovation Award are able to enter their work now. Graduates in the area of chemistry, polymers or applications with a particular focus on polyolefins, olefins or melamine can enter. The student's master's or doctoral thesis should not be more than two years old and must be finalized by the end of October 2011. Two awards will be given, one for a master's degree graduate and one for a doctorate degree graduate. Each winner will receive an award and certificate as well as a monetary award. Applicants can choose one of five research areas. To apply, students must submit an application containing three parts: abstract of maximum two pages on the thesis topic, short assessment of the thesis from an advisor/professor and curriculum vitae (CV) maximum two pages. More information is available at http://www.borealisgroup.com:80/innovation/student-innovation-award.