Lisa Kemena at the Inventors’ Lab in Darmstadt

The ZFC Inventors’ Lab has been in existence for 15 years now. It is organized by the Center for Chemistry in Bensheim, Merck in Darmstadt, the Chemical Industry Fund (FCI), and the Technical University of Darmstadt, and is supported by the Hessian state government. Lisa Kemena qualified for this event from among nearly two hundred applicants.

Together with her research group, Lisa was tasked with “semiconductor synthesis via chain growth reactions and testing an organic light-emitting diode.” Under the guidance of chemists from Darmstadt University of Technology, the group had just under a week to complete the task, which included designing an OLED (organic LED).

At the end of the week (May 16, 2014), the young scientists—as guests of Merck—presented their findings to a large audience of experts. For the sixteen participants in the Inventors’ Lab, there were no winners or losers, but rather detailed feedback from mentors, who were consistently impressed.

In the end, Lisa Kemena was still able to celebrate being awarded one of four W. von Hohenheim Special Prizes.