Fontys, TNO and TU/e joint shareholders.

This month Fontys, TNO and TU/e officially became equal shareholders (1/3 each) of Eindhoven Engine. Together the three parties promise to do everything possible to accelerate innovation in the Brainport region. The result is an even better cluster of strengths whereby the innovative business community – from start-up to large company – can take maximum advantage of the available knowledge and skills.

Katja Pahnke, who together with Maarten Steinbuch is responsible for the day-to-day management of Eindhoven Engine, is proud of the result. “In this way we can achieve the intended exponential acceleration of innovation even faster. We connect knowledge institutes to the business community. Stimulate collaboration at a single location. This gives you the intended cross-fertilization between different disciplines.” Maarten Steinbuch adds: “This allows you to benefit from each other’s expertise, network and experience. That acceleration of innovation, that’s what we do it for.”

Ella Hueting, Fontys: “In my opinion, this collaboration is unique. We expect these short lines of communication to be of even greater significance for SMEs.”

Jaap Lombaers, TNO: “We are going to have teams of students from TU/e and Fontys in our innovation programs for and with the industry. In this way we can serve business and industry in the Brainport region in all kinds of ways. We expect that this will enable us to lower barriers and accelerate innovation.”

Eindhoven Engine started in 2019. With support from the Brainport Action Agenda RegioDeal, sixteen projects have been started. The collective ambition is to further accelerate innovation in our region through collaboration and co-creation at a co-location.

Eindhoven Engine

Eindhoven Engine unlocks the collective intelligence in the Brainport region. Thanks to a unique formula, innovators from companies can join forces with students and experienced researchers and employees from knowledge institutions in order to work together to accelerate innovation and realize disruptive co-creation projects in which co-location is a prerequisite. The founding fathers of Eindhoven Engine are the knowledge institutions Fontys, TNO and Eindhoven University of Technology and the companies Philips Healthcare, Signify, ASML, VDL, NTS and NXP. Eindhoven Engine’s funds come from the Brainport Region Deal.