TICKET TO BERLIN

TICKET TO BERLIN: SUMMER SCHOOL ON ENTREPRENEURSHIP Nicholas Furtak-Wells, Theresa Hautz-Neunteufel, Benjamin James, Marcel Quennet, Jonas Schenk // Chair: Philipp Marxgut (RTD-Council) // Co-Chair: Klara Brandstätter (I.E.C.T.)

Anders als in den Jahren zuvor fand die Vergabe eines zweiten Tickets zum Falling Walls Lab in Berlin heuer Corona-bedingt erst im September in Innsbruck statt. Bei den Alpbacher Technologiegesprächen im August ging es diesmal um die Teilnahme bei Falling Wall Venture. Im Zentrum dieses – erstmals virtuell durchgeführten – Pitching-Events standen bahnbrechende Ideen künftiger Unternehmen. Vorausgewählt wurden sie im Rahmen der Summer School des „Institute for Entrepreneurship Cambridge–Tirol“, gegründet vom Tiroler Investor Hermann Hauser, an der 24 Projekte aus zehn Ländern teilnahmen. Jürgen Mlynek, Chair of Falling Walls Foundation, gratulierte vor den Präsentationen in einer Videobotschaft den Kanditat*innen, die es schon so weit gebracht hätten und deshalb alle schon Gewinner*innen seien. Heuer konnten die drei Besten aus dem virtuellen Votum des Publikums ein “Ticket to Berlin” zu Falling Walls Venture im Rahmen der heurigen Falling Walls Konferenz, die am 9. November startet, gewinnen. An diesem Tag im Jahr 1989 fiel die Berliner Mauer. Seit der ersten Falling Walls Konferenz im Jahr 2009 geht es darum, weitere Mauern in der Gesellschaft und Wissenschaft zu Fall zu bringen sowie neue Durchbrüche zu schaffen. Die Konferenz bietet dazu jedes Jahr ein breites Programm mit Schwerpunkten wie heuer etwa Digitales Lernen, Physikalische Wissenschaft oder Kunst und Wissenschaft. Ein Fixpunkt ist das groß angelegte, internationale Programm für wissenschaftsorientierte Start-ups. Heuer ist alles digital. Der Preis für die drei Auserwählten ist die Teilnahme am Walling Falls Webinar für Entrepreneurship. Die Siegerin, Theresa Hautz-Neunteufel, bekommt zusätzlich einen zweitägigen Online Workshop für Entrepreneurship in Science. Hautz-Neunteufel ist Wissenschaftlerin an der Universitätsklinik Innsbruck und forscht an einer revolutionären Technik, um Organe außerhalb des Körpers zu behandeln und so für Transplantationen zu regenerieren, damit sie im neuen Körper „optimal arbeiten“. Den zweiten Platz errang Benjamin James (MLXAR) mit seiner AI-unterstützten Machine Learning Extended Architecture, mit der sich virtuelle Modelle wie etwa Städtelandschaften für Spiele viel schneller entwickeln lassen. Auf Platz 3 landete Nicholas Furtak-Wells (NIQS), der das Diabetesmanagement mit einem neuen tragbaren Sensor revolutionieren will.

TU AUSTRIA INNOVATION MARATHON

Young, motivated students from all over the world impressively demonstrated that they can work together to solve complex problems in just 24 hours, even if they live thousands of kilometres apart and do not know each other personally. This year, 50 students were selected from almost 100 applications. The students were divided into ten teams of five, the challenges came from the Austrian companies Liebherr, ams, AVL, Philips and voestalpine Wire Technology. Answers to questions such as how a car can be used as a measuring device to help people stay healthy (AVL's task) or which requirements health sensors of the future will have to meet (ams) had to be found. Moreover, the students had to explore possibilities for adaptive cooling, which allows refrigerators to adapt their functionality to individual behaviour in the household (Liebherr). The agenda also included coming up with ideas for a mobile app that changes people's eating habits with the help of playful elements (Philips), and developing a new process for supply chain management to ensure that products reach customers only in perfect condition (voestalpine Wire Technology).

Klara Brandstätter (Summer School, Institute for Entrepreneurship Cambridge–Tirol Hermann Hauser), Philipp Marxgut (Complexity Science Hub Vienna)

On livestream: Jürgen Mlynek, former president of Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres and Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Falling Walls Foundation

In contrast to previous years, the second ticket to Falling Walls Lab in Berlin was – due to Corona – issued in September in Innsbruck. This time, the Alpbach Technology Symposium in August was dedicated to the Falling Wall Venture. This pitching event – the first to be held virtually – focused on groundbreaking ideas of future companies. Five highly talented young scientists presented their projects in five minutes. They had been pre-selected as part of the Summer School of the "Institute for Entrepreneurship Cambridge – Tirol", founded by the Tyrolean investor Hermann Hauser, where 24 projects from REVIEW #Efatec 2020 ten countries took part. Jürgen Mlynek, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Falling Walls Foundation, congratulated the candidates, who had already made it this far and were therefore all winners, in a video message before the presentations. This year, the best three from the virtual vote of the audience had the chance to win a "Ticket to Berlin" to the Falling Walls Conference starting on 9 November. It was on that day in 1989 that the Berlin Wall fell. Since the first Falling Walls conference in 2009, the objective has been to bring down further walls in society and science as well as to create new breakthroughs. To this end, the conference offers a broad programme each year, with a focus this year on topics such as digital learning, physical science, or art and science. One permanent fixture is the largescale, international programme for science-oriented start-ups. This year, everything is digital. The prize for the three selected individuals is their participation in the Falling Walls Webinar for Entrepreneurship. The winner, Theresa Hautz-Neunteufel, will also receive a two-day online workshop for Entrepreneurship in Science. Hautz-Neunteufel is a scientist at the University Clinic Innsbruck and is researching a revolutionary technique to treat organs outside the body and thus regenerate them for transplantation so that they "work optimally" in the new body. Second place went to Benjamin James (MLXAR) with his AI-supported Machine Learning Extended Architecture, which allows virtual models such as cityscapes for games to be developed much faster. Third place went to Nicholas Furtak-Wells (NIQS), who aims to revolutionize diabetes management with a new portable sensor.