Innovation for the cosmetics industry is the winner of the I2P

The big winners of the Idea to Product Latin America 2012 (I2P) - an innovation and technology competition among Hispanic students, promoted in Brazil by the Center for Entrepreneurship and New Business (GVcenn) - were the students of the Federal University of Ouro Preto (UFOP ), in Minas Gerais state, with the FEBETECH team. They won the award last Saturday (September 1st) with the creation of an innovative technology for processing candeia oil, which aims to produce high added value and commercially attractive products for the pharmaceutical, cosmetics and fragrance industries. The technology is also environmentally friendly because all compounds used in the process can be recycled and reused. The technology developed in the UFOP has a clear demand in the chemical industry. In 2011, only the beauty products sector had a turnover of approximately US$ 30 billion, an increase of 18.9% over the previous year, according to the data released by ABIHPEC - Brazilian Association of Personal Hygiene, Perfumes & Cosmetics Industries, informs the director of I2P and project manager of FGVcenn, Rene José Rodrigues Fernandes. This year, the competition featured 39 registrations in its initial phase. The jury, consisting of representatives of the companies 3M, Boticário, ES Ventures, aaTag, Fuzzy, Astella Investimentos, Allagi, Baby.com.br, Vox Capital, Segurar.com and Rio Forte, was responsible for analyzing the projects and choosing the winner. The students will participate in the global stage of the competition, which will take place between November 15 and 17 in Stockholm, Sweden, where they will compete for US$ 10,000 in prizes.