To compete in the 21st century's personal care market, cosmetic companies must be innovative and capitalize on technologies from other industries to improve their formulations and make them unique. The Midwest Chapter of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists (MWSCC) recognized this need when it recently announced that innovation would be the focus for its 2010 Technical Symposium, which will take place Oct. 26, 2010, at the Westin Chicago Northwest in Itasca, Ill, USA.
The event theme, Innovation: Seeking Inspiration from New Sources, will touch upon open innovation, external collaboration and technology transfer with an array of speakers that are dedicated innovators within their companies.
The keynote speaker of the event will be Cheryl Perkins, president and founder of Innovationedge, a US-based firm that specializes in strategic innovation and growth. Perkins and her team work with global Fortune 100 companies to create a dynamic culture of open innovation along with collaborative partnerships and alliances through capabilities and solutions. As a global thought leader in innovation, Perkins brings more than 25 years of expertise in leading inventors and companies to identify and transform insights, designs, technologies and capabilities into total solutions and new innovations. Prior to founding Innovationedge, Perkins most recently served as the senior vice president and chief innovation officer for Kimberly-Clark, where she managed the company’s innovation and enterprise growth organizations including: R&D, engineering, design, new business, global strategic alliances, environment, safety and regulatory affairs; and oversaw innovation processes, systems and tools. She has 10 US patents and several more pending.
Other speakers will include Steve Goers, vice president of open innovation, knowledge management and IP and investments for Kraft Foods; Robert Lochhead, PhD, professor of polymer science for the school of polymers and high performance materials at the University of Southern Mississippi, and president of the SCC; and Paul Pucci, a licensing associate at the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) and vice-president of Flatt Cola. The MWSCC expects to announce the addition of innovative speakers to the lineup in the near future.
Registrations for the event can be made at www.midwestscc.org. Those that register before Oct. 8, 2010, will pay an early registration fee. After that date, the registration fee will increase. Questions about the event can be directed toward Debbie Zartler by e-mailing debbie.zartler@univarusa or by calling 1-312-961-1468.
