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Chemelot mentions Maastricht Instruments - 07-12-2011

Frans Smeets, Managing Director of Maastricht Instruments and Bert Kip, Director of DSM Resolve get on well. At their first meeting it didn't take them long to discover that they have a surprising number of overlapping competencies and could give each other valuable help in innovation. Maastricht Instruments and DSM Resolve embarked on their first project together, a breath sampling device, and are now working on six projects which involve sharing knowledge, getting value out of ideas and bringing products onto the market.

The article appeared in this newsletter of the Chemelot Campus.

A niche market for innovation

The location of the two campuses in the 'Euregion' - the Health Campus in Maastricht and the Chemelot Campus in Geleen, is perfect for marketing knowledge and innovative products. Maastricht Instruments develops, designs and produces instruments, apparatus and software for medical technology and life sciences and would like to develop its profile as a knowledge center for technology within Maastricht UMC and the (Eu)region. DSM Resolve, a service unit of DSM, provides a complete package of support services to customers working in polymers, chemistry, life sciences, scientific instruments and a growing number of other sectors. Working together allows them to exchange knowledge and to pool their resources to bring products on the market. Trust are essential for this!

Frans Smeets of Maastricht Instruments lists the ten commandments of Open Innovation (trust, sharing, generosity, etc) which both they and DSM Resolve apply to keep their cooperation in the development and marketing of a product businesslike and clear, but primarily also to bring it to a higher level. "Maastricht Instruments was formed from the IDEE faculty of engineering to bring developed innovations outside their own scientific environment and generate income for the university. The benefits were immediate. DSM Resolve had an interest in this niche market and we joined forces on potential projects. The cooperation is working well and we're learning from each other all the time. The six projects are all innovative and the results are coming onto the market and being developed further. This is creating employment in the high-tech sector.  It's important that our technical staff learn about each other's specialisms, that the medical specialist develops an interest in chemistry and vice versa. This automatically produces cross-pollination."

"Bringing together researchers from the academic world and private research is not easy. There are some clashes of culture, but new innovations are created as well," says Bert Kip. "The type of person, the culture and the varied nature of the projects makes the situation complex but at the same time a great source of innovation - open innovation. We don't just exchange different developments, but people as well. People are employed again and again and we use each other's network to create inspiration, pooling our knowledge and resources to grow further. This is how we help to realize the master plans of the Chemelot Campus and Maastricht Health Campus. DSM Resolve and the University of Maastricht/ University Hospital Maastricht are now working on extending the cooperation model with a plan to set up a joint analysis facility as well as Technical Engineering. These are expensive facilities that are crucial for academic and private researchers on both campuses. Pooling regional resources - DSM, Maastricht University Medical Center and the Province - makes this possible."

Where will we be in ten years' time?
"The campuses will have grown by then and will employ 2000 more people. We want to contribute to this by offering top-quality support to academic and private researchers.  The challenge is to make this a success by pooling regional resources to make it beneficial for the parties to base themselves on one of the two campuses and giving start-up companies a secure base from which they can operate a global business. It's obvious to me that you can only do this if you pool your resources in the region. This is the only way you can play a significant role internationally as the Chemelot Campus and Maastricht Health Campus," concludes Bert Kip.

Chemelot mentions Maastricht Instruments - 07-12-2011

Frans Smeets, Managing Director of Maastricht Instruments and Bert Kip, Director of DSM Resolve get on well. At their first meeting it didn't take them long to discover that they have a surprising number of overlapping competencies and could give each other valuable help in innovation. Maastricht Instruments and DSM Resolve embarked on their first project together, a breath sampling device, and are now working on six projects which involve sharing knowledge, getting value out of ideas and bringing products onto the market.

The article appeared in this newsletter of the Chemelot Campus.

A niche market for innovation

The location of the two campuses in the 'Euregion' - the Health Campus in Maastricht and the Chemelot Campus in Geleen, is perfect for marketing knowledge and innovative products. Maastricht Instruments develops, designs and produces instruments, apparatus and software for medical technology and life sciences and would like to develop its profile as a knowledge center for technology within Maastricht UMC and the (Eu)region. DSM Resolve, a service unit of DSM, provides a complete package of support services to customers working in polymers, chemistry, life sciences, scientific instruments and a growing number of other sectors. Working together allows them to exchange knowledge and to pool their resources to bring products on the market. Trust are essential for this!

Frans Smeets of Maastricht Instruments lists the ten commandments of Open Innovation (trust, sharing, generosity, etc) which both they and DSM Resolve apply to keep their cooperation in the development and marketing of a product businesslike and clear, but primarily also to bring it to a higher level. "Maastricht Instruments was formed from the IDEE faculty of engineering to bring developed innovations outside their own scientific environment and generate income for the university. The benefits were immediate. DSM Resolve had an interest in this niche market and we joined forces on potential projects. The cooperation is working well and we're learning from each other all the time. The six projects are all innovative and the results are coming onto the market and being developed further. This is creating employment in the high-tech sector.  It's important that our technical staff learn about each other's specialisms, that the medical specialist develops an interest in chemistry and vice versa. This automatically produces cross-pollination."

"Bringing together researchers from the academic world and private research is not easy. There are some clashes of culture, but new innovations are created as well," says Bert Kip. "The type of person, the culture and the varied nature of the projects makes the situation complex but at the same time a great source of innovation - open innovation. We don't just exchange different developments, but people as well. People are employed again and again and we use each other's network to create inspiration, pooling our knowledge and resources to grow further. This is how we help to realize the master plans of the Chemelot Campus and Maastricht Health Campus. DSM Resolve and the University of Maastricht/ University Hospital Maastricht are now working on extending the cooperation model with a plan to set up a joint analysis facility as well as Technical Engineering. These are expensive facilities that are crucial for academic and private researchers on both campuses. Pooling regional resources - DSM, Maastricht University Medical Center and the Province - makes this possible."

Where will we be in ten years' time?
"The campuses will have grown by then and will employ 2000 more people. We want to contribute to this by offering top-quality support to academic and private researchers.  The challenge is to make this a success by pooling regional resources to make it beneficial for the parties to base themselves on one of the two campuses and giving start-up companies a secure base from which they can operate a global business. It's obvious to me that you can only do this if you pool your resources in the region. This is the only way you can play a significant role internationally as the Chemelot Campus and Maastricht Health Campus," concludes Bert Kip.