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As an innovation partner of Open-i, ZHAW took part in this year's conference at Kongresshaus Zurich at the end of November. The Swiss innovation platform Open-i promotes exchanges between business and science. Leading Swiss SMEs, start-ups and investors, large corporations, innovative minds from academia, and next-generation talent all attended the conference in Zurich.
Practical Solutions at the ZHAW Industry Hack
As part of the conference, ZHAW organized an Industry Hack, which was conducted in collaboration with ZHAW Entrepreneurship under the direction of Dr. Sandro Graf from the Center of Customer Experience & Service Design at the ZHAW School of Management and Law (SML).
In a 24-hour Design Sprint, 21 students developed innovative concepts on current issues, such as reducing food waste or developing new products, services, and business model ideas in the MedTech and digital health market.
"The Design Sprint aims to develop user-centered, creative solutions in interdisciplinary teams within a short space of time," commented Sandro Graf. Specifically, students worked on a health challenge in cooperation with Roche Diagnostics to address the question: How can innovative systems, products, or service concepts be developed to help people with diabetes manage their medication efficiently and plan their physical activity safely?
The second challenge in the food sector, in cooperation with foodward and FoodHub Wädenswil, dealt with how the demand for Swiss fish by-products could be increased through emotionally appealing and educational measures. This is a relevant topic since the demand for fish has risen significantly in recent years, although around 60 to 70 percent of the weight of fish caught is not processed into food or animal feed. Swiss start-ups want to change this and position Swiss fish as a healthy alternative to imports while optimizing the use of fish by-products.
Following intensive brainstorming sessions, the teams presented their solutions on the second day of the conference:
One team developed a brand that produces sustainably packaged "Swiss Fish Jerky," a type of dried fish, from fish by-products. The idea is to offer a healthy snack in sustainable packaging for environmentally conscious consumers. Another team proposed the introduction of a new "Swiss Fish" label to strengthen the industry and raise consumer awareness. With a standardized label, the Swiss fish industry could generate more financial resources to invest in new technologies and marketing. This would allow new products to be developed from the by-products, which would also benefit from the established "Swiss Fish" label. Three other teams developed solutions to help people with diabetes manage their medication more efficiently and their physical activity more safely. One team came up with an app called Sweetcast, which integrates data from various health apps and devices for continuous blood glucose monitoring. Their goal is precise, personalized insights for the user, leading to greater safety.
Innovative Minds in the ZHAW Talent Corner
The Talent Corner offered a versatile platform to spotlight pioneering projects and initiatives at ZHAW and the brilliant minds behind them. The ZHAW ICLS Institute of Computational Life Sciences presented an innovative robotic arm controlled by hand movements and an intelligent real-time camera. The Usability Lab at the ZHAW Department of Applied Linguistics and health start-up adamcares presented a project that assesses the practicality of AI-supported care documentation.
Around 10 students used the Talent Corner stage to present creative solutions from the fields of food and health, developed as part of practice-oriented and interdisciplinary formats such as the Entrepreneurial Summer Schools, the PREFS degree program, and the Health Hackathon.
The Showcasing Area was also a highlight, with inspiring founders presenting a wide range of forward-looking products and services. From a revolutionary method for geothermal drilling (Borobotics), customized climbing shoes (hooq), and climate-positive building materials (Kohlenkraft) to an AI-supported nutrition app (nuuro) and a smart lunch steamer (steasy), a wide range of visions for the future were brought to life.
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