Infineon, Magna Powertrain, Logicdata, Porsche Austria and Styria Media Group are just some of the corporate partners who commissioned application concepts and prototypes for specific tasks at this year’s TU Graz Product Innovation Project. Included here was the development of alternative, continuous, switchable all-wheel drive systems, new applications for the online used-car trade or unique application concepts for 3D miniature cameras.
The innovative course format of TU Graz enjoys ever-increasing popularity with companies and students. Christian Ramsauer, head of the Institute of Industrial Management and Innovation Research, explains: “Every year students from different disciplines and universities from several countries work together on specific problems from industry. This year there were 68 students from 16 countries in eight teams – more than ever before. The aim is to develop new product concepts, business plans and a working prototype in a team and with corporate partners. Our corporate partners really appreciate how the students grapple with innovation and technology so creatively.”
The eight student teams and their corporate partners
The Institute for Materials Science and Welding of TU Graz together with other corporate partners commissioned Team BoneX with optimising a bone drill for medical application to minimise potentially negative effects on humans.
- Dynadrive (Magna Powertrain)
For corporate partner Magna Powertrain, Team Dynadrive developed innovative concepts for continuous, switchable all-wheel drive systems which are easier, cheaper, simpler and more efficient than currently known technologies.
- Finstria (Styria Media Group)
The task assigned by the Styria Media Group to Team Finstria was to develop new business ideas for new media for the Austrian market, which tends to be conservative.
Infineon commissioned Team InfiniD with a market analysis and new application concepts for 3D miniature cameras plus prototypes of these applications.
From smart bed to intuitive bed: that was the work assignment from the Logicdata company to Team KassCon. Recognising individual habits and preferences of the user was the starting point for personalised and automated adjustment by the bed.
- Limitless! (Beneq und Aalto University)
Lumineq Displays, a business field of Beneq, developed a unique, transparent display technology, the so-called TASEL display (Transparent Electro Luminance Display). Team Limitless worked for the company and Aalto University in Finland on new applications and markets for this technology. Measuring systems based on glass- fibre technology provide very precise measurements over great distances. Team Optify was commissioned by the Institute of Engineering Geodesy and Measurement Systems of TU Graz for new ready-to-use applications of this technology with maximum customer benefit.
- Team Smart Journey (Porsche Austria)
Team Smart Journey worked together with corporate partner Porsche Austria on new ideas and concepts for an optimised user experience in the online used-car market trade and the convergence of the offline and online shopping experiences.
