An innovative, practical, two-in-one, personal care product wins the day for a schoolboy from The Hague.
Time-saver
School kids have a busy life nowadays, off to school in the morning, study all day, homework in the evening and if there’s any time left, a quick freshen up before going out to brush up on their socialising and networking skills. Wouldn’t it be great, and wouldn’t it save a lot of time too, if one of the body care or beauty products that these kids use to freshen themselves up could serve more than one purpose? What if hairspray could double as shoe polish, for example, or if toothpaste could multitask as a moisturiser?
Multifunctional
In April 2009 this was the premise of a campaign jointly launched by The Hague University (THU) and the Sara Lee Corporation. High school kids interested in enrolling for THU’s Process and Food Technology (PFT) programme were set the task of developing a multifunctional body care or beauty product.
Winning idea
The idea that won over the jury was submitted by Emre Akbulut, a fourth-year schoolboy from The Hague. Emre came up with the novel idea of a dual-purpose shaving cream. Rather than having to wash off the remnants of the cream after shaving you simply massage into your skin where it serves as a mild and soothing aftershave.
Famous brands
During THU’s open day on 19 June, Emre was declared the winner and gratefully received the applause of the hundreds of students and visitors who were present. As part of his prize he can now look forward to developing his product, together with experts from the Sara Lee Corporation, which is famous for household brands such like Ambi Pur, Sanex, Prodent and Zwitsal.
Boundless potential
It’s the innovative potential of students like Emre that underscore the boundless potential of THU’s PFT programme. The PFT is actually tailored to inspire such creativity. Its students aren’t just expected to develop new and semi-manufactured products; they have to develop new instruments, machines and processes that make it possible to manufacture these products on a large scale. Graduates of the PFT programme go on to assume a wide range of responsibilities in industry: from developing alternative fuels to mass producing foodstuffs.
