At TU/e three researchers are involved in setting up an Internet of Things (IoT) innovation space lab, since the start of this year. IoT, the concept of basically connecting any device to the Internet and/or to each other, is quickly gaining an industrial foothold worldwide. The need for IoT experts is growing, but they are hard to find. The IoT lab is TU/e’s answer to this growing demand.
Knowledge triangle
George Exarchakos and his colleagues Oded Raz en Sonia Gomez from the department of Electrical Engineering are developing a space of creativity for students in which they can experiment with IoT technology, application and business models. Exarchakos: ‘We aim to bring together experts from all disciplines and use education as a vehicle to involve and connect with companies who want to do research while enabling our students to acquire much needed interdisciplinary IoT skills. Companies are becoming restless. They want to know what IoT means for their business. It is predicted that only 50% of businesses that invest in IoT will be able to monetise their investment. This is why they are looking for highly skilled IoT engineers’.
Real life cases
‘In the lab groups of students will be working on real life cases brought in by businesses, our interpretation of the “knowledge triangle”’. We want our students to be able to work on the whole chain from idea development to putting an actual device on the market. In this way they encounter challenges that companies also run into’ explains Exarchakos. Coming year for example students will be working on ‘indoor localisation and connectivity’. ‘They will investigate how to trace factory workers for example and how to connect these appliances to machineries. This information can help prevent dangerous situations e.g. in immediately shutting down moving robots or machinery when workers come in too close or even trigger spontaneous maintenance checks that a human should be aware’, says Exarchakos.
Upscaling
The innovation space lab will be in full force from December onwards. ‘We are now refurbishing an existing lab to make it suitable to deploy IoT activities. As far as Exarchakos is aware, this will be the biggest open facility in the Netherlands. Ultimately we would like to handle multiple locations. We already received interest from Universities in Italy and China, who would like to replicate our lab. Exarchakos is already in contact with WUR, but would like to exchange experiences with Universities in Delft and Twente too. Are you involved in a similar project? Then please get into contact with George Exarchakos.
Additional information on this project can be found on the 4TU.CEE innovation map. This project is sponsored by the TU/e 4TU.CEE innovation fund.