International exchange, technology transfer and start-ups were the focus of a Taiwanese delegation’s visit to the HTWD

On 10 September, the HTWD welcomed a delegation from Taiwan for discussions on university cooperation, technological developments and opportunities for technology transfer. The programme included a presentation on the HTWD, discussions with Taiwanese partner universities, and insights into start-up support and current research and technology topics.

To kick off the event, Professor Kathrin Harre, Vice-Rector for Research, Sustainability and Technology Transfer, welcomed the guests from Taipei – representing the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and National Taiwan University (NTU) – and introduced the HTWD and its key areas of focus. Sophie Tietze, Head of Technology Transfer Networks and Start-ups, supplemented this with an insight into HTWD’s start-up and technology transfer activities.

Discussions on university cooperation and Taiwan

The initial focus was on student exchanges between HTWD and the TaiTech universities. Professor Anne-Kathrin Haubold from the Faculty of Business Administration, who represents HTWD’s international partnerships with Taiwanese universities, provided insights into existing and future forms of cooperation.

Chin-An Edie Wang from the Commercialisation and Industrial Service Centre of the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) reported on Taiwan’s technological and industrial development. This also highlighted points of connection between the Taiwanese innovation and industrial system and HTWD’s research, technology transfer and start-up activities.

From the start-up incubator to applied research

Following a brief tour of the U Building, Susann Bladwell from the start-up incubator presented the support services available to aspiring entrepreneurs at the university. The start-up culture at HTWD was particularly vividly illustrated by the presentations from the start-up teams: Morik Nikolić and Ken Bittner presented their start-up idea, RobDog; Benjamin Ernst introduced COBACK; and Hong-Ly Nguyen presented INSTANT, a portal for Taiwanese students coming to Germany to study. 

During the subsequent campus tour, the guests gained insights into current projects and key areas of research. In the laboratory, Professor Uwe Kühsel and Professor Mathias Jäckel from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering demonstrated the university’s application-oriented expertise in robotics. Marco Steinhauser then demonstrated the use of virtual reality in joining technology. 

The event concluded with a presentation on luminescent organic molecules (OLEMS) and their applications. Dr Radic Mametov presented the research area on behalf of Professor Stefan Schramm from the Faculty of Agriculture, Environment and Chemistry.

Developing perspectives together

“The visit to HTWD was very informative and inspiring for our students. In particular, the insights into the laboratories and the exchange with the start-up teams impressively demonstrated how research, innovation and entrepreneurship interact in practice,” said Olivia Gu from the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), summarising the visit.