The Fontys programmes Operational Excellence, 3D printing and robotics will soon occupy their own rooms at Brainport Industries Campus (BIC). On the campus, where dozens of companies and institutes from the high-tech manufacturing industry work together on innovation, Fontys (HBO) will be located next to Summa College (MBO). Previously, the Fontys Centre of Expertise HTSM was also involved in collaboration in BIC's fieldlab Smart Connected Supplier Network.
For Brainport Industries Campus, cooperation with education is one of the spearheads. “By stimulating contact between students, lecturers and our companies, everyone gains advantages”, says Ferdinand Gremmen, Director SDK Vastgoed (Volkerwessels) and responsible for BIC. “That’s also why we wanted to give such an important role to this when we started BIC. The practice already shows that the concept works; this will become even stronger with the arrival of Fontys.”
Fontys’ ambition in Brainport Eindhoven is to contribute to the desired growth in the number of technically skilled professionals, including engineers. Partly thanks to the resources available from the national ‘regional deal’, Fontys can now invest in so-called hybrid learning environments, where education and businesses work closely together. “These hybrid learning environments have great added value for education because we can work on problems which businesses encounter and do so in a practical environment that also makes use of the most modern facilities and technologies,” says Ella Hueting, Director of Fontys University of Applied Sciences Engineering.
“And the added value for the business community lies in the growth of innovative strength through the deployment of students and the performance of experiments in practice-based research. Professionals in the field can also participate in education so that Fontys contributes to Lifelong Development as well. In this way, BIC adds substance to the education of working people, an important theme for all stakeholders.”
As part of Fontys, the college of Business Administration, Education and Technology (for the course in Operational Excellence) and the college of Engineering (for the course in 3D printing and robotics) are involved in this initiative.
With Fontys’ hybrid learning environment, more than 100 students & lecturers will use BIC every day, thus actively contributing to the concept. For Fontys, this expansion is in line with the strategic housing programme and the changing vision of education, in which more meaningful learning experiences for students, lecturers and the professional field are central.