What a year! Even though we had work a lot from home on account of the Coronavirus pandemic, we still had opportunities to come together and get to know new, exciting members and learn more about promising new collaborations.
2021 was...well, a little crazy. There were many times some people had the huge open space office area to themselves. In this regard, we truly appreciated the times when working felt "normal", when we could share new ideas and hash them out together at events in the Forum, when new residents moved in, and when we simply played soccer together in the sun. We look to forward to 2022, come what may!
The year kicked-off with the arrival of Dynatrace, opens an external URL in a new window. Andreas Hametner and his team have 24 workspaces at the OIC, making them one of the largest residences. Dynatrace works together with JKU Linz at a brand-new co-innovation lab, opens an external URL in a new window. Scientists at the LIT Cyber-Physical Systems Labs work together with company employees to address business research issues in the fields of software engineering, artificial intelligence and data science.
The Linz-based start-up company qapture, opens an external URL in a new window builds digital twins of rooms, industrial facilities and production sites. Robot dog "Spot" was built by Boston Dynamics and helps with surveying tasks as well as accessing areas that are difficult for humans to get to.
Rector Meinrad Lukas took Spot for a walk, opens an external URL in a new window around Linz, attracting a lot of attention and bystander reaction!
Back in the fall, the OIC hosted various events, including events designed to turn students into entrepreneurs, facilitate discussions to support a new approach education, and talk about how research can sustainably improve the world.
The OIC is not only popular with JKU students, start-up companies such as qapture, opens an external URL in a new window, hoss mobility , opens an external URL in a new windowand FiveSquare, opens an external URL in a new window along with spin-off companies based on research conducted at the JKU, such as Sendance, opens an external URL in a new window and Plastic Innovation Ltd., opens an external URL in a new window love working at the OIC!
The OIC is also pleased to welcome a new start-up company, myregionalfood, opens an external URL in a new window. Niklas Reisner and Nico Reindl give local farms an opportunity to sell their food products easily in the form of all-in-one farm stores.
Spin-off company ambassador Clemens Zillner, opens an external URL in a new window has been on-site at the OIC since September 2021 to provide first-hand assistance in helping to form new companies based on research and science conducted at the JKU.
The OIC is a place that breaks with conventional office structures, providing (work) spaces for those who not only like to think outside-of-the-box, but who also like to passionately create solutions and work in a collaborative way. Community events offer opportunities to meet co-workers over coffee and croissants, learn about the latest technological developments, explore the relationship between art and science, or take part in an exclusive guided tour of the Ars Electronica Festival. And sometimes we just play a round of poker together. :-)
This program focused on turning old, discarded plastic bottle caps into a frisbee! In support of eco-friendly sustainability and to raise awareness about the use of plastics, the Johannes Kepler University collected old bottle caps during the first half of 2021.
The bottle caps were delivered to the OIC's LIT Factory, opens an external URL in a new window where they were ground down into a granulates. Scientists used injection moulding tools to transform the granulates into frisbees.