Successful R&I in Europe 2018

9th European Networking Event

Übersicht

  • 15. Mrz 2018 - 16. Mrz 2018
  • Van der Valk Airporthotel   
  • Englisch
Van der Valk Airporthotel Düsseldorf, Am Hülserhof, Düsseldorf, Deutschland

Van der Valk Airporthotel    

Van der Valk Airporthotel Düsseldorf, Am Hülserhof, Düsseldorf, Deutschland
Lage

15. Mrz - 16. Mrz 2018

 

The conference, which was staged for the ninth time in 2018 and has been a great success with over 2600 participants since 2009, invited researchers and entrepreneurs from North Rhine-Westphalia and regions in Europe to find new European research and innovation (R&I) partners for Horizon 2020 projects and/or to present their research results from EU-funded projects that are ready for commercialisation.

In 2018, the special partner regions were Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Israel, the Netherlands and Poland. However, the event was of course open to participants from all over the world!

There was also an exhibition entitled „Innovations for Europe based in North Rhine-Westphalia“.

The networking event was structured in parallel workshops focussing on six topics:

  • Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)
  • Nanotechnology, Materials and Manufacturing (NMM) 
  • Energy
  • Sustainable Economy
  • Life Sciences
  • Transport

The event addressed especially universities and research institutes as well as small and medium-sized enterprises. Participants were invited to become involved in established and new technology networks between researchers, entrepreneurs and multipliers related to Horizon 2020. Giving a short presentation (ideas and/or results) or finding a partner by talking to decision-makers opened doors for new research and innovation projects in Europe with a focus on Horizon 2020.

Conference fee: € 120 (€ 95 one day) per person including VAT. Free participation for speakers in sessions 1 to 5.

Invoices will be despatched after the event. You can settle it in cash at our reception desk during the conference as well. We will issue a receipt.

Please note that the event organizer does NOT cover any travel expenses, costs for hotels etc.! We suggest, however, that you check whether such expenses count as eligible costs within your Horizon 2020 project.

The conference fee includes dinner on 15.03., lunch on 16.03., tea/coffee/cold drinks during the breaks, the „Düsseldorf by Night“ tour and the airport-venue shuttle (solely as provided by the organizers).

In order to follow up the event, we would appreciate some feedback from you, particularly about whether you have established any worthwhile contacts related to preparing proposals for Horizon 2020.

Contact persons

Dr. Bernd Janson
Telephone: 0049 208 30004-22
Email: bj(at)zenit.de

Heike Hoffzimmer
Telephone: 0049 208 30004-35
Email: hz(at)zenit.de

Melanie May

HGC GesundheitsConsult GmbH

The event‘s format is very interesting with lots of pitch presentations and great opportunities to discuss international innovation projects both with potential partners as well as competent consultants.

Prof. Dr. Michael Bongards

Faculty for Computer Science and Engineering Science Automation – Energy and Environment

I and my team use the platform to find new international contacts or deepen existing ones. It‘s an excellent starting point for technology partnerships and funding proposals, especially for Horizon 2020.

Agenda

Thursday, 15 March 2018 (Day 1)

including exhibition: Innovations for Europe based in NRW

13.00Welcome
13.05Opening Session
Dr. Beate Wieland, Deputy Minister for Innovation, Science and Research, North Rhine-Westphalia
13.15Keynote Speech
Dr. Erich Unterwurzacher, Director, Directorate General for Regional and Urban Policy, European Commission
13.35Success Stories in Europe based in NRW

NMM: SYMPLEXITY, Sebastian Hähnel, Fraunhofer IPT, Aachen  

Energy: HELIS, Dr. Marian Stan, University Münster, Münster
13.55Introduction of Partner Regions and Services for proposals and projects
Dr. Bernd Janson, ZENIT GmbH
14.00Coffee/Start parallel sessions
14.15Session 1 Workshops
“European projects seeking partners”

Nanotechnology, Materials and Manufacturing (NMM)

Materials|Chemistry
Dr. Thomas Fischer, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
Presentation

Implementation of Safe-by-Design thinking into manufacturing of products containing nanomaterials
Dr. Heli Kangas, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, Espoo, Finland
Presentation

Standardisation as Part of Successful Research and Innovation Projects
Stefanie Müller, DIN e. V., Berlin, Germany
Presentation

Advanced structured materials by emerging 3D printing technologies for process industries
Dr. Vesna Middelkoop, VITO, Mol, Belgium
Presentation

A mobile H2-solid-state tank based on highly porous nanomaterials for explosion proof storage of large amounts of hydrogen at high density, moderate pressure and room temperature
Prof. Dr. Niels Marquardt, Ruhr University Bochum & COMET NanoTec GmbH, Bochum, Germany
Presentation

High Resolution Laser Based Additive Manufacturing, or in other words: Printing and Sintering with LIGHT
Dr. Gari Arutinov, Holst Centre/TNO, Eindhoven, Netherlands

Particle Process Technology: From the Synthesis of Highly Specific Nanomaterials on the Pilot Plant Scale to the Characterization of partilces.
Tim Hülser, IUTA e.V., Duisburg, Germany

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

KOKONinfo – an online platform with reliable and easy to grasp information about complimentary and alternative medicine for people with cancer
Annika Jäckels, TAKEPART Media + Science GmbH, Köln, Germany
Presentation

Standardisation as Part of Successful Research and Innovation Projects
Katharina Sehnert, DIN e. V., Berlin, Germany
Presentation

Call for The network of European Centres of Excellence in #Legaltech
Dr. Martynas Mockus, The Law Institute of Lithuania, Vilnius, Lithuania
Presentation

Instytut Technologii Elektronowej : Research Activities and Opportunities for Collaboration
Dr. Tomasz Bieniek, Instytut Technologii Elektronowej, Piaseczno, Poland
Presentation

CryptPad – Zero Knowledge cloud productivity technology
Caleb James DeLisle, XWiki SAS, Paris, France
Presentation

Inventorum – An Open Innovation Platform Connecting Business and Academia
Dr. Jarosław Protasiewicz, National Information Processing Institute, Warszawa, Poland
Presentation 

BigSem – Big Semantic Data and Advanced Analytics for the Process Industry
Ralf Klinkenberg, RapidMiner GmbH, Dortmund, Germany

MFDS – Multifunctional Detection System for Safer Road Traffic
Dennis Dorn, Wilhelm Schröder GmbH, Herscheid, Germany
Presentation
 
Sustainable Economy

Innovative recycling technologies as part of circular economy on the reseach site :metabolon
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongards, TH Köln – University of Applied Sciences, Gummersbach, Germany
Presentation

Upgrading of manure: reduction of ammonia emissions and production of organic fertilizer
Dr. Horst Meyrahn, Agrihumin GmbH, Brühl, Germany
Presentation

Urban transformations of the post-industrial era
Dr. Kaisa Schmidt-Thomé, Demos Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
Presentation

Engaging consumers for a sustainable economy
Nora Brüggemann, Collaborating Centre on Sustainable Production and Consumption (CSCP), Wuppertal, Germany
Presentation

COLOSSAL. SC5-07-2019: Raw materials innovation for the circular economy: sustainable processing, reuse, recycling and recovery schemes
Sreenivaasa Pamidi, Exergy NETHERLANDS, Delft, Netherlands
Presentation

Energy


„FlexPad“ – conical Sliding bearing for Wind Turbine Main Bearing application
Amadeus Rolink, RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany
Presentation

Research on Catalysis for Storing Renewable Electricity
Dr. Hans Fredriksson, Syngaschem BV, Eindhoven, Netherlands

Isobaric expansion engines: New opportunities for power generation, pumping and compression
Dr. Alexander Kronberg, Encontech B.V., Enschede, Netherlands
Presentation

“CAPRI”: Cavitational Assisted Paraxylene Reactor Industrialization manufacture of polyesters and PET (poly-ethylene-terephtalate).
Dr. Paola Castrillo, Vertech-Group, Nice, France
Presentation

Symbiosis between industry and water utilities H2020 call SC5-04-2019 (Innovation Action)
Vicky Leloup, Province of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
Presentation

An Introduction to TWI and the Materials Group
Damien Kirkpatrick, TWI Ltd, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Presentation

High-performance Rotors
Peter Szilagyi, Breuckmann GmbH & Co. KG, Heiligenhaus, Germany
Presentation

EC H2020 CHESS-SETUP Combined Heat Supply System by using Solar Energy and Heat Pumps
Renee Wansdronk, Wansdronk Architektuur, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Presentation

Fuel Cell – EHS hybrid module development
Dr.- Ing. George Bandlamudi, EnerALL – Electro Chemical Systems GmbH, Willich, Germany
16.15Session 2 Workshops
“European projects seeking partners”

Nanotechnology, Materials and Manufacturing (NMM)


Nanocomposite Powders for Laser Additive Manufacturing
Dr. Tobias Teckentrup, University of Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Germany
Presentation

Interactive Digital Twin for Interdisciplinary Collaboration and Problem Solving in Industrial Production and Maintenance
Dr. Sven-Volker Rehm, WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management, Vallendar, Germany
Presentation

Development of the Fe based and Cu based alloys for Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing
Dr. Wojciech Burian, Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals, Gliwice, Poland
Presentation

Development and industrial application of the biodegradable magnesium alloys.
Anna Seraya, Boris Golman-Nazarbaev university, Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhastan
Presentation

Open Pilot Line Philosophy at COATEMA
Dr. Nico Meyer, Coatema Coating Machinery GmbH, Dormagen, Germany
Presentation

Solutions for Advanced manufacturing & processing & Structural Dynamics
Christophe Loffet, V2i, Liège, Belgium
Presentation

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

Nearshoring in ICT projects – the possibility or necessity – Successful Mobile Communication Solutions cooperation on H2020
Przemek Mikus, Liki Mobile Solutions, Lodz, Poland
Presentation

Controlar, Innovating Industry
Dr. Carla Pereira, Controlar, Lda, Alfena, Portugal
Presentation

Open World Wide Laboratory Infrastructure for student created experiments
Dr. Mirosław Brzozowy, Warsaw University of Technology, Warszawa, Poland
Presentation

3D multi-domain simulation as universal means for integrating virtual technologies into research projects
Frank Heinze, RIF Institute for Research and Transfer eV, Dortmund, Germany
Presentation

Defense from Covert Channel Cyber-attack over video stream payload. Exploiting compressed video domain redundancy for cyber protection
Yoram Segal, Ben Gurion University, Hofit, Israel
Presentation

Data Science integration without black boxes
David Arnu, RapidMiner GmbH, Dortmund, Germany
Presentation

Gamification and applied gaming across various domains
Jens Piesk, Nuromedia GmbH / Nurogames GmbH, Köln, Germany
Presentation

Life Sciences

Needle free vaccination and other smart patches
Dr. Sebastian Braun, tesa Labtec GmbH, Langenfeld, Germany

Convergence programme towards mastering of Personalized Medicine solutions.
Dr. Miroslaw Kwasniewski, Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland

RNA technology platforms in regenerative medicine
Dr. Kai Gräber, Cluster for Individualized ImmuneIntervention (Ci3) e.V., Mainz, Germany

Bridge between Medical Biology and Clinical Medicine
Dr. Dorota Makarewicz, Mossakowski Medical Research Centre, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
Presentation

Energy

Fuel Cell Systems using Ammonia as Renewable Energy Carrier for Future Hydrogen Societies
Michael Steffen, Zentrum für BrennstoffzellenTechnik GmbH, Duisburg, Germany
Presentation

Metals R&D at Ghent University
Dr. Karen Hemelsoet, Ghent University, Zwijnaarde, Belgium
Presentation

Maximizing the impact of your energy R&I projects through adequate dissemination, exploitation and communication of your results
Marie Prouteau, Euronovia, Paris, France
Presentation

CalorAir best air/water heat pumps -refrigerant reduction in the heat pumps -noise level reduction in the heat pumps -increasing COP in the heat pumps
Pawel Matusiak, fast development, Sosnowiec, Poland
Presentation

Metal Fuel Energy Applications
Dr. Martin Timmer, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, Netherlands
Presentation

Business cases for industrial waste heat/cold recovery. SC3-EE-06-2018
Jesus Serrano, Sustainable Innovations Europe, Madrid, Spain
Presentation

3D Inverse Design Methodology for Turbomachinery Components
Dr. Maria Vera-Morales, Advanced Design Technology Ltd., London, United Kingdom
Presentation

Operation of local TRIGENERATION power system
Jacek Glowinkowski, Wroclawski Park Technologiczny SA (Wroclaw Technology Park), WROCLAW, Poland
Presentation

Remote Smart Meters Errors Monitoring Methods Research and Implementation
Prof. Dr. Žilvinas Nakutis, Kaunas university of technology, Kaunas, Lithuania
Presentation
18.15Session 3 Workshops
“Services for proposals and projects” – Presentations by National Contact Points (NCPs), Enterprise Europe Network / ZENIT

Workshop: Innovation and Financing Support for SMEs

Horizon 2020: SME Instrument and Fast Track to Innovation
Dr. Michael Wessel, National Contact Point for materials
Presentation

Access to Finance
Verena Würsig, NRW.BANK
Presentation

Timon Gottschalk, NRW.BANK
Presentation

IraSME & ZIM-International
Georg Nagel, AiF Projekt GmbH
Presentation

Other European funding programmes/ Scale-up NRW
Benno Weißner/Juan Carmona-Schneider, ZENIT GmbH / NRW.Europa
Presentation

Workshop: Exploitation of R&I Results – Entering the Marketplace

Horizon 2020: TETRAMAX – Technology Transfer Experiments and Digital Innovation Hub
Dr. Bernd Janson, ZENIT GmbH
Presentation

Digitalisation in NRW
Oliver Weimann, ruhr:HUB

Digitalisation in Europe – Climate-KIC
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Rams, Provadis School of International Management and Technology

Enterprise Europe Network Services
Sabrina Wodrich, Dr. Uwe Birk, ZENIT GmbH / NRW.Europa
Presentation
  
Workshop: Innovation Procurement in Horizon 2020
Introduction
Anne Müngersdorff, ZENIT GmbH / NRW.Europa
Presentation

PCP Contractors wanted
Florian Berberich, Supercomputing Centre Institute for Advanced Simulation
Presentation

Best Practice report from a company: Strategic Planning and Business Development
Fabrizio Magugliani, E4 Computer Engineering SpA
Presentation

KOINNO EU Contact Point: Innovative Procurement in Germany
Doris Scheffler, ZENIT GmbH / NRW.Europa
Presentation
19.15Dinner
20.30“Düsseldorf by night” bus tour/city sightseeing

Friday, 16 March 2018 (Day 1)

including exhibition: Innovations for Europe based in NRW

9.30Welcome
9.35Services for Proposals and Projects
Jan Skriwanek, National Contact Point Life Sciences, Project Management Agency – part of the German Aerospace Center, PT DLR
9.45Success Stories in Europe based in NRW

Life Science: PoC-ID, Dr. Albert Schnieders, CNM Technologies GmbH, Bielefeld
Presentation

Life Science: ASSESS CT, Julian Sass, Hochschule Niederrhein, Krefeld
Presentation
10.05Coffee/Start parallel sessions
10.15Session 4 Workshops
“European projects seeking partners”

Nanotechnology, Materials and Manufacturing (NMM)

Advanced Microforming processes and Nanomaterials.
Prof. Dr. Christoph Hartl, Technische Hochschule Köln, Köln, Germany
Presentation

New Electrostatic Spraying Technology
Dr. Rene Massard, Kemica Coatings, Mignieres, France
Presentation

Computational Material Modelling for Fast-Paced European Industrial Productions
Prof. Dr. Amir Horr, Austrian Institute of Technology, Vienna, Austria
Presentation

Namur Nanosafety Center / Synthesis, Irradiation & Analysis of Materials. Your partner for characterisation/evaluation of NMs
Dr. Jorge Mejia, University of Namur, Namur, Belgium
Presentation

Foam Glass Insulation Blocks Manufacturing for Construction Industry
Gary Raskin, LfG, Dusseldorf, Germany
Presentation

Bio-inspired Tools for Nanofabrication
Prof. Dr. Amir Fahmi, Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences, Kleve, Germany

R&D and prototyping of applied AI-driven Intelligent Sustainable Systems supporting Smart management, governance, operations and condition monitoring
Dr. Serguei Golovanov, GOLEM Integrated Microelectronics Solutions GMBH, Vienna, Austria
Presentation

Corrosion Performance & Advanced Materials Characterisation Capabilities at TWI
Dr. David Griffiths, TWI, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Presentation

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

Handelsblatt Research Institute
Dr. Jan Kleibrink, Handelsblatt Research Institute, Düsseldorf, Germany
Presentation

Looking for partners in eHealth and Industry4.0 solutions
Dr. Jon Arambarri, Virtualware, Basauri, Spain
Presentation

Semantic Relationship Orchestration of decentralized digital Identities using distributed Identity Management Systems.
Thorsten Niebuhr, WedaCon GmbH, Muenster, Germany
Presentation

Partners sought for emerging innovations in Blockchain, Fin-Tech, Health-tech and oncological healthcare.
Ad Popper, Xilion webservices, Heiloo, Netherlands
Presentation

Beyond 5G : The networkless network and a new dawn
Dr. Rajarshi Sanyal, BICS, Brussels, Belgium
Presentation

Research interests and Collaboration Areas
Prof. Dr. Hamid Bouchachia, Bournemouth University, Poole, United Kingdom

Life Sciences

PINTra – Platform for Intelligent Transparency
Daniel Ziegelmayer, COREVAS GmbH & Co. KG, Grevenbroich, Germany

ReceptIVFity – Fertility Microbiome Profiling for IVF/ICSI
Dr. Jonathan de Jonge, ARTPred, Hoofddorp, Netherlands
Presentation

Individual manufacture of medical Ti-implants using microplasma processing
Prof. Dr. Darya Alontseva, East Kazakhstan state technical university, Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan
Presentation

CasZyme – Pioneers of CRISPR Cas technology
Dr. Monika Kavaliauske, CasZyme, Vilnius, Lithuania
Presentation

Controlling of protein disorder and protein aggregation in health and disease
Dr. Stefan Rüdiger, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
Presentation

Flexible microfluidic Lab-on-Chip systems for IVD applications
Dr. Jan Hesse, Joanneum Research, Graz, Austria
Presentation

Transport


At the interface between Logistics and IT. New horizon of Stopguard project.
Evgeny Novikov, GPC Doerfer International GmbH, Aachen, Germany
Presentation

CargoRider – A new mobility service for cargo ships
Frank Michelberger, University of Applied Sciences St. Poelten, St.Pölten, Austria
Presentation

Integrated multi-modal measures of user experience
Dr. Andrew Spink, Noldus Information Technology BV, Wageningen, Netherlands
Presentation

Disrupting Emission Testing and Monitoring
Aleksandra Karimaa, Gasera Ltd, Turku, Finland
Presentation

Remote Management of Mobile Devices used in European Transport.
Mariusz Walczak, Liki Mobile Solutions, Łódź, Poland
Presentation

VaVeL: Variety, Veracity, VaLue: Handling the Multiplicity of Urban Sensors
Dr. Thomas Liebig, Technische Universität Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany
Presentation
12.00Session 5 Workshops
“European projects seeking partners”
 
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

ROADART – Research On Alternative Diversity Aspects foR Trucks
Matthias Schneider, IMST GmbH, Kamp-Lintfort, Germany
Presentation

Medical diagnostic photonic sensor development and other biosensing technologies for point-of-care testing in health applications
Dr. Rainer Hainberger, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Wien, Austria
Presentation

Looking for partners in Energy & Industry 4.0. Presenting ideas for future projects, early products and research results in AI, Computer Vision and HPC.
Marcin Rojek, byteLAKE, Wroclaw, Poland
Presentation

Geometrical Structures – declueted from Point Clouds
Dr. Hanns-F. Schuster, GEOhaus GbR, Haus der Geoinformation, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany
Presentation

Technology transfer via multinational application experiments in customized and low-energy computing
Eva Haas, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
Presentation

Life Sciences

AIT biomarker discovery, bioinformatics, and biosensor development for upcoming H2020 projects
Dr. Stephan Pabinger, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Wien, Austria
Presentation

A Life Sciences Interdisciplinary Approach to Sustainable Intensification in Africa (SFS-35-2019 call)
Aykut Sancakli, Dimov Rosen, Serdengeçtiler Agricultural Production Partnership, Mersin, Turkey
Presentation

Innovative solutions for diagnostics
Balazs Czibok, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary
Presentation

bloom – Boosting European Citizens’ Knowledge and Awareness of Bioeconomy Research and Innovation
Norbert Steinhaus, Wissenschaftsladen Bonn – Bonn Science Shop, Bonn, Germany
Presentation

CDISC Presents the Importance of clinical research data standards and their fit with wider research standards landscape in a connected data framework
Paul Houston, CDISC Europe Foundation, Cenon, France
Presentation

Looking for 15 Early Stage Researchers in Biomedical Research and Biostatistics for the International Interdisciplinary PhD studies at the Medical University of Bialystok
Dr. Miroslaw Kwasniewski, Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland
Presentation
13.00Interactive lunch/Find a partner

Van der Valk Airporthotel

Am Hülserhof 5740472, Düsseldorf

Airport-Venue shuttle

The shuttle with e-cars will run from the airport to the venue (and back) on 15 or 16 March 2018.

About one week prior to the event, we will inform all participants who have indicated that they require an airport-venue shuttle where and when the shuttle service will run!

The meeting point at the airport where the shuttle leaves will be signposted.

The service is operated free of charge as a courtesy to our participants and on a “first-come, first served” basis. Please note that it is not possible to book the shuttle in

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Prior to the conference each year we announce a Call for Presentations.

Delegates are invited to submit suggestions for the presentation either of an idea for a joint Horizon 2020 proposal or of results from an EU-funded project ready for commercialisation. The presentations are held in the framework of workshops on specific themes, which are announced together with the conference programme.

The aim of the Call for Presentations is to facilitate communication between the participants.

Speakers profit threefold:

  • They have the opportunity to present their ideas for joint Horizon 2020 proposals/EU-funded research results to the audience in a thematically related workshop.
  • During the breaks there are special booths for further discussions between presenter and audience.
  • The conference participation fee is waived for speakers! (One per presentation.)


Once the Call for Presentations has closed, all submissions are reviewed against specific criteria as follows:

  1. Was the required information provided (and within the deadline)?
  2. Is there evidence of sufficient experience in EU R&D&I programmes?
  3. Is there clear potential for joint projects within Horizon 2020, e.g. are concrete calls mentioned, or do the R&D&I results have real potential for commercialisation?
  4. Does the proposed topic fit in with the overall concept of the foreseen workshop and complement (and not duplicate/is not similar to) the other presentations?

The selected speakers are notified and allocated a 6-minute time slot in one of the thematic workshops. They are then asked to submit a draft of their presentation so that the workshops can be prepared. Presenters are welcome to bring a final version to the event and upload it before the start of their session.

All presentations are uploaded on the conference website after the event.

Exhibition

Exhibition „Innovations for Europe based in NRW“ on 15 March 2018

(Download Flyer)
Ingpuls GmbHIngpuls
Nurogames GmbH
Breuckmann GmbH & Co. KGBreuckmann GmbH&CO KG
Wilhelm Schröder GmbHWilhelm Schröder GmbH
Stellar DBS GmbHStellar DBS GmbH
University of Applied Sciences Hochschule NiederrheinUniversity of Applied Sciences Hochschule Niederrhein

Once again in 2018, the importance of the “Successful R&I in Europe” conference series for Europe’s research and innovation calendar was substantiated by the number of participants. Around 300 delegates from 28 countries attended the European Networking Event in Düsseldorf on 15-16 March: 42 % were entrepreneurs and over 50 % were representatives of universities or research institutes. The fact that about half the participants came from abroad confirms that the event answers a demand for networking platforms at international level. 

The conference, which was organised by ZENIT GmbH on behalf of the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, was opened by Dr. Beate Wieland, Director of the Ministry’s Research Division. Keynote speaker was Dr. Erich Unterwurzacher, Director, Directorate General for Regional and Urban Policy, European Commission, Brussels.

Dr Beate Wieland
Dr Erich Unterwurzacher

The event was structured in thematic workshops and open networking sessions. Researchers previously selected within a call for proposals had the opportunity to present not only new ideas for future projects but also research results ready for commercialisation: Some 90 pitches over the two-day event! Delegates profited from the opportunity for an exchange of experience as well as to meet new potential partners and – most importantly – initiate joint EU projects.

Exhibition

Topics were:

  • Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)
  • Nanotechnology, Materials and Manufacturing (NMM)
  • Energy
  • Sustainable Economy
  • Life Sciences
  • Transport

In the framework of a parallel exhibition entitled “Innovations for Europe based in NRW”, a number of selected projects and initiatives were presented.  

The event benefited from extensive promotional activities undertaken by the Enterprise Europe Network, the largest business, technology and innovation support network in the world (over 600 organisations in over 60 countries), of which ZENIT is a partner in a consortium with NRW.BANK and NRW.International. Further assistance was provided by the National Contact Points in Germany and a large number of organisations in this year’s partner regions of Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Israel, the Netherlands and Poland.

Delegates had at their disposal an eCar shuttle service between Düsseldorf Airport and the impressive venue of Van der Valk Airporthotel.

Next year will see the 10th anniversary of this major R&I networking event – watch this space!