Industry-Academia Workshops on Control and Computational Methods

This is where real-world problems and cutting-edge research meet. In our intimate, high-quality workshops, we bring engineers from industry and researchers from the NCCR Automation together for deep technical discussions and finding collaboration opportunities and new talent in a relaxed setting. It is a unique opportunity to find the research partner for your automation needs.

Deep technical discussions in a relaxed setting? 

Yes, to ensure everyone is comfortable, we limit the number of participants to no more than 30; 15 engineers from five different companies and 15 NCCR Automation researchers. To break the ice, all the participants have dinner together on the evening before the workshop. They mix and mingle and get to know each other, learn about the different companies and research labs. The view from Dozentenfoyer and Villa Hatt also contribute to the atmosphere.

 

Why would any company share openly what they are working on?

There are two ingredients to increasing openness: firstly, our workshops are held under an NDA signed by all the participating parties. And secondly, and maybe more importantly, we hand-pick the companies to make sure they are not in competition to each other. This is a beauty specific to the field of automation: it is present in almost all the industries, from manufacturing to medical devices to transportation to energy distribution to building operation and many more. Therefore, we always have a very interesting mix of companies. 

 

What happens during the workshop?

In the morning session of the workshop, each company presents a challenge in automation or optimisation that they are currently facing. In breakout sessions, engineers and researchers brainstorm solutions. In the afternoon session we turn things around: in our “control method speed-dating” format, we have five tables, each dedicated to a new method in control and optimisation. Every company gets to spend half an hour each at the tables to learn more about the methods and discuss how they could be applied to their challenges. 

 

What happens next? 

Based on the discussions, there can be individual follow-ups between companies and research groups, joint master, PhD or Innosuisse projects, researchers joining companies as engineers or engineers attending relevant courses at one of our universities. 

 

What do participants think about this format? 

“Please do it more often! The workshop has offered us more insight on control related challenges some colleagues are facing across different industries and clever approaches they have taken. The exposure time and input from academia was extremely valuable for as it was a good basis to establish conversation and gain input from their side, in addition to identifying potential avenues of collaboration.”

“I loved the overall concept. This was my first time, and I get to know the real problems that industry faces. So, a big cheers to the team of NCCR :)”

“The workshop was interesting, and I think the idea behind it is brilliant. Researchers and industry need to get closer together again.”

 

Should your company join one of these workshops?

Yes, absolutely! Reach out to us to learn more.