You may have heard of a collider: a device in which scientists collide particles. The particles impact each other, leading to new discoveries. The Euroteq Collider, an initiative of the European Commission, builds on this principle. Students from all over Europe, including from Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) are making an impact on the “real world” together. Several promising projects were successfully completed this summer.
Technical universities from all over Europe are participating in this collider, including Eindhoven, Prague, Munich, and Paris. The goal? “To show students that societal challenges should lead to new technology, instead of developing technology that might not benefit anyone,” explains Gert Guri. He is the coordinator of Education on Entrepreneurial Learning at TU/e. “Participants turn social challenges into concrete solutions, developing their technical skills, but also soft skills and most importantly: an entrepreneurial mindset.”
The initiative fits TU/e’s image. The university has been a world leader in cooperation with business for years. Several times the university has achieved the highest position in the Times Higher Education Ranking.
AI, social robots, and virtual reality
Within the collider, participants collaborate on various projects. In one of these, set up by the TU/e and Expertise Center for Dementia & Technology, students are investigating how to responsibly use technology to help people suffering from dementia. They focus, for example, on AI, social robots, and virtual reality: technologies that can help people with dementia with their daily tasks, or contribute to increasing social awareness and fighting stigma around the disease.
Because students bring their own background and knowledge, they often quickly find out whether a technical solution has potential, Guri concludes. “If you want to make an impact on society, you want to know: will the solution I came up with here in the Netherlands work elsewhere in the world? In some cases, students investigate in their own country whether a solution is effective. They validate whether the project idea can also make an impact on their respective ecosystems.”
ABS Autoherstel
Students in the Netherlands can also work at the Dutch company ABS Autoherstel: one of the country’s largest bodyshop chains. Two years ago, the company came into contact with TU/e. “We are constantly looking at how we can improve our processes and products,” explains Martijn ten Broeke. He is the innovation manager at ABS’ headquarters in Bodegraven. “Whether it’s damage repair or environmental issues: we regularly launch innovation projects.”
Students who join the company come from Israel, France, and England, for example. In one project students investigated the use of augmented reality (AR), in the form of AR glasses that allow damage experts to monitor and advise remotely. The solution proved successful. “The knowledge transfer through the glasses worked extremely well. Moreover, the implementation of the technology reduces emissions because experts have to travel less,” Ten Broeke said.
“The great thing is that by working with students, we are forced to look at our business from a new perspective”, Ten Broeke adds. “In our industry, the adoption of new technologies is not always fast. But we are showing that AI and augmented reality have the potential to take the industry to the next level.”
Collaboration
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