The ZEISS Innovation Hub @ KIT on the North Campus of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) commenced operations back in January 2020, but has not been able to hold an official opening due to the pandemic – until yesterday, that is, when the opening was honored in a virtual ceremony.
The President and CEO of the ZEISS Group, Dr. Karl Lamprecht, was accompanied by collaboration partners KIT and Nanoscribe as he welcomed representatives from politics, business and science. Speeches were given by Baden-Württemberg's Minister of Science Theresia Bauer, KIT President Professor Dr.-Ing. Holger Hanselka and Chairman of the KIT Supervisory Board Professor Dr. Michael Kaschke.
In his opening speech, Dr. Lamprecht said: "ZEISS invests over 10 percent – most recently, 13 percent – of its revenue in research and development work. As part of our innovation strategy, the Innovation Hub gives us the chance to shape future technologies in collaboration with our partners. The ZEISS Innovation Hub @ KIT allows us to network in creative, young and high-tech research environments, at one of Germany's most innovative sites with its unique energy and ambience."
In his speech, Professor Dr. Michael Kaschke added: "The ZEISS Innovation Hub @ KIT allows the KIT and Carl Zeiss AG to pool their innovative prowess, thus laying excellent foundations for new ideas and innovations, and for their advancement. As Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the KIT and former ZEISS President and CEO, I am delighted with the project and the modern building, which is a beacon for successful public-private partnerships in Germany."
KIT President, Professor Holger Hanselka, agreed: "We can only successfully take new technologies where they are truly needed – to people and companies – by merging the worlds of science and business, research and innovation. And that is exactly what we have spent many years preparing for with our partner ZEISS. The ZEISS Innovation Hub @ KIT has intensified these preparations, and given them new momentum," said KIT President Professor Holger Hanselka. "I am especially delighted that the first startups from the KIT high-tech incubator have found a home here. In many ways, therefore, the Hub is bolstering the innovation activities at the KIT and well beyond both the city and region."
Minister of Science Theresia Bauer emphasized that "The world as we know it is changing. New consumer and communication habits, as well as new working and mobility trends, are calling established solutions and business models into question. These changes offer new opportunities and we want to make the most of them. To do this, we need creative minds that dare to try new things. This requires innovative partnerships between fresh and established companies, as well as closer collaborations between the science and business worlds. And these three things are coming together at the ZEISS Innovation Hub @ KIT. This creates a key and distinctive place in which startups are networked across regions, bringing science and business closer together. In other words, this place is a shining example of Baden-Württemberg as an innovation hub."