Showcase event: Young Technology Award

We’re back from COMS 2013 – an annual conference organized by members of MANCEF, which focuses on the commercialization of micro- and nanotechnology. The event is bang on target for anyone looking to take an idea from the lab into the marketplace as it brings together not just technical experts, but also business brains and venture capitalists.

This year’s conference host – the University of Twente in the Netherlands – is a great example of a university that recognizes the value of innovation and offers developers support through a series of shared facilities. These include the MESA+ institute for nanotechnology, its prototyping environment – NanoLab, and the nearby High Tech Factory where early-stage companies can scale-up production.

The region is also home to Kennispark Twente – an innovation campus that every year welcomes about 60-70 new startups from partner organizations, the University of Twente and Saxion University of Applied Sciences.

Other entrepreneurial hubs mentioned at this year’s event include Centri in Portugal, Finland’s Micronova, the Karlsruhe Nano Micro Facility in Germany, and NorFab, which is based in Trondheim, Norway.

We’ll be taking a more detailed look at these innovation networks in future posts, so stay tuned. Also, for additional conference highlights make sure to read our COMS 2013 show report over on nanotechweb.org.