iL-CURRENT
May 9, 2023
Cooperation agreement with the TNO-Holst Center
The collaboration is perfect: InnovationLab GmbH and the TNO-Holst Center have signed a cooperation agreement in Eindhoven. Baden-Württemberg's Minister of Economic Affairs Dr. Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut and iL Managing Director Dr. Michael Kröger take part in an exciting delegation trip to the neighbouring country.
Even stronger and more innovative together
The front door has opened: These days, Heidelberg InnovationLab GmbH and the TNO-Holst Center in Eindhoven agreed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding to establish close, cross-border scientific and economic cooperation in the future. The formal act took place in the presence of Baden-Württemberg's Minister of Economic Affairs Dr. Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut and government representatives from the province of Noord-Brabant on the high-tech campus of the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) in a dignified setting.
Project Manager Province of Noord-Brabant Coean de Graaf, Senior Business Development Manager of the TNO-Holst Centre Emilio Manrique Ambriz, iL Managing Director Dr. Michael Kröger and Baden-Württemberg's Minister of Economic Affairs Dr. Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut after signing the contract in Eindhoven
"With this collaboration, we are linking two outstanding innovation regions in Europe - Noord-Brabant and Baden-Württemberg - on a technological and economic level. InnovationLab supports Holst in transferring innovative electrolyzer technology to industrial production. In turn, InnovationLab and its partners benefit from the ongoing development and improvement of the technology," says iL Managing Director Dr. Michael Kröger, who took part in the three-day delegation trip to the neighboring European country together with 50 representatives from Baden-Württemberg.
In principle, the two contractual partners are now examining options to accelerate the technology transfer and industrial production of electrolysers and thus achieve a kind of leadership in electrolyser technology across Europe. InnovationLab GmbH is aiming to install an open pilot factory for the industrial production of electrolyser stacks, which will support both the development of an infrastructure and promising publicly funded research and development projects. In addition to printed electronics, the iL managers are committed to the future fields and major drivers of energy and health.
The TNO-Holst Center is an ideal partner for this. This is because, like the InnovationLab, it focuses on making scientific findings applicable in practice and thus marketable. It is also an independent research and development center that responds to global social challenges and now specializes in the areas of health, quality of life and vitality, energy and climate, mobility, digital security and Industry 5.0. Eindhoven's high-tech campus is rightly regarded as a creative think tank. In the city of 240,000 inhabitants, which is dominated by electronics giant Philips, technology, design, art and research have been coming together for some time to form a meaningful fabric.
Linking two innovation locations such as InnovationLab and the TNO-Holst Centre is indeed a logical step in order to join forces to promote the definition of materials, core processes for the production of catalyst-coated membranes, large-scale production or a cross-border exchange of people. In addition, possibilities for funding and support at national and international level should also be balanced out.
"From the port of Rotterdam to the 'Brainport' Noord-Brabant: a clear forward-looking strategy was evident at all stops on the journey: Driving innovation, establishing partnerships and creating favorable conditions for private investment. The trip provided an ideal framework for networking with Dutch partners and is the starting signal for our cooperation with TNO-Holst Centre," says Michael Kröger, satisfied with the results.
The collaboration between the two partners mentioned is initially fixed for three years. But if what belongs together in terms of content and projects grows together, there is certainly nothing to be said against an extension. Especially as further doors are to be opened across national borders or even in a multilateral European context.
Joachim Klaehn
Head of Communications
This website is not part of the Facebook website or Facebook Inc. Furthermore, this website is in no way endorsed by Facebook. Facebook is a brand of Facebook, Inc. We use Google remarketing pixels/cookies on this website to re-communicate with visitors to our website and ensure that we can reach them with relevant messages and information in the future. Google places our ads on third party websites on the internet to communicate our message and reach the right people who have shown interest in our information in the past.