A list of finalists for the 2006 SDC Perkin Innovation Award, held to mark the 150th anniversary of the discovery of mauveine by William Henry Perkin, has been revealed.

The award is designed to honour an individual, company or organisation that has made an outstanding contribution to colour in recent years.

Judges include Dr Ian Holme, consultant on textile dyeing and finishing; Professor Duncan Phillips, professor of textile chemistry, University of Manchester; Dr Mike Bartle, production director, Cloverbrook Fabrics; Professor John Davison, managing director, Chemographics; Mr Arthur Welham, international technical consultant, Sclavos (SDC president); and Dr Nigel Corns, pilot plant manager, James Robinson Ltd (representative of the Royal Society of Chemistry).

The finalists include black colorants for ink-jet printing from Dr Philip Double (Fujifilm Imaging Colorants Ltd, UK); Coloured bubbles Dr Ram Sabnis CCol (USA); and a scanner method to assess colour fastness by Dr Hossein Izadan (University of Leeds, UK).

The winner will be announced at the SDC Gala Awards Dinner on October 13 following the Society’s Colour Conference in Belfast.