to share experience and the best practices in the fields of education, research, and innovation,
to ignite inspiration among Higher Education Institution staff to explore new pathways and opportunities to foster students’ entrepreneurship and innovation,
to stimulate the development of the innovation ecosystem in our home region and inspire the local, regional, and national stakeholders.
👉 to share experience and the best practices in the fields of education, research, and innovation,
👉 to ignite inspiration among Higher Education Institution staff to explore new pathways and opportunities to foster students’ entrepreneurship and innovation,
👉 to stimulate the development of the innovation ecosystem in our home region and inspire the local, regional, and national stakeholders.
We had the fantastic opportunity to learn more about the upcoming activities of the European Innovation Community under EIT Urban Mobility and EIT Health in the region. We shared our experience and inspired our partners with the best practices in 5G use cases (automated guided vehicles, augmented reality enabling human-robot collaboration) and the latest innovations in additive 3D printing technology. The TUL’s best practices in educating for entrepreneurship and fostering the entrepreneurial spirit are undoubtedly the Formula Student TUL Racing project, the Student Business Club or the creative workshop TULab. On the second day, we used the incredible opportunity to visit the creative community centre Kontakt in Liebieg’s Palace and the regional business incubator LipoInk. There, we met with startups and young companies from the region, including Flapper Drones, Hardwario and NullSpaces.
And what comes next? We are passionate about supporting students’ entrepreneurship and have many exciting opportunities at hand for them to get involved in. We are holding our 10th annual competition for the best TUL startup (more here) and i-Days at the TUL for our inventive and entrepreneurial students in cooperation with EIT Health. The best team will represent the Czech Republic at the European finals in Budapest ()!
https://skills2scale.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/20240423_133523140_iOS-kopie.jpg7331877tul_teamhttps://skills2scale.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/S2S-logo-transparent-1.pngtul_team2024-05-07 20:49:132024-05-09 10:04:413rd Peer Learning Event took place in Liberec, Czech Republic
The second local event took place on 24th April at the regional incubator LipoInk, which is owned and financed by the Liberec Regional Authority. More than 10 deep-tech companies are currently located in LipoInk. 18 representatives of the regional incubator management, Hardwario, Flapper Drones, NullSpaces and TUL presented and discussed topics related to entrepreneurship education, business start-ups, funding opportunities and support from public and private institutions. LipoInk representatives presented the main support programmes for start-ups – Ambulance, Kick Off & Gym for Startups and Full Fat for Scaleups. The cooperation between LipoInk and the Technical University of Liberec takes place within the framework of entrepreneurship education and the Student Business Club, especially the TUL Start-up Competition, in which the entrepreneurial mentors from LipoInk participate. Some student start-ups are included in the incubation programme – currently, for example, the project of a student from the Faculty of Textile Engineering – EcoHaus, which deals with ecological laundry.
LipoInk, which is run by the Regional Development Agency, a company that is 100% owned by the Liberec Regional Authority, is a beacon for budding entrepreneurs in the Liberec Region. The problem in the future may be the financing of the incubator, which is mostly provided from the public budget of the Liberec Regional Authority, and in this context the political risk was often mentioned. The incubated companies largely benefit from the Czech Republic’s “Technological Incubation” grant programme, under which they can receive financial support for up to 5 years, including for the services provided by LipoInk.
https://skills2scale.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/02.jpg8031384tul_teamhttps://skills2scale.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/S2S-logo-transparent-1.pngtul_team2024-04-25 22:48:042024-07-17 22:48:50Innovation picnic: Regional delicacies from LipoInk
On Friday, 1st March 2024, Deans Jaromír Moravec and Aleš Kocourek and CxI Director Miroslav Černík welcomed guests from the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) Urban Mobility – Innovation Hub East at the Technical University of Liberec. Since May last year, TUL has been part of the European Innovation Network within the Skills2Scale project (we wrote about ithere). The guests from EIT were mainly interested in projects related to sustainable transport, autonomous mobility, energetics, and renewable energy sources. During the meeting, dr. Traian Urban presented all the activities of the EIT Urban Mobility – Innovation Hub East. Dean Aleš Kocourek introduced the EIT representatives to the structure of TUL and the research focus of its divisions. Dr. Josef Břoušek presented research and development in autonomous mobility and Dr. Lukáš Hubka in the field of energetics and renewable energy sources. Later, the guests visited several research laboratories and attended demonstrations of prototypes of single- and two-track electric vehicles and autonomous vehicles. Many other topics were discussed throughout the visit, including the possibilities of coordinating activities for developing international cooperation of TUL in research, development, and innovation, as well as technology transfer and support for startups and spinoffs.
Innovation Hub East was established in January 2020 and covers the geographical area of the eastern part of Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia and Israel. As of August 2020, the main office is located in the center of Prague, Czech Republic. Innovation Hub East works with partners from top universities, research centers, cities and municipalities, industrial corporations, and small and medium-sized enterprises. The partners are active in many projects covering the topics of functional mobility, micro-mobility, shared mobility, traffic monitoring through artificial intelligence, smart parking, building and monitoring innovative urban transport ecosystems, as well as projects related to the prevention of the spread of infectious diseases. Innovation Hub East is actively expanding its family of partners across Europe and facilitating the collaboration of international consortia and teams to build sustainable urban spaces that provide a qualitatively higher standard of living for citizens. Innovation Hub East is also active in organizing acceleration and scale-up programs.
https://skills2scale.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/p189023.jpg10901200tul_teamhttps://skills2scale.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/S2S-logo-transparent-1.pngtul_team2024-03-10 21:14:452024-03-10 21:14:46Innovation Hub East at the Technical University of Liberec
We are proud to announce that on Friday, 1st March 2024, Deans Jaromír Moravec and Aleš Kocourek and CxI Director Miroslav Černík welcomed guests from the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) Urban Mobility – Innovation Hub East at the Technical University of Liberec. The guests from EIT were mainly interested in projects related to sustainable transport, autonomous mobility, energetics, and renewable energy sources. During the meeting, dr. Traian Urban presented all the activities of the EIT Urban Mobility – Innovation Hub East. Dean Aleš Kocourek introduced the EIT representatives to the structure of TUL and the research focus of its divisions.
Dr. Josef Břoušek presented research and development in autonomous mobility and Dr. Lukáš Hubka in the field of energetics and renewable energy sources. Later, the guests visited several research laboratories and attended demonstrations of prototypes of single- and two-track electric vehicles and autonomous vehicles. Many other topics were discussed throughout the visit, including the possibilities of coordinating activities for developing international cooperation of TUL in research, development, and innovation, as well as technology transfer and support for startups and spinoffs.
https://skills2scale.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/S2S-logo-transparent-1.png00tul_teamhttps://skills2scale.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/S2S-logo-transparent-1.pngtul_team2024-03-01 21:05:112024-03-10 21:15:19Innovation Hub East at the Technical University of Liberec
“Entrepreneurship is a key skill for success in the job market or for developing your own business. Every modern university should develop it for its students. However, such a skill cannot simply be developed in the classroom,” explains Jana Simanová, Vice Dean of Faculty of Economics at TUL. “That is why this winter semester we organised a unique educational experiment at TUL, which brought together students from three faculties – the Faculty of Economics, the Faculty of Mechatronics and the Faculty of Health Studies – to solve interesting projects.”
“We started on 6th October with an Ideathon. During the three-hour event, representatives from T-Mobile, Linet and the Regional Hospital in Liberec presented their innovative challenges to thirty students from the Faculty of Mechatronics, the Faculty of Health Studies and the Faculty of Economics. During the Ideathon, the students questioned the challengers and expert mentors about the details of the problems and known solutions. In the end, they formed 4 teams with representatives from all three faculties and defined the goals of their joint projects and initial proposals for innovative solutions,” says Jana Vitvarová, author of the concept of the 5G Interdisciplinary Innovation Lab at TUL and lecturer of students from the Faculty of Health Sciences.
Over the next two months, the students worked on the solutions in their faculty courses and developed them according to their expertise – from a technical, economic and future user point of view. The work included visits to startup companies or paramedic services, consultations with expert mentors and a one-day hackathon for mechatronics students to come up with a technical concept.
“The biggest challenge for the students was communication within the teams. They didn’t know each other before the course started, they study different disciplines with different timetables and they had to synchronise their work. I think it was a useful lesson for everyone that it is important to respect other professionals and try to understand the perspectives of other disciplines,” says Lenka Koskova Triskova, a lecturer of the students from the Smart Technologies specialisation at Faculty of Mechatronics.
The work of the interdisciplinary teams culminated on 23rd November. In front of a panel of experts, the students presented their solution and business plan.The panel of experts included representatives from innovative technology companies and experts in the field of digitalisation and healthcare. Specifically, the teams tackled issues such as the localisation and online tracking of hospital equipment, communication and messaging between paramedic teams and hospitals, and the monitoring of elderly people with neurodegenerative diseases.
The winner of the first year of the 5G Interdisciplinary Innovation Lab was a team of students who designed a new solution for the paramedic team to share information about patients and the course of interventions between dispatch, hospitals and field teams in dealing with mass disasters. “The most interesting part of the whole work for us was that we were in close contact with paramedics and professional mentors. We knew that we were working to solve a real problem and that we could really make a difference,” says Filip Tichacek, a student at the Faculty of Mechatronics and a member of the winning team. His colleague Antonin Sahula adds: “I told myself that I would study some economics because it is important and as a technician I need to be able to get along with economists if I want to run a company one day. So far I haven’t been interested in it at all”.
“For us, the organisers, the most important thing now is the retrospective and the feedback from the students, so that we can continue to improve in preparing similar forms of teaching,” says Jana Vitvarová, summing up her impressions on behalf of the organisers. “We definitely want to repeat and develop the concept. We all enjoyed connecting students from different faculties – the students and us. For example, the area of smart solutions for cities and a whole range of other ideas are on offer”.
“The whole event could not have taken place without the active participation of the practitioner challengers and expert mentors. We are very grateful to Vit Karvay, Technical Director of the global company LINET, Head of the Science and Research Centre of the Regional Hospital in Liberec Vendula Macháčková, Lukáš Abazid from T-Mobile, Jakub Recek, paramedic, Lenka Horakova, geriatric specialist and Pavel Hübner from Hardwario for their helpful suggestions and excellent cooperation.” concludes Jana Simanová, Vice Dean for Conception and Development of the EF TUL and adding that she hopes the students will continue to develop and improve their projects. A great opportunity is, for example, the participation in the EIT Health Open Innovation Call.
https://skills2scale.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/20231123_132624169_iOS-scaled.jpg14402560tul_teamhttps://skills2scale.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/S2S-logo-transparent-1.pngtul_team2023-11-28 10:46:142023-12-08 13:50:31Final Pitch Deck@TUL: Students from three faculties join forces to tackle 5G/digital health challenges
🌐On Friday, 10 November 2023, almost 20 students from the Faculty of Mechatronics studying smart technologies gathered at the TUL FabLab to participate in the 5G/Digital Health Hackathon as part of the EIT HEI Skills2Scale project.
The students are working on technical solutions to three 5G Health challenges – they are developing new solutions that could help paramedics in the future (the excursion to the dispatch centre in Liberec was inspiring, thank you!), as well as caregivers of Alzheimer’s patients or hospitals in tracking the movement of mobile devices.
During the Hackathon, students had the opportunity to discuss their solutions with a 5G expert from the national operator T-Mobile. The business and technical aspects of the projects were supported by people trained within the Skills2Scale project – Webinar on Beyond 5G Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship project. Many thanks to Pavel Hübner from IOT startup Hardwario and Lukas Abazid from T-Mobile!
But watch out❗ – this 8-hour Hackathon was just the continuation of the 5GIIL project at TUL – the students are working on their projects throughout the semester and will present their final pitch deck on 23 November.
https://skills2scale.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/S2S-logo-transparent-1.png00tul_teamhttps://skills2scale.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/S2S-logo-transparent-1.pngtul_team2023-11-14 15:52:032023-11-14 15:55:05Hackathon 5G/Digital Health at the Technical University of Liberec, the Czech Republic
5G Interdisciplinary Innovation Lab (5GIIL) fosters collaboration among students across diverse fields including economics, technical disciplines, and application domains with a strong emphasize in eHealth. These students come together in teams to collectively create and prepare market-driven solutions that embrace innovation in the 5G and beyond. This best practice draws inspiration from hackathons. However, unlike hackathons, the activities take place over a longer period of time so that students have more time to think about the solution, and it is possible to integrate 5GIIL for eHealth into their regular courses.
In the preparation phase, once suitable courses and students from different disciplines have been selected, there are two main activities:
a) obtain application domain specific challenges from stakeholders from the eHealth sector, b) form a team of expert mentors from both academia and industry/business who possess the necessary expertise to guide students across all three aspects of their work: domain knowledge, technical skills, and economic and entrepreneurial understanding.
In the realisation phase, the 5GIIL for eHealth follows the steps below. The activities alternate between instructor-led workshops providing the necessary context for the current step and subsequent independent teamwork. Teams maintain regular contact with mentors and can consult with them about their work at each step.
These steps are
1st Challenges. Presentation of challenges to students and facilitation of teams’ formations. Teams assignment: Choose a challenge and form a multidisciplinary team.
2nd Ideation. Workshop on ideation techniques. Teams assignment: Suggest possible solutions.
3rd Prototyping. Workshop on prototyping methods. Team assignment: Develop a prototype solution.
4th Validation. Workshop on validation methods. Teams assignment: Validate the proposed solution.
5th Pitch (to investors). Workshop on how to make a pitch. Teams assignment: Make the best pitch.
6th Retrospective/Feedback. Workshop on retrospective methods. Teams assignment: Make the retrospective and get feedback on your work/pitch.
The 5GIIL for eHealth is meant to be an integral part of specific student’s courses, so it is advisable to reward students for participating in the lab by earning part of the credits from their course. Working in the 5GIIL for eHealth, students develop entrepreneurial and project management skills and strengthen interdisciplinary links that are otherwise difficult to acquire during their studies. They learn by sharing their knowledge. Engineering students bring knowledge of technology, development and production methods. Domain students bring knowledge of the details and needs of the eHealth industry. Economics students bring knowledge of business and marketing principles. Project-based approach, real-life challenges and expert mentorship allow students to work directly with the eHealth industry, gain practical experience and think about the impact their work can have in real-world contexts.
The application of 5G may catalyse the convergence of other modern technologies like AI, IoT, blockchain, virtual reality, and edge computing. By integrating these technologies with 5G, innovators can create ground-breaking solutions with enhanced capabilities and transformative potential.
The pilot 5GIIL for 5G/Digital Health took place in 2023 at the Technical University of Liberec with the support of the EIT HEI Initiative and the Skills2Scale project.
https://skills2scale.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/IMG_6252-scaled.jpg14402560tul_teamhttps://skills2scale.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/S2S-logo-transparent-1.pngtul_team2023-10-11 11:19:022023-10-18 16:16:545G Interdisciplinary Innovation Lab bringing together students of technology, natural sciences and economics
🌐On Friday, 6th October 2023, almost 30 students from the Faculty of Health Studies, the Faculty of Mechatronics and the Faculty of Economics gathered at TUL in the amazing and inspiring environment of the studio of Building A to participate in the Ideathon on 5G/Digital Health as part of the EIT HEI Skills2Scale project.
The students worked on three project challenges under the supervision of Jana Vitvarová and Lenka Kosková Třísková from the Faculty of Mechatronics and Antonín Ferdan from ImpactHub.
Many thanks to Vendula Macháčková from the Regional Hospital in Liberec, Vít Karvay from Linet, Lukáš Abazid from T-Mobile and Jakub Reček, a paramedic, for setting the challenges and providing great mentoring.
But watch out❗ – this 3-hour Ideathon was just the beginning – the students will work on their projects throughout the semester and present their results on 23rd November 2023.
https://skills2scale.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/S2S-logo-transparent-1.png00tul_teamhttps://skills2scale.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/S2S-logo-transparent-1.pngtul_team2023-10-10 14:54:212023-10-24 16:13:09🌐IDEATHON 5G/Digital Health at the Technical University of Liberec, the Czech Republic
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