Siemens and TU Graz have been working together in various fields of research since 2005. The close connection between the two partners led to the establishment of the Center of Knowledge Interchange (CKI) at TU Graz in 2015. This is a Siemens partnership programme which the technology group uses to deepens its cooperation with universities that are strong in research. Apart from TU Graz, there are currently only seven other CKI universities worldwide. A CKI partnership is far more comprehensive than other forms of research cooperation and is not only restricted to individual institutes or chairs, but rather embraces the whole university.
Research for the future
The fields of innovation, research, development and talent management are at the focus of the CKI programme with TU Graz. At Campus Inffeldgasse, together with others and including smartfactory@tugraz, the two partners conduct research on manufacturing concepts of the future, and at the TU Graz’s vibration test rig on pioneering concepts and technologies for rail transport.
TU Graz Rector Harald Kainz stresses the traditional close ties with industry and their importance for the location: ‘The cooperation of TU Graz with domestic industry in research and teaching gives dynamism to the innovative power of our region and strengthens our international competitiveness. In the cooperation with Siemens, we dedicate ourselves in particular to the central future issues of mobility, energy technology, production and digitalisation. The institutions benefit from this as much as society does.’
Wolfgang Hesoun also underscores the value of cooperation: ‘For us, the CKI programme is an important mainstay in training, production and research. In Styria alone, 300 researchers from Siemens develop some 35 inventions per year. An important factor of success for this high technological creativity is our specially close partnership with TU Graz and the ensuing constant exchange of know-how between industry and academia.’
For state governor Hermann Schützenhöfer, research and development is the key to the future. ‘In Styria we don’t have to worry about changes because we’re actively shaping the future with our innovative power,’ says Schützenhöfer, who in his statements refers to the fact that Styria is the most innovative federal state in Austria with a research quota of 5.16 percent.
