Spark Award 2015: Research projects with high business potential

Please login or
register
01.04.2015

Yesterday, ETH Zurich presented the Spark Award 2015. A group of researchers who are developing an important tool in personalised medicine won the ETH award for the most promising invention of 2014. Key note speaker Luc Bonnard, Vice President of the Board of Directors at Schindler, gave unusual tips to foster innovation in an industrial company.

Several biotech spin-offs from ETH made the headlines in the last months. Glycovaxyn, Covagen and a part of Redbiotec were acquired by big companies for more than CHF 500 million. Silvio Bonaccio, Head of ETH transfer, explained the reasons for these acquisitions. Corporations such as GSK get access to unique technologies, gain a foothold in Zurich and get access to an attractive talent pool.

Chances are good that further acquisitions will follow. ETH Zurich is running several successful programs to encourage students and scientists to start their own company. In the last five years 48 students were granted so called Pioneer Fellowships. They founded 18 spin-offs.

And the finalists and the winner of the Spark Award proved that there are a lot of very promising research projects at ETH Zurich especially in the biotech domain.

The 2015 Spark Award went to a group of researchers led by ETH Professor Manfred Kopf, which has developed a method by which specific characteristics of immune cells can be identified. The technology could prove to be an important tool in personalised medicine.

More information about the five finalists can be found on the ETH website.

Before the award was presented to the research group Luc Bonnard, Vice President of the Board of Directors at Schindler, spoke about innovation in an industrial company. His tips:

  • Pressure helps to find a good solution
  • Don’t be modest, look around what already exists in other areas and try to adopt it
  • Interdisciplinary workshops are effective – brainstorming sessions are ineffective.
  • Development groups need clear goals from the CTO
  • At Schindler a group of 40 people not integrated in the normal structure of the company is working on solutions for tomorrow. They can present their prototypes in a show room with 1000 square meters where customers can look at the ideas and can give input.

0Comments

rss