Sandbox

Dr. Panagiotis Martakis (irmos technologies), Raphael von Thiessen (Canton of Zurich) and Stephan Zürcher (Schweizerische Südostbahn) show how irmos technologies uses AI-based sensor technology to evaluate train vibrations and monitor bridges more precisely. In the Innovation Sandbox for AI, they examine legal aspects relating to the data and can then share the findings with other authorities.

The SVSM Awards are presented by the «Schweizerische Vereinigung für Standortmanagement (SVSM)» for targeted, effective and innovative projects in the fields of location marketing, location development and business promotion. The SVSM Awards are aimed at both small and large projects - from local to national - and aim to showcase the diversity and quality, as well as the innovative power, of projects from across the country. They are thus not only a reward but also an incentive for players in location management and business promotion; and have been since 2007.

For this year's awards, 12 applications were received from all over Switzerland - from Basel to Uri to Bad Ragaz. A jury evaluated them against established criteria and nominated the following five projects for the 2023 Awards:

• Innovation Sandbox for Artificial Intelligence - submitted by «Standortförderung Kanton Zürich»
• Project new building «Square» - submitted by HSG Foundation
• Light and water world - submitted by Light Ragaz AG
• IT system «Echt regional» - submitted by «Standortförderung Zürioberland»
• Project intercantonal daycare subsidies - submitted by «WirtschaftsPortalOst»

However, the nomination does not mean that the applicants are guaranteed an award: in mid-September, all nominees will have the opportunity to present their projects to the jury, which will then select the award winners. The jury is composed of the following experts: Katharina Hopp, Jury President and Board Member SVSM; Ambassador Dr. Eric Jakob, Head of the Directorate for Location Promotion SECO; Pascal Jenny, President Arosa Tourism; Karin Jung, Head of Office for Economy and Labor Canton St.Gallen; Prof. Dr. Markus Schmidiger, Head of Competence Center Real Estate Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts; Sonja Wollkopf-Walt, CEO Greater Zurich Area.

The awards will be presented on Thursday, November 16, 2023, as part of the hybrid symposium «SVSM Dialog Wirtschaftsförderung» at the Capitol cinema in Olten. On this occasion, a deserving personality will also be honored as Site Manager of the Year.

«Schweizerische Vereinigung für Standortmanagement SVSM»

The SVSM is the umbrella organization of location and business development agencies in Switzerland. As such, it sees itself as a practice-oriented and independent point of contact for questions relating to location management and business development. The SVSM has around 80 members from the fields of location promotion, regional marketing, business development and real estate. The association promotes interdisciplinary exchange of experience and networking, and advocates professionalism in site management. With the event series «SVSM Dialog», SVSM organizes a semi-annual hybrid symposium with a changing focus on location management or business development. Since 2007, the organization has presented the SVSM Awards for innovative projects in the areas of location and business development and selects a deserving individual as Location Manager of the Year.

Stadtspital Zürich pioneers the future of diagnostics with oculomics and AI – supported by the Canton of Zurich. Dr. Gábor Márk Somfai, Head of Research of the Eye Clinic, and Dr. Rui Santos, Project Manager Research, explain how AI helps detect eye, brain and systemic diseases.

Together with Raphael von Thiessen, Programme Manager of the Innovation Sandbox for AI at the Office for Economy, the team explores ethical and legal challenges.

With the participation of the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa), researchers from Switzerland and Germany have developed a way to provide the ICON climate and weather model with an open source license. According to a press release, all interested parties and scientists will be able to access the model. This should not only make research and the work of the institutes behind ICON more transparent, but also promote scientific development, according to the press release.

ICON (ICOsahedral Non-hydrostatic modeling framework) is a numerical weather model that uses three-dimensional computer simulation to calculate changes in the atmosphere over the coming hours and days. The model is primarily used by national weather services such as the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology (MeteoSwiss) or the German Weather Service (DWD).

Behind the development of the ICON model is the Swiss Center for Climate Systems Modeling (C2SM) with the participation of Empa, MeteoSwiss, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH) and the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) in Birmensdorf ZH as well as the German Climate Computing Center (DKRZ), the DWD, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology (MPI-M).

"The open-source licensing will simplify the exchange with our partners in science and could support the establishment of new innovative startups in the environmental sector," Dominik Brunner, Head of the Atmospheric Modeling and Remote Sensing Group in the Empa Department of Air Pollutants/Environmental Technology, is quoted in the announcement. ce/ww

Which business or product ideas can contribute to a more sustainable and regenerative food system? Students at the ZHAW Entrepreneurship Food Tech Summer School, for example, are exploring these questions and delving deep into the world of proteins.

Comprehensive Program

The protein sector is facing a number of challenges that affect various aspects of production, sustainability, consumer behavior and technology development. By visiting various players in the food system, the participating students will be able to identify the most important challenges facing the protein sector. "By networking with important industry partners in the protein supply chain such as Migros, Emmi and Planted, students gain valuable insights into their strategies and day-to-day business," says Carmen Burri, who organizes the Food Tech Summer School. Building on this inspiration, they develop solutions in interdisciplinary teams and present them to a jury of experts.

Wide Range of Topics

Interested students can choose from three summer schools on the topics of FoodTech, HealthTech and CirculaTech. The HealthTech Summer School focuses on the development of innovative digital healthcare and medical device solutions, while the Cirular Tech Summer School focuses on circular business models in the real estate and construction sector. The two to two-and-a-half week programs of the Summer Schools 2024 take place between 8 and 31 July and lead to 6 ECTS credits. Registration is possible until March 1.

Information and Registration

Schlieren-based Kuros Biosciences AG has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration(FDA) for the use of MagnetOs Flex Matrix in the interbody region. According to the press release , MagnetOs Flex Matrix can now be used in any interbody space such as the cervical spine, thoracic spine or  lumbar spine and in any cage that is approved for use with a bone graft substitute. A cage serves as a spacer in the spine instead of a no longer functioning intervertebral disc.

Interbody cages are used in nearly half of the estimated 1.5 million instrumented spinal fusions performed annually in the U.S., according to Kuros. MagnetOs Flex Matrix is particularly suitable for interbody applications as it remains stable and flexible even when wet due to its excellent granule retention and can therefore be introduced either via a funnel or directly into a cage of any size.

"This is an important milestone for our company and for the surgical community. With this clearance, we have a significant opportunity to re-engage surgeons who were previously unable to use our MagnetOs Flex Matrix product for interbody procedures," Chris Fair, CEO of Kuros, is quoted as saying.

Kuros Biosciences AG is a spin-off from the University of Zurich(UZH) and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich(ETH). The company is based in the Bio-Technopark Schlieren-Zurich. ce/gba 

(CONNECT) ETH and HSG have launched the Manufacturing Alliance. This new alliance offers companies access to a group of initially six highly qualified doctoral students known as the Circle of Scholars. According to a press release from the two universities, they will conduct research together with the alliance partners on topics such as operational excellence, global production networks, sustainable management and artificial intelligence in production.

According to the information provided, the alliance currently includes 13 industry partners: Roche, Novartis, Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine, Takeda, SHL Medical, Nestlé, Lindt & Sprüngli, Givaudan, Schneider Electric, Schindler, Endress+Hauser Flowtec, VAT Group and SFS Group. They will finance the project from January 2025 for a period of three years with a total of CHF 2.1 million. Other companies of different sizes and from different sectors are reportedly invited to join the alliance.

"With the Manufacturing Alliance, we are creating a platform that not only transfers scientific findings into practice, but also actively involves industry partners in research," Prof. Dr. Thomas Friedli from the HSG Institute of Technology Management is quoted as saying. The aim is to establish a network that strengthens Switzerland as an industrial location in the long term and develops innovative solutions for products with the "Made in Switzerland" quality mark. According to Prof. Dr. Torbjörn Netland from ETH Zurich, the special thing about the alliance is "that doctoral students work on real problems from day one - this helps industry and promotes young talent". ce/mm

(CONNECT) Microsoft is creating another field for artificial intelligence research in Zurich: Microsoft's new AI lab will primarily work on the further development of Microsoft Copilot. Davide Bonapersona, Head of Product and Technology Development at Microsoft AI, Microsoft's new AI department founded in 2024 , provides more information. He adds: "Zurich is a magnet for top AI talent and we look forward to increasing our investment there and in Europe."

The CEO of Microsoft AI, Mustafa Suleyman, has poached three AI specialists from Google's AI subsidiary DeepMind as founding members of the Zurich AI lab, which is set to grow to several dozen specialists: Zalán Borsos, Marco Tagliasacchi and Matthias Minderer. Suleyman had co-founded DeepMind. The London-based company has been part of Google since 2014 and has developed the AI chat agent Gemini.

Zalán Borsos and Marco Tagliasacchi are audio specialists. "I am very pleased to announce that I have joined Microsoft AI as a founding member of the new Zurich office," Borsos said on LinkedIn. " I will focus on driving the audio capabilities forward together with an outstanding team." Tagliasacchi announces that the Zurich laboratory will be working with teams in London and the USA: "I am looking forward to the journey ahead of us." According to Minderer, he is working on the visual skills "and can hardly wait to get started. There's a lot to do!"

Microsoft has been operating the Mixed Reality & AI Zurich Lab in Zurich since 2019. It is headed by Professor Marc Pollefeys. The computer scientist from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich is also head of the Microsoft Spatial AI Lab Zurich, a research and development team for computer vision and machine learning. This has also set itself the task of equipping Microsoft Copilot with spatial perception and thinking skills. ce/mm

(CONNECT) The Schlieren-based medtech company Hemotune AG has received double certification for its blood purification method. According to a statement, it was awarded ISO 13485:2016 certification for both sterile and non-sterile medical devices and nanoparticles for blood purification.

ISO 13485 is the internationally recognized standard for quality management systems in the development and manufacture of medical devices. The standard describes specific requirements to help companies ensure that their medical devices meet both customer and regulatory requirements for safety and efficacy. It was published in March 2016.

ISO 13485:2016 is the gold standard for quality management systems for medical devices, according to the Hemotune press release. Achieving this extension for sterile and non-sterile nanoparticles demonstrates the company's commitment to meeting the highest global standards.

Hemotune has developed the HemoSystem blood purification process. It is based on a nanostructured magnetic adsorber material. A device similar to a dialysis machine makes it possible to simultaneously remove various disease-relevant substances directly from the patient's blood with maximum precision and efficiency, the system is described by the German Innovation Award. The first therapy was designed for the treatment of septic shock. Hemotune received the German Innovation Award in the Medical Technologies category in 2022.

Hemotune is a spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH) from 2017 and is based in the Bio-Technopark Schlieren-Zurich. ce/gba

On September 23, Solabs Nanontechnology won this year's 3Pi competition of the Pioneer Fellowship of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. The team impressed the jury headed by Lea Firmin, CEO of >>venture>> foundation, and the audience.

The team led by Iwan Hächler from the Chair of Thermodynamics is working on a coating that prevents glasses from fogging up. The sun's rays are used to heat the glass. The jury was particularly impressed by the fact that the technology can be used in existing production processes and can therefore be marketed via license sales. Solabs Nanotechnology GmbH, founded in July and based in Bassersdorf ZH, plans to enter the market for ski goggles and then the automotive industry.

Second prize went to the Sustain team led by Edoardo Pezzulli. It has developed software for monitoring CO2 that is stored in the soil. The third prize went to the FibroTech team led by Guiseppe Antoniazzi, who have developed a new diagnostic method to detect pulmonary fibrosis earlier.

The three teams can attend the open-I conference free of charge, which NZZ Connect will host on 21. and 22. November in Zurich.

The jury also awarded participation in Stage Two, an event in Berlin where European start-ups can present themselves to investors. The choice fell on Jessica Droujko's Riverkin GmbH, which was founded in April. The team has developed a sensor-based method for managing entire river systems.

The ETH Pioneer Fellowship awards up to 150,000 Swiss francs per year to around twelve teams who want to develop their innovations into a company. According to Tomas Brenner, head of the Pioneer Fellowship, 141 teams have been supported over the past 14 years, from which 92 existing start-ups have emerged. ce/stk