If you want to realise ideas, produce prototypes or record a podcast, the university's Innovation Campus is the place to be: on the ground floor of building V03 you will find everything creative minds need.
The green objects look like decorations for the Christmas tree: large and small stars as well as delicate, oval shapes with a small hole at the top. What is growing at lightning speed on the printing table of the small 3D printer in the university's "digital lab" are the individual parts of key rings. At the same time, the machine demonstrates how complex, three-dimensional workpieces can be produced quickly and precisely from a thread of PETG plastic.
Together with the "Innovation Workshop" and the "Social Innovation Lab", the digital laboratory is part of the university's Innovation Campus. The services offered by the three facilities, which are located on the ground floor of building V03, are available to all members of the university free of charge. "We have standard materials and programmes and also provide support with practical implementation," says Anna Behrenbeck, responsible for start-up advice in the field of digitalisation in the Department for Research and Technology Transfer. In the case of 3D printing, interested parties can receive help with the construction of their own models or bring their own digital templates for printing.
Try things out, work together on solutions, be creative: The Innovation Campus offers these opportunities to everyone at the university - from the student team that wants to found a start-up, to the lecturer who wants to spice up their course with practical elements, to the professor who is looking for a format for science communication. At the same time, the Innovation Campus is also a place where scientists can put their research findings into practice together with regional companies. "Knowledge transfer from the university to society is the third mission of universities alongside teaching and research - and the Innovation Campus is the place where this exchange can be particularly successful," says Anne-Kathrin Guder, head of the university's transfer team.
Free infrastructure for all university members
The campus was established back in 2020 as part of the "Innovative University Jade-Oldenburg!" project. After the project ended in December 2022, the university is now continuing the three associated facilities - providing a considerable infrastructure. Not only are three different 3D printers available in the digital laboratory, but interested parties can also produce digital prototypes using special programmes and examine them in virtual space with the help of AR and VR glasses. To be able to show such digital objects at a trade fair, there is a 3D animation device that can generate holograms. "We also have four special computers for AI applications," reports Behrenbeck.
If you want to physically produce prototypes and workpieces, Florian Juds' well-equipped innovation workshop is the right place for you. He is the contact person for anyone who wants to produce special components using the computer-controlled milling machine, lathe or metal 3D printer. "We cover the basics of metal and plastic processing," he explains. Unlike the traditional workshops at the university, however, no services are offered here: "We help users to realise their ideas themselves. We offer ideal conditions for this," says Juds. The programme is not limited to those who want to set up their own business, but is open to all members of the university - and is used accordingly. Juds reports enquiries from all subject areas, from medicine and physics to art.
The third part of the innovation workshop is the "Social Innovation Lab" - a room in which everything is available to hold workshops and seminars. "The field of transfer is continuing to develop and is now increasingly focussing on social innovations," reports Anne-Kathrin Guder. The university's Start-up and Innovation Centre (GIZ), for example, offers events in which participants work in teams to develop solutions to social problems using various creativity techniques.
Thinking with your hands
One of the methods used to develop new ideas in an unconventional way is "Lego Serious Play" (LSP). In workshops, participants are given a bag of Lego bricks and various tasks - from concrete instructions such as "build the tallest tower possible" to abstract ones such as "visualise which things are important to you in a team". "The aim of a workshop can be technical, such as developing a prototype, but it can also be about improving the team culture or developing a corporate strategy," explains Tina Zandstra, certified LSP facilitator and responsible for start-up marketing and start-up sensitisation at GIZ. "Thinking with your hands" makes problems easier to grasp, and it is often easier to talk about a model than to discuss conflicting points directly.
The Innovation Campus also offers opportunities for the increasingly important topic of science communication. Researchers can seek advice on the best format for entering into a dialogue with the public - for example, by creating their own blog or taking part in a science slam. The digital lab also has a recording studio for podcasts and filming - so that potential ideas can be put into practice straight away.
"Our 15-strong team is highly motivated and enthusiastic about making knowledge from the university usable for the region," emphasises Anne-Kathrin Guder. The Innovation Campus is just right for this: "It's a place where you can try things out together and, if you fail, you can try them out again and in a different way."
