A year of SmartMan
SmartMan was one of the selected projects of Eindhoven Engine’s OpenCall 2020. The goal in this project is to increase the collaboration between Fontys University of Applied Sciences Engineering and SMEs in the Brainport region. By tackling challenges together, more knowledge and better knowledge will be gained and shared in order to unleash their collective intelligence; the power of innovation will therefore be optimized.
In the time of corona, the project team of SmartMan has succeed in carrying out a lot of activities in their first year: contributions by Fontys students to 39 projects at 34 companies, preparation of the ‘Flexible Manufacturing Competence’ college for Fontys students and the building of the SmartMan community have all begun.
39 projects
Third-year students have a minor to follow at Fontys Engineering. A nice proportion of these students have signed up for an assignment with SmartMan. In the 2020-2021 academic year, Fontys students have worked on 39 projects at 34 companies. The projects are focused on three different technology areas for SMEs:
- four projects on topologic design: additive manufacturing and lightweight structures
- 10 projects on Intelligent Systems: AI, low-code modeling and digital twinning
- and 25 projects on factory automation and robotics
College
Partners at SmartMan have also contributed in the first year. Partner TNO has prepared the ‘Flexible Manufacturing Competence’ college. Around 50 Fontys students attended the online lecture. For the next academic year, TNO has also submitted two graduation assignments on Smart Manufacturing.
Building the community
SmartMan has also started to build a community of students, people from SMEs and knowledge institutes, through which their expertise and knowledge can be easily shared within the SmartMan community. In November 2021, the community will organize the first meeting to showcase examples of innovative projects. 2021 has been quite a busy year for SmartMan. We look forward to even more activities in the fall of 2021 and in 2022.
