Science and Industry
Many of the research questions addressed by the Ruhr Innovation Lab have the potential to immediately impact businesses. To minimize friction between theory and practice, we work closely together with industry partners on application-oriented research projects. One focus is on tapping into the opportunities offered by digital technologies, especially artificial intelligence, without losing sight of the needs of employees. Because we strive for a world in which digital technology supports people in the best possible way instead of replacing them.
6GEM: Unlocking the potential of the 6G mobile standard
The Ruhr Innovation Lab, together with partners from Aachen and Duisburg-Essen, is exploring the potential of the new 6G mobile standard. In the 6GEM research hub, the team, for example, equips a digital operating room, a smart hospital, and the German Rescue Robotics Center with 6G systems. The consortium combines scientific excellence and mobile expertise at the network, material, component/microchip, and module levels. A holistic approach is taken, covering everything from production and logistics to the human aspect.
INVITE: Pioneering Innovation Through Public-Private Partnership
INVITE GmbH is a flagship example of public-private partnership, founded by TU Dortmund University and Bayer AG, with the University of Düsseldorf joining in 2016. Located at Chempark Leverkusen, INVITE drives top-level research in modular chemical production and pharmaceutical innovation. The Drug Delivery Innovation Center, with state-of-the-art labs completed in 2023, highlights its commitment to groundbreaking solutions. EU funded projects demonstrate how collaboration fuels progress in chemical production worldwide.
Digital Coach: How Companies Can Keep Pace with Digitalization
Digitalization and AI present companies with challenges: Competencies have to be built, workflows adapted, and corporate culture needs to be modified. As part of an EU project, a team from Bochum, together with international colleagues from four European countries, developed the concept of the “Digital Coach”: a person within the company who communicates and helps overcome resistance. Coaches improve their skills through self-learning modules and involve employees. The concept was so successful in empirical testing that it was recognized as a “Best Practice Project.”
EDIH-DO – Empowering SMEs in Digital Transformation
Launched in 2023, the European Digital Innovation Hub Dortmund (EDIH-DO) is part of a prestigious EU network comprising 250 hubs across Europe, including three in North Rhine-Westphalia. EDIH-DO supports digitalization in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with workshops, webinars, and coaching. Backed by €4 million in funding and partners like TU Dortmund University and the economic development agencies of Dortmund and Unna it drives innovation and fosters collaboration with research institutions.
HUMAINE: Human-centered Work With Artificial Intelligence
At the HUMAINE competence center, partners from research, industry, and transfer in the Ruhr metropolitan area have been paving the way for the workplace of tomorrow since 2021. They are developing a toolbox that helps organizations integrate artificial intelligence into work processes—in a way that optimally supports human work. The team evaluates the developed methods in various pilot applications, for example in assistance systems for speech recognition in therapy and care or in AI-based detection of vehicle damage.