Machining glass as flexibly as plastic

25.11.2019 Daniela Musial-Lemberg News

KIT scientists develop process for 3D printing of glass.

With the certificate, the Falling Walls Foundation wants to stimulate a cultural change – towards more creativity, more courage for the transfer of innovative technologies and concepts and more acceptance of research careers beyond the professorship. The basis for the award was the fulfilment of quality standards in the application and implementation of awareness-raising measures by KIT in cooperation with Young Entrepreneurs in Science. The certificate is valid for one year and can be extended by a renewed examination by Young Entrepreneurs in Science.

The Falling Walls Foundation is the unique global hub connecting science, business and society. It shapes the future of humanity through impact-driven ideas and discoveries, driven by a shared commitment to creating breakthroughs across borders and disciplines.

There is great interest from industry

Initial projects are already underway with BASF, Bosch and Merck. In 2019, the founding team received 2.3 million euros in capital for the next steps via a financing round. But the road to this point was not always easy and involved many learning processes. “For spin-offs from the academic field, it is often quite difficult to focus fully on customer benefits and not get lost in the playground of fascinating technologies,” Schwenk recalls of the early days of start-up life. “Questions about how to address and win customers seemed very daunting at first. This is where the KIT-Gründerschmiede team and especially the upCAT program from Entechnon helped us a lot. Through this, we started to build contacts in the industry and really understand what is relevant for potential customers.”