In search of innovations: Entrepreneurs visit research centres in Germany and the Netherlands

Joint project Enabling Networks Münsterland looks beyond the borders of the region

Artificial intelligence, innovative sensor technology and the hospital of the future: the joint project Enabling Networks Münsterland looked beyond the borders of its own region in recent months and took entrepreneurs from Münsterland on four exciting innovation scouting trips. Together with so-called technology scouts, they went to Aachen, Duisburg, Würzburg and Eindhoven. The goal: new impulses for research and innovation. In keeping with the Münsterland's fields of innovation competence, the focus was on digital solutions, networked production, materials of the future and technological solutions in medicine.

"Looking beyond the end of our noses has shown how new technologies can already be integrated into existing applications and solve the challenges of the future. Many of these application-oriented research projects could also generate innovations in Münsterland in the near future," says Bernd Büdding, project manager of the joint project.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Software and Systems Engineering welcomed the guests in Duisburg with a hospital of the future: with digital registration, state-of-the-art digital operating theatre equipment and a mirror that records, evaluates and transmits medical data. There, the experts work on surgical and diagnostic techniques in a realistic environment.

Under the motto "Life Science meets Digitalisation", the entrepreneurs went to the Netherlands. At the Holst Centre in Eindhoven, they learned about the technology of innovative sensor technology. "When using modern X-ray sensors, not only can the breathing of babies on mattresses be measured, but a variety of parameters such as position, temperature and weight also help to monitor the baby," Büdding explains.

Another highlight of the scouting trips was the 5G-Industrie Campus Europe in Aachen, which is the first location in Germany to be equipped with an area-wide 5G network. "Where machines and robots communicate with each other, large amounts of data have to be transmitted quickly. In the machine tool laboratory at RWTH Aachen University, we gained exciting insights and expert knowledge about the engineering of the future," says Christopher Langner, who was there as a technology scout from the Mechatronics Institute Bocholt of the Westphalian University for the Enabling Networks project.

The last trip took the entrepreneurs to the Plastics Centre in Würzburg, where practical research is conducted on issues related to plastics. "Plastics are high-performance materials with customisable properties that are used in many areas. In this context, single-variety recycling also plays an important role in terms of sustainability," explains Dr Christian Junker from the Münster Technology Promotion Office.

In addition to the thematic exchange with the research centres, an important component of the innovation scouting trips was above all the networking of the entrepreneurs with each other. "Innovative projects can be created with the help of regional networks and the linking of research and business practice. This is exactly what we want to achieve with the Enabling Networks Münsterland project," says Büdding. The participants take these impressions from the innovation scouting trips back to the Münsterland think tanks and so they flow back into the region. Ideas and recommendations for action for regional development are to emerge from this.

More about Enabling Networks Münsterland

As a regional network initiative and successor project to Enabling Innovation Münsterland, Enabling Networks Münsterland supports companies and universities in Münsterland in developing innovations, implementing them and finding the right partners for the project. The project consists of two packages of measures: The Münsterland think tanks and technology scouting. The five think tanks bring together representatives from companies, research and regional networks to develop ideas, initiatives and future models for specific topics. The second component is technology scouting. This creates special technology knowledge with which companies, research institutions and competence centres can be even better networked.

The project network with Münsterland e.V. as lead partner consists of the business development agencies of the Münsterland districts and the Münster Technology Promotion Agency as well as the transfer offices of the regional universities and five specialised institutions that drive innovation in their sectors. The project is funded by the European Union and the NRW Ministry of Economics as part of the ERDF call "Regio.NRW".

www.muensterland.com/enabling