Connected Innovation – The Power of Many
Keynote Speaker:
Bernhard van Lengerich
Chief Science Officer and Vice President, Technology Strategy General Mills, Inc., Minneapolis, MN, U.S.A.
Abstract
At General Mills, our goal is to make consumers' lives healthier, easier, and richer. We count on new product innovation to help us continue to meet the evolving needs of those consumers. We believe that there is a great opportunity for us to enhance and accelerate our innovation efforts by teaming up with world-class innovators from outside of our company. To facilitate that effort, we created the General Mills Worldwide Innovation Network (G-WIN) to actively seek partners who can help us deliver new levels of taste, health, and convenience in our products. Connected Innovation is a powerful initiative that helps deliver a consistent stream of timely innovations to consumers, and the innovation network we have created is a global effort to accelerate the pace of innovation by dramatically increasing internal and external collaboration. Some case studies from the journey will be shared that will demonstrate tools and techniques used in Connected Innovation that have been successful. In addition, some examples of opportunities will be discussed that fully leverage the "The Power of Many".
Biography
Bernhard van Lengerich studied food and biotechnology at the Technical University of Berlin, Germany, and completed his dissertation entitled "Development and Application of a Systems Analytical Model for the Extrusion of Starches and Starch Containing Ingredients" in 1984 with summa cum laude. He worked at Werner & Pfleiderer in the United States as a process engineer and, subsequently, at RJR Nabisco, New Jersey, U.S.A., as director for extrusion research. van Lengerich joined the Buhler Corporation in Switzerland as vice president for research and development for the Food Group and was responsible for global R&D. In 1994, van Lengerich joined General Mills Inc. in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A., and is currently chief science officer and vice president, technology strategy. van Lengerich is the inventor of more than 70 U.S. and international patents of food products, processing, ingredients, extrusion, and microencapsulation and has several patents pending. He has published more than 50 international publications and four book chapters on food processing, systems analysis, and food extrusion. van Lengerich serves as honorarium professor at the Technical University of Berlin, Germany, and as an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, U.S.A.
