Seven technological companies from Alberta, Edmonton in Canada visited Brainport last week. They visited several companies and a number of program components of the Dutch Technology Week including TEDx and Sioux CCM Mechatronics Trophy. The goal of the visit was to look at possibilities of the exchange of technology, knowledge, networks and a possible cooperation.
Under the guidance of Henk ten Wolde and Edmonton Economic Development Corporation (EEDC), the companies have had appointments at Food Tech Park Brainport, Frencken, High Tech Campus, Hapert Trailers, Life Tech Group, Philips, and VDL. Ten Wolde is economic advisor and trade commissioner in Alberta. “Brainport has a very clever design. They have the intelligence to produce efficiently and more effectively and also have a large network. This enables them to switch quickly with each other and that is something that I would like to link to companies from Alberta.” The seven companies participating in the mission from Edmonton are active in the manufacturing industry. There are, for instance, companies that handle the making of medical applications, have developed a device to purify the air and companies that make software for robots or drones. “They are looking for new techniques, experiences and the exchange of knowledge”, says Ten Wolde.
“The past few days I was given the space to test my project and to share the knowledge about it. The openness they have at companies here is pleasant and it works very encouraging for me.”Randy Duguay, Salu
One of the companies is Salu, they have developed a ‘wristband’ that contains sensors with which blood pressure can be measured without a large inflatable cuff and also the oxygen content, heart rate rhythm and amount of physical activity are measured with it. “This region is ahead in optimizing care with technology. I can take over a lot of the way care, technology and end users are brought together in the Brainport Healthy Living Lab’, says Randy Duguay of Salu. The past few days I was given the space to test my project and to share the knowledge about it. The openness they have at companies here is pleasant and it works very encouragingly for me.”
The contacts between Alberta and Brainport started at the beginning of last year. “They visited here to look at one of the Unique Selling Points of Brainport Eindhoven; the cooperation in the chain and the added value of this for companies in the chain, which allows them to grow faster. Alberta is interesting because of the opportunities for companies in the food processing industry in the region. There are several companies there with a demand for such technology”, says Chantal Ottens of Brainport Development. To gain a better view of the opportunities, Brainport Development and a group of food tech companies have traveled to Alberta earlier this year. In autumn, a number of food companies from Edmonton will come to Brainport Eindhoven. “You can just tell about the technology and knowledge we have here, what companies do here and which opportunities that offer, but by making foreign companies come to the region, you can actually show them all that. From there we want to build further.”
