Finalist

Innovation and Collaboration Space of the Year Award

TU/e innovation Space

Finalist of the Innovation and Collaboration Space of the Year Award

Eindhoven University of Technology - The Netherlands

"Leading in learning innovation: from dream to demo to impact"


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Summary

TU/e innovation Space (TiS) is the innovative learning hub at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), where future engineering education models are developed, validated, and disseminated in an open interdisciplinary community (from dream to demo to impact). Via an innovative type of learning, called Challenge-Based Learning (CBL), students developing towards engineers of the future learn to collaborate in interdisciplinary teams, have an entrepreneurial mindset, and think on the systems level, next to deepening their knowledge. Together with researchers, industry, and societal organizations they exchange knowledge and develop responsible solutions to real world challenges. TiS facilitates CBL at course (over 40 courses) and program level and by being an umbrella for all student technology development teams (over 50 extra-curricular student teams) that self-challenge to tackle some of the complex challenges of the world together with over 500 external organizations. In total more than 3500 students are facilitated in their learning by TiS every year. A culture of experimentation and quick validation is supported with many facilities and coaching for hands-on prototyping. TiS is unique in its combination and integration of curricular and extra-curricular activities, engineering design and hands-on entrepreneurship, and the interdisciplinary and authentic setting available for all TU/e students. TiS is highly valued nationally, and, increasingly, internationally. In 2021, TiS won the first Dutch Higher Education Award of 1.2 million EUR for scaling up CBL facilitation at TU/e and validating it for large scale higher education use.

Key People


Prof.dr.ir. Isabelle Reymen
Professor Design of Innovation Ecosystems General Manager TU/e innovation Space
Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences,  Eindhoven University of Technology



Dr.ir. Miguel Bruns
Associate Professor
Industrial Design,  Eindhoven University of Technology



Prof.dr.ir. Rick de Lange
Professor Energy Technology
Mechanical Engineering,  Eindhoven University of Technology



Prof.dr. Jan Vermunt
Professor Learning Sciences and Educational Innovation
Eindhoven School of Education,  Eindhoven University of Technology



Ir. Alfons Bruekers
Managing Director
TU/e innovation Space,  Eindhoven University of Technology



Dr. Marta Comellas Aragonès
Project, operations and team manager
TU/e innovation Space,  Eindhoven University of Technology



Chantal Brans MSc.
Program manager education innovation
TU/e innovation Space,  Eindhoven University of Technology



Dr. Madis Talmar
Program manager extra-curricular learning
TU/e innovation Space,  Eindhoven University of Technology


Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to all support from the Executive Boards of Eindhoven University of Technology, and the deans Bachelor College and Graduate School. Our work has also been made possible by a Comenius Leadership Grant offered by NRO (Nationaal Regieorgaan Onderwijs Onderzoek). Future plans are made possible via the first Dutch Higher Education Award, offered by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW).

Images

Tom Selten_Impact Story

Solar Team Eindhoven_Impact story

IMPACT STORY

Impacting lifes

Student Tom Selten joined in 2014 Solar Team Eindhoven (STE), participating in the World Solar Challenge in Australia with a solar family car. STE won the competition, with Tom as team manager. The student technology development team worked with passion on this prestigious challenge, which they won 4 times in a row. To be able to win, the team had to think at the systems level, collaborate internally and with many companies and societal organisations (STE currently collaborates with 119 partners and sponsors), experiment with users, and show entrepreneurial behaviour. Next to these professional skills, they also learned to apply and deepen their knowledge. The learning trajectory of this team and similar ones inspired the development and implementation of Challenge-Based Learning (CBL) at TU/e. The ambition was to enable students to learn this way during their program as well. To facilitate this approach for interdisciplinary teams, TU/e innovation Space was set up. As an example of a self-directed learner, Tom joined the development team of TiS as a student assistant, co-creating this innovative learning hub, together with many other (student) employees.

After graduating Tom continued his challenge and joined the start-up Lightyear, a spin-off from STE and now close to becoming a unicorn. As an alumnus and professional, Tom is still very much involved in the community to challenge new students. STE is now one of the 52 student technology development teams under the umbrella of TiS. Check out more stories of students, start-ups, challenge owners and teachers at https://www.tue.nl/en/education/tue-innovation- space/testimonials/

LEARNINGS

Lessons learned

At TU/e innovation Space, we focus on learning and always aim for innovating its facilitation. A key learning is that there is huge value in combining education and innovation activities of students. By facilitating hundreds of curricular and extra-curricular CBL activities, thousands of students develop towards the “engineers of the future”. By facilitating and supporting student technology development teams, dozens of them engage in commercial business development in a program for incubated student teams, with some eventually producing truly impactful start-ups (e.g., Lightyear, DENS, Eleo, Amber, Aristotle, Speeco). We see that all these different programs of activities need particular facilitation, and that the interfaces between the programs are particularly critical. We believe that only as an organizational system can one consistently develop engineers of the future in large numbers, produce impactful innovation, and (at times) remarkable start-up companies.

Meanwhile, designing deep content linkages (e.g., co-developing a battery pack for a race-car) of students and external parties are paramount across all the layers. Hundreds of companies and societal organisations are involved in this way developing talent for the region. Students learn in an interdisciplinary and authentic setting about content, as well as their future possible employers, radically boosting their professionalization and self-awareness. Overall, TU/e can attract and retain talent in the Brainport Eindhoven region, and TU/e education, research and impact creation have become more intertwined than ever. As such, TiS represents a strong mechanism to a new type of learning and to talent development for the region.

FUTURE PLANS

What's coming?

Plans of TU/e innovation Space focus on enforcing leading in learning innovation, by further creating and upscaling a structure in which students and the innovation ecosystem can flourish. TiS aims to bring interdisciplinary CBL to an even wider audience and bring learners, students as well as professionals, truly in the lead of their own learning trajectory. Therefore, we aim to make CBL available on curriculum level. And by facilitating challenges with mixes of bachelor, master, professional doctorate and PhD students, but also with students from other local, (inter)national universities (of applied sciences) and vocational education. TiS will furthermore offer a network of prototyping facilities and decentralized support across the campus and abroad, related to different technologies and available for students from all programs. We aim to offer students the possibility to work on a series of challenges on the same theme. This requires the creation and facilitation of thematic ecosystems also connected to education, e.g. on sustainable energy, with citizens, government, companies and cross-disciplinary research groups at TU/e and other institutes, collaborating in challenges with students and professional education. In essence, this asks for boundary spanners able to connect external stakeholders to the university via long-term strategic partnerships.

Next to focusing on implementing change, we will work on the design of the university of the future. In co-creation with staff from the TU/e community, and inspired by our peers in the world, we will create a desirable image for the future and a viable business model for the future university.


KEY STATISTICS

2800+

Students per year

700+

Students working in 52 different extracurricular student technology development teams

62

Student teams at the entrepreneurship competition TU/e contest

13

Start-ups currently active

100+

Challenges worked on per year

500+

External companies sponsoring and co-developing with our student teams yearly

600

3D prints made in our facilities last semester

44

Courses

135

Involved teachers

85

Education and community events hosted last year

24

National and international delegations

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