Experiencing exciting research up close, talking to smart founders – or just enjoying a coffee – Karlsruhe citizens can now do all this at KIT's TRIANGEL Open Space on Kronenplatz square. The new innovation, start-up, and transfer center where representatives from science, business, and society have been meeting since last year, was officially opened this Friday, May 20. Its opening ceremony had to be delayed due to the Covid pandemic. The TRIANGEL opening program, a wealth of knowledge and visions featuring kickoff speeches, panel discussions, exhibition, and contributions from art and culture will continue until Saturday, May 21, 2022.
“Being the Research University in the Helmholtz Association, we create and impart knowledge for the society and the environment. Therefore, the exchange with citizens is very important to us. With TRIANGEL Open Space, we live up to this claim right in the heart of the city of Karlsruhe,” said KIT President Professor Holger Hanselka on the occasion of the opening ceremony on Friday on the Kronenplatz premises close to KIT's South Campus.
“KIT is a unique institution, and its claim is to play in the same league as the world's best institutions for science and engineering research. With TRIANGEL Open Space, KIT now has an exciting local showcase,” says Professor Michael Kaschke, Chairman of the KIT Supervisory Board and formerly CEO of Carl Zeiss AG.
“An efficient technology transfer, in other words the successful conversion of research findings into applicable solutions and products, can only succeed if there is a lively exchange between researchers, business, and society.
TRIANGEL offers an ideal forum for this purpose!” says entrepreneur Stefan Quandt, member of the Supervisory Board and alumnus of KIT. With a funding of EUR 830,000, he significantly contributed to the realization of TRIANGEL.
“Being the largest employer and one of the most prominent Karlsruhe flagships, KIT has already been in intense and fruitful contact with the city and its inhabitants. Now, the citizens can experience right away the unique combination of university research and large-scale research that KIT stands for, at a central place in the city of Karlsruhe. This will further enhance the exchange!” says Dr. Frank Mentrup, Lord Mayor of Karlsruhe.
“It is part of the KIT spirit to transform research into tangible developments and products and to promote the founding spirit and entrepreneurship of our researchers and students. This is also what TRIANGEL stands for as a place of dialog with society,” adds Professor Thomas Hirth, Vice President for Transfer and International Affairs at KIT.
Experiencing TRIANGEL Open Space
Besides exhibitions where everybody can dive into scientific topics, innovation teams and start-ups have the opportunity to obtain direct feedback for their ideas and prototypes in exchange with citizens at TRIANGEL. In addition, the Open Space offers room for workshops, lectures, readings, panel discussions, or small-scale performing arts. In the Café, guests feel at ease and can do networking, develop innovative ideas, or simply relax with a drink.
The Stifterverband (founders’ association) has elected TRIANGEL as “Hochschulperle” (university pearl) for the month of April. This way, the joint initiative of companies and foundations for the promotion of education, science, and innovation honors “future-oriented learning spaces.”
More information: https://www.triangel.space/
Bildunterschrift: In the TRIANGEL Open Space, citizens can experience science even more directly than before at a central place in the city of Karlsruhe. (left to right) Thomas Hirth, Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs at the KIT; Stefan Quandt, Member of the KIT's Supervisory Board; Helga Huskamp, Executive Director at ZKM; Holger Hanselka, President ot the KIT (Foto: Markus Breig, KIT)
Being “The Research University in the Helmholtz Association”, KIT creates and imparts knowledge for the society and the environment. It is the objective to make significant contributions to the global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility, and information. For this, about 10,000 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 22,800 students for responsible tasks in society, industry, and science by offering research-based study programs. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application for the benefit of society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life. KIT is one of the German universities of excellence.