OPINION Paul Althuis, Director Valorisation Centre and Delft Enterprises:
‘We’re becoming the creativity and impact hotspot’ Paul Althuis has been in charge of the TU Delft Valorisation Centre since 2005. Under his leadership in the last fifteen years, there have been countless initiatives, the most visible of which are field labs, such as RoboValley and The Green Village. So, what’s the secret behind the TU Delft innovation projects and what will it take to be able to make a real impact on society? “Create mass. Make choices. And invest in the knowledge economy.”
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ccording to Althuis, the recipe for innovation is actually quite simple. “What unites us in Delft is the fact that we’re continually working on new things.” You have to set up initiatives and evaluate them, to see if they work. Based on that, you can move on to the next steps. The theme-based field labs are a good example. They function as linking pins in the innovation ecosystem and connect all parties working on new products and applications, unlocking a knowledge flow students, PhD’s and spin-offs to large companies as well local and regional SMEs. “They’ve enabled us to achieve a unique position”, Althuis says. Thanks to these labs, the market parties know how to find us. At the same time, they’re places where you can test, validate and market innovations at speed.” Work is now underway on the next step: scaling up. If you accommodate theme-based field labs together with research institutes, start-ups and the project research of large companies within a single environment, you can have an even greater impact. “Take robotics and AI: RoboValley is full, and so is Sam|XL, leading to a brake on development.” By clustering robotics and AI in one building, you’re
creating the circumstances for significant growth and can establish projects that are even more ambitious. This clustering is important. “Bundling talent together can be a source of innovation,” argues Althuis. Take quantum: the concentration of talented scientists has created innovation. Microsoft moved onto campus and there were spin-offs as a result. “You need to create mass in order to advance innovation. We have one of the largest communities of AI scientists here, capable of bringing about enormous changes. But, to do that, you have to be able to make progress and have the confidence to do so.” How do you look back on the last fifteen years? “As a university, we’ve become increasingly outwardlooking. We’re focusing more and more on the outside world. We’re not there yet, but what we’ve achieved lays the foundations for further progress. One of the most important lessons is that, above all, you need to experiment. Only then can you determine where there’s potential for growth.” What ambition do you have for the next fifteen years? “Universities play a leading role in developing long-term innovation ecosystems. I want to see TU Delft Campus
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