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Supervlákna 2012 Announces its Winners_Projects for safer child seats and protective clothing for workers at heights get main awards

1st October 2012, Prague - The student competition Supervlákna 2012 (www.supervlakna.cz), organized by DuPont, Katz Graduate School of Business and PwC Academy announced its winners.

• In the category for teams’ projects, the winners are: Zuzana Hrubešová and Katarina Dóczyová from the Technical University in Liberec for a project on protective clothing for workers at heights with DuPont™ Kevlar®.
• In the category of individual projects, the winner is Josef Hlinka from the Technical University of Ostrava for a project on safer child seats with DuPont™ Kevlar®.

Additionally, two awards have been granted: an Expert Jury Award for technical innovation to Josef Hlinka and a Women’s Project Special Award for Zuzana Hrubešová and Katarina Dóczyová.

The main goal of the competition is to encourage students for innovative thinking and for communicating their ideas to the external world. There were 39 students from several Czech Universities who participated in the competition and 4 finalists’ teams presented their projects  to the Jury last Thursday.

"Our participation in the project started on an idea to link our field of fashion design with the latest technologies. It was a challenge for us, but as a team we worked in perfect harmony," says Zuzana Hrubešová for the winning team. As part of their project the students designed innovative suits for workers at heights, which combine protective clothing and climbing harness. "The main idea of our project was to protect human life because it is most important. Most of the projects depend on the availability of funds, but they should always carry one main thought. For us it was the protection of human life," says Katarina Doczyová, the second member of the winning team.

"The competition has brought me many new experiences and I have to recommend it to all of the University colleagues " - Josef Hlinka, the individual project award winner. He designed innovative children's seats, with construction reinforced by DuPont™ Kevlar® fibers. "I wanted to ensure greater passenger safety especially since some seats that are currently on the market do not meet the strictest criteria."

"All final projects were a pleasant surprise for me, both with their quality and excellence of their preparation. I must appreciate and thank for the efforts of all of the dozens of students who participated in the project. I believe that their newly gained experience will be useful as they continue to invent and sell their ideas in the business world," says Sona Krausová, DuPont country eader for the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia.

"Czech technical university students usually have great knowledge in their field and a good technical background. In order to be able to succeed in practice they need to learn how to sell their ideas. We can help them by the courses that we prepare in PwC Academy as well as by the project Supervlákna 2012, where the most successful had to convince the demanding jury with excellent presentation of the new applications" says Jonathan Appleton, director of PwC Academy.

„Creativity is about having great ideas. Innovation is about implementing great ideas. Our goal was to help students learn how to turn great ideas into good business – and we are excited to see the results. Innovation is essential not only for the students‘ personal success, but also for the successful future of this country.“ says Ivana Goossen, Director of the Executive MBA Program and at the Katz Graduate School of Business for Europe.

The end of the competition along with the announcement of the winners was part of a gala evening on Thursday 27 September 2012 in the PwC headquarters in Prague. Four final projects have been presented by the students from Technical University in Liberec, VSB, Technical University of Ostrava and the University of Chemical Technology in Prague.

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Project Superfibers 2012 is a student competition to encourage young talent not only in technical fields in the Czech Republic. The project is opened for all university students and organized by DuPont, KATZ and PWC Academy. More information, including complete terms, schedule and registration options can be found at www.supervlakna.cz.

The final rankings of the finalists were based on presentations of the participants to a jury comprised of leading experts in the application materials Kevlar or Nomex and representatives from the business community who have extensive experience with innovation in a commercial environment. The members of the jury were Simone Arizzi, director of technology and innovation for Europe, Middle East, Africa from European headquarters of DuPont. Sona Krausová director of the Czech branch of DuPont, Richard Patton, who has long been active as a professor at the University of Pittsburgh - Katz Graduate School of Business and Jonathan Appleton, Director of PwC Academy, which focuses on training and professional development of PwC clients and employees. Chairman of the Jury was a well-known promoter of science, Michael Londesborough, who works at the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.

The theme of the first year of the project Supervlákna 2012 was a practical application of innovative materials, Kevlar® or Nomex®. In addition to new experience gathered during the project, all the best participants have split amongst themselves prize money totaling 100,000 crowns. The winner also gained an opportunity to visit the DuPont Innovation Center in Geneva, Switzerland.

DuPont (NYSE: DD) has been bringing world-class science and engineering to the global marketplace in the form of innovative products, materials, and services since 1802.  The company believes that by collaborating with customers, governments, NGOs, and thought leaders we can help find solutions to such global challenges as providing enough healthy food for people everywhere, decreasing dependence on fossil fuels, and protecting life and the environment.  For additional information about DuPont and its commitment to inclusive innovation, please visit www.dupont.com. For more information on DuPont’s activities in the Czech Republic, visit www.dupont.cz.

Katz Executive MBA (EMBA) is a global program that offers the University of Pittsburgh and in Central and Eastern Europe it has been running for more than two decades. AACSB accredited program has more than 40 years of experience as one of the top EMBA programs. It is number 1 in Central and Eastern Europe and number 15 in the United States (Financial Times EMBA rankings 2011).

Katz MBA is a worldwide program that prepares students for leadership on a global scale. The program is offered in three cities: Prague, Pittsburgh and Sao Paulo. Students will travel to each of these cities and network themselves with colleagues from around the world. The innovative program is aimed at managers and leaders. The curriculum sharpens strategic thinking and developing a broad view which is required by managers.

PwC Academy is a specialized project of PwC Czech Republic, which is focused on training and professional development of PwC clients and employees. This unique concept, which originated in the Czech Republic in 2008, was successfully joined by other PwC's offices in over 50 countries in Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Currently, the project involves about 8,000 participants from among PwC clients and employees.