RUSAL Challenge: New Products and Materials based on Aluminium

Structural components for construction, packages, electrical appliances, consumer goods, and a great part of the products that surround us have parts made from aluminium or aluminium-based materials. The unique properties of aluminium have made it so successful, however, RUSAL believes that there are still many opportunities and unmet needs in various markets that would benefit from aluminium based products and its outstanding properties. 

With that in mind, RUSAL is challenging Solvers all around the globe and with diverse experiences to propose ideas for new aluminium-based products or materials that can serve the current or entirely new markets and industries. 

This is an Ideation Challenge with a guaranteed award for at least one submitted solution.

As one of the most abundant, widespread, and unique materials at our disposal, Aluminium (Al) has found various valuable industrial applications, and aluminium-based products and materials are nowadays an integral part of our lives. Such products take advantage of the outstanding physical-chemical properties of aluminium, such as low density, mechanical strength or resistance to corrosion. However, there is still scope to develop new products, new materials, that further explore the potential of this material. 

With that in mind, RUSAL is challenging Solvers all around the globe and with diverse experiences to propose ideas for new aluminium-based products or materials that can serve the current or entirely new markets and industries. 

This is an Ideation Challenge, which has the following unique features:

• There is a guaranteed award.  The awards will be paid to the best submission(s) as solely determined by the Seeker. The total payout will be $10,000 with at least one award being no smaller than $5,000 and no award being smaller than $2,500. 
• Submission forwarding occurs during the Challenge.  Since submissions will be forwarded to the Seeker throughout the Challenge, please make sure you upload only a finished proposal. You can submit an updated version of your proposal only as a new submission. If you submit an updated version of your proposal, please clearly indicate the new items and/or edits compared to your previous submission. This will allow the Seeker to quickly find the new information and determine how it improves your submission. 
• The Solvers are not required to transfer exclusive intellectual property rights to the Seeker.  Rather, by submitting a proposal, the Solver grants to the Seeker a royalty-free, perpetual, and non-exclusive license to use any information included in this proposal.
• RUSAL is very interested in collecting innovative ideas for novel goods and products, but would also be interested in identifying opportunities to partner with Solvers for manufacturing of different goods and products made of Aluminium-based materials or Aluminum. 

Submissions to this Challenge must be received by 11:59 PM (US Eastern Time) on April 21, 2016. 

Late submissions will not be considered. 

After the Challenge deadline, the Seeker will complete the review process and make a decision with regards to the Winning Solution(s). All Solvers that submit a proposal will be notified on the status of their submissions; however, no detailed evaluation of individual submissions will be provided. 

ABOUT THE SEEKER

RUSAL is a leading, global aluminium producer and one of the world’s major producers of alumina. The company was founded in 2000 and became the global aluminium industry leader in 2007. RUSAL operates in 13 countries on 5 continents.  The company employs over 61,000 people across the globe. RUSAL’s assets include 11 aluminium smelters, 11 alumina refineries, 8 bauxite mines, 3 aluminium powder plants, 2 silicon factories, 2 secondary aluminium plants, 4 foil mills, 2 cryolite and 1 cathode plants. The company’s current capacity means it is able to produce 4.2 million tonnes of aluminium, 11.5 million tonnes of alumina and 90 thousand tonnes of foil per annum. The company’s key sales markets are Europe, Russia and the CIS countries, North America, South-East Asia, Japan and Korea. The major end users are transport, construction and package industries.  RUSAL’s main products are primary aluminum, aluminium alloys, foil and alumina. The company has access to vast resources of raw materials and provides for the entire production cycle – from bauxite mining to the production of alloys. This enables RUSAL to be operationally flexible and provide the highest quality of products.