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.

Eindhoven Engine is one of the Regio Deal innovation projects with social impact. Check out this video showcasing our way of working, the Carbyon project and SmartMan project.

All good things must come to an end: Dick Koster, TNO’s liaison manager at Eindhoven Engine, will retire on 30 September. In this newsletter, Dick looks back on his experiences building up the Engine and what he sees in its future.

One step after another

“I never had a long-term career plan,” Dick begins. “But after executing R&D, I got involved in organizational management and setting up external collaborations. Three years ago, I was ready for a final step.” After reaching out to the TNO network for a fresh challenge, Dick was introduced to Eindhoven Engine – then a concept waiting to be brought to life. “It was an idea that resonated with me. How do you make your organization fit for the future?”

The challenge of connecting innovative minds was nothing new to Dick, having played a key role in TNO collaborations in places as diverse as Germany, Russia, Australia and Japan. “Trying to team up with various cultures is something that really interests me, and I took this with me when we started the Engine. TU/e is a technical university and Fontys has a focus on practice-oriented students. I had my background in TNO – somewhere between universities and industry – so we looked at how we could benefit each other.”

“There’s another step to take: assessing the composition of teams and making people aware of blind spots.”

Benefits on all sides

For TNO, a major advantage of becoming an equal stakeholder in Eindhoven Engine was the opportunity to cluster strengths and uncover new ways to accelerate innovation in the Brainport region. “TNO has a long history in cooperation with both TU/e and Fontys separately, the new cooperation within Eindhoven Engine unleashes the collective intelligence in an optimum way and enables better access to engineering talent (BSc and MSc students from the knowledge institutes).

Added value was envisioned through co-location, boosting their operations with the spirit of student teams while allowing TU/e and Fontys access to their industrial knowledge. “You really see the enthusiasm of the students, who are able to mobilize support from external parties both big and small,” continues Dick. “On a national scale, I think it’s new and I’m pleased it’s worked out. But innovation won’t happen just by putting people together; you need to coach, guide and stimulate their interactions, for which we’ve created tools like design thinking in the Engine Academy.”

“I’ve realized that my career progress was due to a talent for communication and inspiration in collaboration with people and organizations. Looking back, that made the difference.”

“Another big benefit is network support. When you combine our networks, you can involve a lot more skills and experience than just a project team alone. Personally, I think there’s another step to take: assessing the composition of teams and making people aware of blind spots. People often try to find lookalikes who confirm their beliefs, but you then end up in ‘thinking alleys’ where you don’t really understand the missing skills in your team. I have a firm belief that the Engine will be able to make another contribution here.”

This future will be realized in part by Dick’s successor, Joelle van den Broek. “I met Joelle 20 years ago and we had creative experiences sharing approaches from her product/industrial design background, so I’m sure she’ll fit right in,” Dick smiles. “As for me, I’ve come to the conclusion that this is a good time to retire from my professional career. I’ll see where my talent for communication and inspiration takes me. One ambition is to spend more time on my board membership at the Talent Foundation, which supports young people in developing their talents and creating a better future for themselves and their environment.”

In June, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) accepted the second phase of the SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) tender. In this SBIR project, Eindhoven Engine and its partners TNO and HAVEP will develop sustainable medical isolation gowns that can be used multiple times. With an allocation of almost EUR 290,000, the partners will further test the feasibility of the isolation gowns. Work to obtain certification is ongoing and the first 1,000 insulation jackets will be produced in September. In the fall, the gowns will be tested by medical parties and the results will be collected.

More information about this project:

• Eindhoven Engine, TNO and HAVEP to develop sustainable medical isolation gowns
• Accelerate by working together

A podcast from Kadans Science Partner

Cars are taking over more and more tasks from drivers. Think of parking or driving on the highway. So, technically a lot is already possible when it comes to autonomous driving. But how realistic is it that in the future a car will take over all tasks from humans? Is it possible for a smart car to process the same amount of impulses as a human driver while driving through a busy city? Can an automated system make the same well-considered choices as humans?

bits-chips.nl

We are getting closer to the summer period and it seems we will soon return to our offices and labs to work, meet and collaborate with each other safely. An important event is that the results of our yearly OpenCall are now known. We are happy to announce that four new innovative and iconic OpenCall 2021 project proposals, valued at over 11 million euros, have been granted. We are excited to welcome these projects and have them join our internal community! Read more in this newsletter.

Eindhovens Dagblad

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