Best practices in knowledge transfer – South Tyrol News

From: mk

Bolzano – On Thursday afternoon, professors, researchers and students from the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano presented successful internships and research projects that are being realized in collaboration with local companies to interested parties from South Tyrol’s economy at the headquarters of the Faculty of Engineering in the NOI Techpark. “This event is intended to be a showcase in which you can see what we have achieved so far, but also an invitation to business to realize further synergies,” said the organizer and outgoing Vice Rector for Research Prof. Johann Gamper.

Sustainable insulation materials for concrete walls, robotic solutions for remanufacturing, an augmented reality-based training center for setting up complex machines: these are just some of the nine best practices presented on September 26th as part of the second Industry Day. The event, which was organized in close collaboration with the South Tyrol Business Association, uses concrete examples to show the many ways in which companies can benefit from a local university.
As the Industry Day program demonstrated, many well-known South Tyrolean companies are already taking advantage of the opportunity to implement their own innovation projects with the support of the expertise of researchers from the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano. Durst, Loacker, GKN Powder Metal, Global Wafers, Progress Group, Tratter Engineering: Together with the respective unibz research teams, they all show what is possible when entrepreneurial and academic knowledge is bundled. Many of the projects are technology-oriented, admits Prof. Johann Gamper, outgoing Vice Rector for Research and organizer of Industry Day. “Cooperation projects from our faculties of agricultural, environmental and food sciences, economics and educational science were also presented. For example, a study for the A22 motorway company, in which the social effects of sustainable mobility with hydrogen on the provinces of Bolzano and Trento are examined.”

In recent years in particular, a lot has happened in the area of ​​the so-called Third Mission, thanks also to the good cooperation with the South Tyrol Business Association and the focus of the outgoing rector of unibz, Prof. Paolo Lugli, on expanding cooperation with the regional economy Johann Gamper. However, there is still a lot of unused potential for cooperation. Making greater use of this can also be financially rewarding for companies. Finally, there are numerous European and regional grants that provide additional impetus for collaboration between research institutions and companies – above all, grants from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), which in recent years have provided strong support for research collaborations between companies and university research teams were used.

“When I took up the rectorship at unibz, this EU funding could only be used for projects by companies or research institutions,” says the outgoing rector Prof. Paolo Lugli. At his suggestion, the possibility was created with the province of Bolzano to promote cooperation. “But we should deepen our exchange even further and need even greater financial commitment from business,” said Prof. Lugli to the entrepreneurs present. “Be it for joint research, but also for endowed professorships, doctoral theses for companies, scholarships and internships.”

In view of the shortage of skilled workers, this proximity of companies to the university is more in demand than ever, emphasizes the President of the South Tyrol Business Association Heiner Oberrauch. “It is important that as many students as possible make contact with our company during their studies, because South Tyrol is not only a beautiful country where life is good, but also the location of many highly innovative companies.” “It is our common task “To design the interaction between the world of work, study and research institutions in the best possible way,” says Heiner Oberrauch.

Another item on the Industry Day program showed how much companies can benefit from young talent while they are still studying: students and companies such as Alperia, Alpitronic, Rothoblaas, Microtec, Leitner and Finstral talked about specific internship projects. The enthusiasm with which some of the students spoke about their working languages ​​underlined the words of the Industry Day organizer more than anything else. Because, as Prof. Johann Gamper said: “Internships not only bring direct benefits to companies through the students’ technical input.” They are also an investment in the future and against the shortage of skilled workers.”