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F U n c t i o n A l F i l M S & S U r F A c e S P r o J e c t H o U S e
transferability as a Measure of
the Functional Films & Surfaces Project House, evonik’s seventh project house, has successfully
concluded its work under the direction of the strategic research unit creavis technologies &
innovation. Four key factors were vital to its success: consistent project management, the right
combination of internal and external expertise, openness—even to uncomfortable truths—and
the right team of motivated people.
In the beginning, there were 100 project ideas at various
stages of development and thought, the fruit of countless
discussions within Evonik‘s Chemicals Business Area.
Dr. Jochen Ackermann, head of the newly-established
Func tional Films & Surfaces Project House, introduced the
idea of the project house to the Group—the heads of the
business units and business lines, and to the heads of R&D—
over a six-month period. The project house was officially
launched on January 1, 2007, which meant it would con clude
on De cem ber 31, 2009—the usual three-year run for a project
house as an element of the strategic research and development
unit Creavis Technologies & Innovation in the Evonik
Group. “This approach allows us to open up new markets,
material and system competencies, product innovations, and
technol ogies that the business units would have difficulty
working into their day-to-day activities,” says Dr. Harald
Schmidt, head of Creavis.
In late 2006, it was time to evaluate the 100 project ideas:
What did the market look like? What competencies could
be built within the Group in the relatively short three-year
time period? Which employees in the business units were
available? To what extent were there patent problems or
technological hurdles? And who were the potential development
partners outside the Group? In the meeting of the
steering committee, which comprises representatives of top
management—executives, managing directors of Evonik
Degussa GmbH, as well as the heads of the business units,
business lines, and Creavis—the decision was made to tackle
eleven specific projects.
The steering committee also defined the concept, costs,
resources and objectives. “Each project was to furnish a system-level
demonstrator—not just a laboratory prototype but
a production sample, if possible, that had been used and
test ed in the final application,” says Ackermann. “Also, each
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