To introduce new method to innovation process so as to promote the establishment of an innovation-oriented culture
Beijing China, May 19, 2008 – Today, the “72 hours Race to Innovation” which is supported by ABB (China) Limited was officially launched in Shanghai. In addition to its sponsorship, ABB also have delegations led by Dr. Kurt Kaltenegger, vice president and chief technology officer (CTO) of ABB China to participate in the race as back-office experts. They will provide the players with timely advice at the scene on possible problems related to physics, power and automation technologies.
The “72 hours Race to Innovation” was initiated in Sweden, where altogether 10 races have been successfully held. Every race requires the selected players finish all activities of the race within 72 durative hours in a closed environment, including a complete product innovation procedure of creation, production, evaluation, patent registration and so on. The outcome of the first “72 hours Race to Innovation” held in the early 2007 were more than expected with the birth of 30 creative ideas and seven new patents. Three out of the seven patents have been purchased outright by manufactures. The race to be held in Shanghai is the first “72 hours Race to Innovation” out of Sweden.
Dr. Kurt Kaltenegger, CTO of ABB China is very confident in the success of the race. He said: “As an international enterprise that started its business and R&D practice in China in a fairly earlier period, ABB believes that China has very strong innovation ability, and this potential is increasingly being developed. The Chinese R&D personnel in ABB Corporate Research Center in China have shown strong innovation capacity, which I admire very much. I believe that the innovation race in China will achieve satisfactory results. ”
As a global leader in power and automation technologies, ABB has a technological innovation history of more than 100 years. The company has acquired thousands of patents for invention year after year thanks to its heavy investments in innovative products and technological research and development. From the production of Europe's first steam turbine in 1901 to the successful manufacture of the world’s first synthetic diamond in 1953 and the world’s No.1 industrial robots in 1974, “innovation” has been playing the essential role for maintaining ABB’s technological leadership.
Dr. Kurt Kaltenegger added: “To establish an innovation-oriented culture, I think it is important to carry out R&D activities with strong business orientation, and it is equally important to introduce the public method and approach to innovation process. The ‘72 hours Race to Innovation’ gives Chinese students a valuable opportunity to know innovation process. That’s why ABB decided to sponsor the race at the very beginning. We believe to invest in innovation is to invest in future.”
With adequate R&D funds, ABB has conducted a series of high-level R&D cooperation with many top universities in China and trained a large number of local scientific research personnel engaged in technical innovation. Currently, ABB has established R&D cooperation with many well-known local universities, including Tsinghua University, North China Electric Power University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai Tongji University, Tianjin University, Chongqing University, Xiamen University of Technology, and School of Electrical Engineering of Xi’an Jiaotong University.
ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in about 100 countries and employs more than 110,000 people. ABB has a full range of business activities in China, including R&D, manufacturing, sales and service, with 12,800 employees, 26 joint ventures and wholly owned companies, and an extensive sales and service network across 60 cities. To find out more about ABB in China, visit www.abb.com.cn.