Young entrepreneurs from Turin visiting LIST

Published on 08/03/2018

On 28 February 2018, on the initiative of the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce, the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) welcomed at its premises in Belval an Italian delegation from the federation of young entrepreneurs from Turin. Sixteen firms from business sectors as diverse as IT, Logistics, Energy, Aerospace and Healthcare - to name but a few - were afforded the opportunity to familiarise themselves with a selection of activities and technologies developed in LIST's laboratories concerning materials and digital innovation.

The delegation firstly familiarised itself with the collaborative decision-making tools developed by LIST, such as tangible user interfaces to facilitate interaction in a virtual world using physical objects.

To explore this topic further, participants were invited to discover LIST's "cognitive environment lab". What is a cognitive environment? It is a partnership between humans and learning systems that increases our individual and group cognitive capacities, especially those associated with insight and discovery (source: IBM research).

In this context, the GETUI " GEstures in Tangible User Interfaces" and ORBIT "Overcoming Breakdowns in Teams with Interactive Tabletops" R&D projects are significant examples of such cognitive environments. The effectiveness and relevance of these were presented through demonstrations of augmented reality and urban logistics applications, drawing on the European project SUCCESS "Sustainable Urban Consolidation CentrES for conStruction".

Still related to urban logistics, a presentation was given on the MUV "Mobility Urban Values" project, designed to educate citizens about the quality of the urban environment to encourage a shift towards healthier, more sustainable mobility choices.

The materials of the future sparked great interest from the Turin delegation through the technology demonstrators that highlighted techniques and proven expertise within the scope of LIST's "Materials Research and Technology" (MRT) activities, in particular relating to smart coatings, sophisticated composite materials and 3D printing.

Finally, the principles of the circular economy were also addressed through a first case study entitled "Plant-Based Solution", which aims to strengthen the cohesive properties of plant cell fibres. These "super" fibres can then be used for the production of building materials containing plant-based raw materials (blocks, insulating mats, plant-based concrete, etc.)

This visit highlighted yet again LIST's role as a key partner in the promotion of "Made in Luxembourg" knowledge and innovation, on an international scale.