07.04.2004
The Ingredients for Success: A Meeting of Minds
How does one survive and stay ahead in the international technology race in a state filled with high-tech companies in strong competition and in a global environment where business is faster than ever due to increased possibilities of communication? One learns to depend on the natural resources of one’s population. This is something that the state of Baden-Württemberg, Ger-many has always been privileged enough to do. This is the state of science and research primarily renowned for inventors with leading names such as Robert Bosch, Carl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler. This natural gift in science coupled with financial support in research can provide a winning formula. On an international scale, the State devotes 4% of its GDP to research compared to 3.1% by Japan and 2.8% by the USA. And thus an environ-ment has been created that furthers the natural talents of the region, ena-bling the realisation of the most innovative ideas and creating a circle of knowledge that encompasses the institutes of higher education, research organisations and industry.
This inventive atmosphere has been the breeding ground for numerous Nobel-Prize winners such as Albert Einstein, Hermann Hesse, Bert Sakman and Wolfgang Ketterle, who all originated from this area. But how exactly do students of today participate in creating the solutions of tomorrow? By means of partnership: The federal state of Baden-Württemberg is home to global players such as DaimerChrysler, SAP and Porsche, who of course provide a wealth of internship possibilities and practical experience to stu-dents in the area. However, this is by no means a one-way exchange. For years, students have been involved in a partnership going by the name Technology Transfer. The simple but highly effective formula is as easy as this: companies needing to stay ahead of the technological race ask institutions that are closely linked to universities to aid them, using their research projects.
The practical training offered and, of course, experience that students at these institutes can attain, provides them with excellent career prospects in industry. Many of the institutes are often headed by young professors who hold a chair at the university at the same time. This ensures that students are guided in the right direction but are also allowed to conduct practical re-search, which is not only applied in industry but provides these students with skills vital for companies following their graduation.
One of these institutions is the Steinbeis Foundation. The Foundation provides companies of all sizes and industries with a variety of services in direct technology and knowledge transfer. “By acting as a driving force for innovation and providing dependable transfer partnership with the latest insights from science and research, customers are guaranteed the support they need. Even in times of economic hardship, this enables them to maintain and extend their position in the market”, says Professor Heinz Trasch, Chairman of the Steinbeis Foundation. Steinbeis has founded 350 transfer centres specialising in different fields here in the region and there are over 550 Steinbeis transfer centres, projects and co-operation partners in 50 countries. However, Steinbeis is just one of many institutions that are located in the direct proximity of institutes of higher education. This approach facilitates the contact between research and science. A short walk across the campus and a top research institute beckons with students actually involved in many of the transfer projects. Another example is the world-renowned Max-Planck Society. The Society, with 13 Max-Planck Institutes in Baden-Württemberg, develops new technical breakthroughs that readily find application in the economy and in society here as many students are involved in these projects. The 14 Fraunhofer Institutes in the area are also involved in the process of knowledge transfer. These Institutes develop technical and organisational solutions which can be put into prac-tice and also promote applications for new technologies. The Fraunhofer model is a vital supplier of innovative know-how to small and medium-sized companies who do not have their own in-house research and devel-opment units.
The speedy transfer of knowledge is, of course, vital for graduates as it en-ables them contact to potential employers and allows them to apply their knowledge and research in a competitive and real environment as opposed to working only with pure theory. Joko Ari Moelyo Okki from Indonesia, a 29-year-old studying for a Master of Photonics at the University of Applied Sciences in Aalen, says: “In Indonesia, I have learnt theory for most of my degree without knowing the applications of these theories. Here, we can prove or test everything that we have learnt in class. This method of learn-ing and testing in industry has given me a more detailed insight into my field.”
But even at the institutes of higher education themselves, the transfer of an idea to a marketable product is actively supported. Baden-Württemberg has set up the Technology Licence Office for this very purpose. The Office is the patent evaluation office for university discoveries and creates a bridge between science and industry. It further aids the universities by offering consultations to the researcher, evaluating projects as well as dealing with patent management and the licensing of the technologies they are asked to supervise.
This is technology transfer. It provides an all-round network and makes the circle of knowledge complete.
