Ecosystem for Innovation - DTU: Technical University of Denmark - Skylab
DTU Skylab is a place where engineering students can get together with professors and industry professionals to cultivate the kinds of skills required for a new generation of engineers to benefit society as much as possible. DTU Skylab represents a dynamic learning ecosystem, breaking down the traditional classroom and providing a variety of physical spaces, from a unique auditorium to makerspace and a range of labs. Here students can get together with mentors from all over academia and industry to work on projects designed not only to foster new design ideas and startup companies, but to cultivate the kinds of competencies needed to manoeuvre around a fast moving globalized world. This approach is central to teaching and learning at DTU. Courses here are designed to stimulate analytical thinking, interdisciplinary collaboration as well as an entrepreneurial spirit, coupled with solid academic knowledge. It’s the combination of all these competencies that will allow engineers to thrive in their future work.
Innovation is in DTU’s DNA. We help students and employees translate inventions and discoveries into enterprising businesses, and we engage in innovative collaborations with society as a whole. Innovation is standard in the curriculum of all our engineering programmes. All because we are driven by a will to develop new, sustainable ideas that can help solve the challenges the world currently faces.
Innovation for the benefit of society.
DTU has one of the most well-developed ecosystems for innovation and entrepreneurship among technical universities in Europe. This ecosystems helps bringing new ideas and inventions from the classrooms and research laboratories at DTU into the real world, where they can create new jobs and help solve tasks and challenges in society.
Innovation at DTU comprises four pillars, each with its own specific focus:
Commercialization
Research at DTU often leads to inventions considered to have commercial value. In this context, DTU enters into sales, license and option agreements with established companies and start-ups that can develop products based on technology from DTU. Intellectual property rights (IPR) are a central part of the University’s business and underlines the relevance of the research community.
A solid innovation infrastructure has been created at DTU. Below, we have gathered some highlights that show how innovation, entrepreneurship, and research are part of a larger whole at DTU - for the benefit of society.
DTU Entrepreneurship: a centre of research and programmes centred on entrepreneurship, which aims to strengthen the innovation ecosystem.
DTU Link: innovation hub facilitating innovation programmes for small and medium-sized enterprises and an incubator for tech start-ups.
DTU Link is located on Risø Campus and include desk/office-renting facilities and access to prototyping facilities and workshops.
DTU Skylab: an innovation hub for students and employees with prototype workshops, laboratories, events and teaching.
DTU Science Park: one of Denmark’s leading development environments for deep tech companies. Organizer of the Danish Tech Challenge,
a growth programme for hardware companies.
DTU Tech Transfer: DTU’s technology transfer unit, which helps commercialize ideas, inventions, and technology from DTU through
the sale and licensing of rights.
Future Box: an incubation environment for deep tech and hardware companies. Future Box is part of DTU Science Park.
Open Entrepreneurship: a research project acting as a bridge between industry and academia.
PowerLabDK: an experimental platform for electric power and energy.
PreSeed Ventures: a DTU subsidiary specializing in funding entrepreneurs.
Business development is one of DTU most important cornerstones.
DTU experienced business developers are all industry professionals with long-standing expertise within different domains that complement DTU’s outstanding researchers in their academic disciplines.
They help researchers translate their inventions into commercial concepts and products, which can be sold or licensed to an industry partner or used as basis to establish a new startup.
Each DTU Department is assigned a business developer who works in close collaboration with the researchers and innovation peers at the Departments. This collaboration is very dynamic and aimed at creating long term-value for the individual projects.
In this model, the invention will be prepared and matured enough to found a new company based on it. The inventor will have the options to either join the founding team as a DTU entrepreneur or support it as inventor and researcher from his or her current position at DTU. The process of commercialising the invention is done in close collaboration with the DTU department's innovation responsible and a DTU Tech Transfer business developer.
In this model, the invention will be prepared and matured enough to transfer it to an industry partner. The partner will typically buy it as a licence or an IPR sales agreement. The inventor can choose to support the process from his or her current DTU position. The process of commercialising the invention is done in close collaboration with the DTU department's innovation responsible and a DTU Tech Transfer business developer.
DTU Tech Transfer 4 phases of Commercialisation
It all starts with an idea/invention based on significant research efforts carried out in DTU departments and centers. In the Idea Development phase, DTU Tech Transfer will make a detailed assessment of the idea/invention to understand its commercial potential and to evaluate if the idea/invention is patentable. DTU will then decide whether or not to take formal ownership. Learn more about DTU ownership here.
The purpose of the Project Scoping phase is to create a high-level plan for commercialization of the idea/invention.
A supporting IP strategy is designed as well as a general technical development plan for the idea/invention, the latter is devised in collaboration with the inventors. A commercial strategy, including funding needs, marketing and collaboration activities, is also in focus during Project Scoping.
DTU Tech Transfer and the inventors develop the project to
a point where; the value proposition and the market is described, the IP position and regulatory route are known, and the technical verification of the invention has progressed to a level ready for commercialisation. The project is now at a state where it can be promoted to potential commercial partners. Validation of specific customer pains and needs is obtained through dialogue with customers, partners and investors. DTU Tech Transfer encourages founding teams to establish advisory boards early as expert commercial competences will help to set a clear direction for the project and keep a strong momentum.
The purpose of this phase is to enter into a commercial agreement with a spin-out company or an established company. As the project approaches the company establishment phase, DTU Tech Transfer will gradually decrease its involvement in favor of the advisory board and the founding team. We typically negotiate a licensing agreement with the company and ensure that the technology is being transferred from DTU to the company. We support founding teams with a Start-up Package where independent partners of DTU Tech Transfer provide the start-up with legal and financial advice.
Service Design Challenge, DTU
Experiencing the field
Identifying Opportunities
Service Blueprinting
Idea Generation
Prototyping service experiences
Presenting Future service solutions
Nyt Hospital Nordsjælland - det såkaldte supersygehus - står med en række udfordringer i forhold til den nuværende praksis omkring isolationspatienter, og efterspørger gode idéer til konceptfornyelse inden for henholdsvis patientens oplevelse af isolation samt ressourcespild. Ved Service Design Challenge i DTU Skylab den 14. november 2014 udviklede ca. 30 studerende fra DTU, Metropol og Århus Universitet innovative løsninger med baggrund i Service Design-tænkningen og præsenterede deres forslag for læger, sygeplejersker og innovationskonsulenter fra Nyt Hospital Nordsjælland. Personalet får hermed mulighed for at teste de bedste og mest realisérbare idéer i deres ’living lab’ på Nordsjællands Hospital.