With the Innovation(s)Campus, the Innovative University of Applied Sciences Jade-Oldenburg! (IHJO) now has a second location in addition to the Smart House. On Monday, Science Minister Björn Thümler visited the new contact point for knowledge and technology transfer.
The premises - located on the university's Haarentor campus - offer a metal workshop, a digital laboratory, seminar rooms and a co-working space. This makes the Innovation(s) Campus a contact point for questions relating to the transfer of ideas, knowledge and technology and offers the right infrastructure for working on ideas and prototypes. In addition to Lower Saxony's Science Minister Björn Thümler, around 100 invited guests from science, politics and business had the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the premises on Monday.
Thümler emphasised the special importance of the campus for the region: "In dialogue with business and society, the Innovative University Jade-Oldenburg! increases the innovative strength of the region by opening up new target groups, paths and spaces for the transfer between science, business and society. The new Innovation(s) Campus is a place of opportunities, creativity and transfer, the individual elements of which fit together perfectly. It is therefore an outstanding example of forward-looking innovation promotion."
Workshop for prototype construction
The Innovation(s) Campus programme is run by seven IHJO employees and is based on three pillars: Infrastructure, events and networking. The former includes a high-quality metal workshop, a digital lab, a large seminar room that can be divided into two smaller ones if required, and a flexible co-working space. The centrepiece of the workshop is a metal 3D printer. This can be used to produce components with an edge length of up to 12.5 centimetres.
The advantage of 3D printing over conventional manufacturing: The components are assembled layer by layer - known as additive manufacturing - instead of being machined from a single piece of the starting material. This saves material and makes it possible to quickly produce high-quality prototypes as well as customised products and components in small batches. In medical technology, for example, 3D printing can be used to produce customised implants, while in mechanical engineering, for example, complex parts with internal cooling channels can be produced, which are traditionally attached to the outside of a component.
Digital laboratory bundles projects on the topic of digitalisation
Those who are more interested in digital prototypes will find the right infrastructure in the digital laboratory: equipped with state-of-the-art hardware - including virtual reality glasses and a plastic 3D printer, for example - digital applications can be tested and further developed here. The digital lab offers workshops on selected topics - for example on the various dimensions of digitalisation or the needs of regional companies and institutions - in which representatives from science, business, administration and culture can discuss their current digitalisation topics and work together on solutions. The aim is to create a regional digitalisation network in the medium term.
The staff at the digital lab also provide information about the current research activities of the IHJO partners and make these tangible using practical application examples and prototypes. If necessary, they can also put you in touch with the right contact persons at the universities and OFFIS - for example for final theses or for joint projects.
Identifying innovation potential
Centralised innovation management is also on the agenda of the Innovation(s) Campus staff: to this end, they network with researchers at the universities as well as with companies, chambers, associations and public institutions in the region. In this way, they aim to identify which research projects may harbour undiscovered potential for technical or social innovation, but also to recognise the need for innovation in society and bring it to the universities.
Last but not least, the Innovation(s) Campus offers regular workshops on creativity techniques for the network partners and interested companies, institutions, school classes and citizens to accompany the process of prototype development - for example on Design Thinking, Lego Serious Play or CoCreAct. Participants learn how to develop new perspectives and try out solutions in a playful way. The rooms are equipped with the right materials for this - from Lego and prototyping boxes to interactive whiteboards and a holographic display.
A total of around 500,000 euros from the Innovative University of Applied Sciences Jade-Oldenburg! project was used to equip the Innovation(s) Campus.