Building on industry relationships
Industry Day 2014: with passion and technical expertise, ETH professors presented their research topics to representatives from industry and SMEs – from big data and additive technologies to computer graphics. The interest of the companies was greater than ever.
For Roland Siegwart, Vice President Research and Corporate Relations at ETH Zurich, Industry Day 2014 was a very special day: as one of the founders of the event – “a bridge between the university and industry and small and medium-sized enterprises” – it was Siegwart’s last Industry Day in his current role. He will step down as vice president at the end of the year and return to research work.
It was therefore highly gratifying for him to see that the seed has taken root and that the event has become well established among both researchers and industry representatives. He welcomed more than 300 representatives from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large companies – more than ever before.
He noted that companies have shown increasing interest in working with ETH Zurich over the past 10 years. “There is now more interaction between ETH and business than ever before,” he said.
Business relies on university research
In his opening remarks, Swissmem president Hans Hess also emphasised that collaboration between universities and businesses is key to the success of the Swiss economy: “Innovation is the elixir that drives the Swiss export economy.” He added that it was the only way for companies to differentiate themselves from the competition.
Hess noted that only a few large companies have continued to maintain their own research departments. Most have effectively outsourced their research and development to the country’s educational and research institutions. The quality of innovation, he said, was therefore strongly influenced by the collaboration between companies and universities. “The institutions of the ETH Domain play a critical role in that. Without exceptionally well-trained engineers and the continuous transfer of knowledge, industry would not be as successful as it is,” said Hess.
Lars Lünenburger, head of the key technology division at Hocoma AG, would certainly agree with that. Hocoma produces the Locomat, a therapeutic robot that helps people to walk again following a stroke. The company is a typical SME: it employs 170 employees and relies on collaboration with ETH Zurich in research, teaching, technology transfer and research support.
“One particularly positive factor is that the collaboration with ETH researchers is driven by common interests and is thus on a very firm long-term footing,” said Lünenburger. He added that this has already led to several successful products that have strengthened the company’s position as the market leader. “I would be delighted to expand our collaboration in teaching so that the coming generations of students become acquainted with the current state of business application of their subjects during their studies.”
The ETH alumnus was looking forward to gaining an insight into big data and graphics, vision and imaging from Industry Day 2014. Hocoma has yet to operate in this area, so it lacks experience, but Lünenburger can imagine making better use of ETH’s expertise in the future. “I would like to take the opportunity to talk to some of the speakers,” he said. Big data, in particular, is an emerging field making inroads into the health sector through fitness watches.
Very small SMEs interested largely in orders
Matthias Baldinger from ETH spin-off Additively.com does not enjoy Hocoma’s comfortable position. He used Industry Day primarily as an exhibitor. The day was a good opportunity to gain some exposure and new contacts, said the co-founder of the young company, which acts as a hub for 3D printing jobs. He was therefore most interested in the field of additive manufacturing: “Industry Day is a perfect way to get an overview of the full breadth of the research at ETH.”
However, working with institutes or departments at ETH Zurich is not yet an option for Additively.com – the two-man operation is still in the build-up phase. Rather, Baldinger’s idea is to carry out jobs for ETH researchers and find the ideal 3D print providers for their projects.
Another first-time guest at Industry Day was Dan Kapasi, head of the five-employee company Intelligent Business Strategies. He noticed the event on the ETH website and found a few topics that interested him, such as additive manufacturing, big data and renewable energy. Kapasi said that he is interested primarily in working with spin-offs and that he hoped to make contact with as many as possible at Industry Day. His company is still too small to think of a research collaboration, such as hiring a doctoral or master’s student.
Supporting entrepreneurs
ETH Zurich has expanded and strengthened its collaboration with industry and knowledge transfer steadily over recent years with the establishment of initiatives and programmes such as the Industry Relations Programme, the Pioneer Fellowships and ieLabs. The success of these endeavours is borne out by the data: significantly more contracts with companies in 2013 compared with 2003 and over recent years consistently more than 20 spin-offs a year demonstrate the effectiveness of the efforts. In 2013, ETH members registered 171 inventions and filed more than 100 new patents. “Today, entrepreneurship and industry partnerships are a central part of the ETH culture. That has not always been the case,” said Siegwart at Industry Day.
Impressions of Industry Day 2014
-
Interested businesses meet passionate researchers: Industry Day provides a forum for new encounters and – perhaps – new collaborations. (Image: Tom Kawara) -
Everything in hand: documents, batch and a glass of wine. (Image: Tom Kawara) -
Introduction of the big data session: Matthias Kaiserswerth, Director IBM Research Zurich. (Image: Peter Rüegg / ETH Zurich) -
Guests engaged in discussion at Industry Day 2014. (Image: Tom Kawara) -
Swissmem president Hans Hess welcomed guests with an enthusiastic address. (Image: Peter Rüegg / ETH Zurich)