Lifeport Welcome Center officially opens its doors to international knowledge workers and students

International knowledge workers and students, as well as their employers and knowledge institutions, now have a one-stop shop on the Radboud University campus for any matters related to making their stay in the region more pleasant. The Lifeport Welcome Centre at Huize Heyendael was officially opened on 19 September.

The Lifeport Welcome Center (LWC) is staffed by Radboud University employees. In October, they will be joined at the Huize Heyendael location by employees from the municipality of Nijmegen, and from 1 January 2023 onwards, by colleagues from the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst, IND). From then onwards, the municipality of Nijmegen and IND will join forces to offer a one-stop shop of governmental services related to registration and residence.

Expanding services over time

The Lifeport Welcome Center is a single central point where international knowledge workers, students, their employers and family members can go for government services (offered by the municipality and IND), private services (such as a welcome programme and “family support” programme), and social activities. They will receive a welcome package, and information on matters such as health insurance, banking, and filing income tax returns in the Netherlands.

In time, these services can be expanded to include support in finding housing, and various training courses. The Lifeport Welcome Center will initially run for a period of two years, following which an evaluation will take place.

Wijnand Hemelaar, Director of Lifeport Welcome Center and coordinator of the Radboud University Global Staff Services: “This is a new initiative in the Arnhem-Nijmegen region. We expect it to make an important contribution towards attracting and retaining international talent in the region.”

Regional initiative

Lifeport Welcome Center is an initiative of the Economic Board, the province of Gelderland, and the municipality of Nijmegen, based on the regional desire to attract and retain more international talent for the region. The project is financed by Radboud University, the Province of Gelderland, the HAN University of Applied Sciences, the Economic Board, and a number of private parties that offer services at a fee (banks, insurers, brokers, etc.). Companies and institutions in the region can also make use of the Welcome Center’s services at a fee. Daniël Wigboldus, President of the Executive Board of Radboud University and member of the Economic Board: “At the Radboud campus, we find it important to join forces with the municipality of Nijmegen, the province, IND, the HAN University of Applied Sciences, and all other Lifeport partners to attract the necessary international talent to the region and keep them here.”

In addition to the Lifeport Welcome Center @Radboud University, other locations for welcoming international talent may be opened in the Nijmegen-Arnhem-Wageningen region in future. The Lifeport Welcome Center is also working in close collaboration with the Welcome Center Food Valley in Wageningen to share knowledge and develop joint programmes, thus serving the entire region.

Contact information

Learn more about the Lifeport Welcome Center at www.thelifenet.eu
You can reach the Lifeport Welcome Center at info@lifeportwelcomecenter.nl

IDEE ZOEKT ONDERNEMER

Word je eigen BAAS! Win een eigen onderneming en €15.000 aan prijzen.

Vrijheid, onafhankelijkheid en doen wat je leuk vindt en waar je passie ligt. Dat zijn voor veel startende ondernemers de drijfveren om een eigen bedrijf op te starten. Voor jongeren die willen starten met ondernemen, is het soms lastig om te bedenken wat voor onderneming je wilt starten. Daar biedt Word je eigen BAAS! van StartUp Nijmegen, aanjagers Dick Bos en Jan van Raaij, een oplossing voor.

DE WERELD OP ZIJN KOP!

Bij ZomerOndernemer staan de ondernemers en zijn/haar idee centraal. Nu staat het idee centraal en zoeken we een ondernemer die hierbij past en die krijgt een vliegende start in coaching en geld ter waarde van pakweg €15.000,-.

Spreekt een van deze ideeën je aan? Lees dan snel verder!

1 My Pop-Up Kitchen, als ondernemer faciliteer je een locatie voor koks die de restaurantwereld
een tijdje willen uitproberen.

2 Dream Job, een app die onderweg actuele en voor jou interessante vacatures zoekt.

3 Medimee, een reisetui om jouw medicijnen veilig en geordend overal mee naartoe te nemen.

4 The Climate Changers, een platform waar woningbezitters met behulp van vakmensen hun huis
kunnen verduurzamen én uiteindelijk andere mensen kunnen helpen.

Het concept

Tijdens ‘Word je eigen BAAS!’ worden vier businessideeën weggegeven, zie hierboven. Als deelnemer krijg je de mogelijk-heid om vier minuten te pitchen voor een vakkundige jury die bestaat uit wethouder John Brom (EZ), Simon de Luij (Modder-kolk), Chantal Peters (De Papierfabriek), en Martine Grol (Made by Media).

Prijzenpakket

Om de winnaars van Word je eigen BAAS! een vliegende start mee te geven is een prijzenpakket samengesteld ter waarde van €15.000,-. Dit pakket ziet er als volgt uit:

– €2.500,- van de Gemeente Nijmegen
– 6 maanden werkplek en begeleiding bij StartUp Nijmegen
– Je eigen businesscoach (Roeland Bridié; Lizanne Jacobs; Cees van Diemen of Ton Foks)
– Je 1^e jaarrekening wordt gratis opgesteld
– Refurbished laptop
– Merkstrategie en branding training
– Website
– SEO-pakket
– Workshop (web)tekst schrijven
– Bedrijfsprofiel en persbericht in MT/Sprout
– Customer Experience Kickstart

– Managementboeken

Deelnemen aan Word je eigen BAAS!?

Voor Word je eigen BAAS! is StartUp Nijmegen op zoek naar toekomstige zelfstandige ondernemers die op één van de vier businessideeën willen pitchen. De voorwaarden om deel te nemen: je gaat bij StartUp Nijmegen starten, vestigt jouw bedrijf in Nijmegen én je hebt geen andere onderneming waarvoor je verantwoordelijkheden hebt.

Aanmelden kan via: tessa@startupnijmegen.nl met contactge-gevens, motivatiebrief en CV. Zorg dat jouw inschrijving vóór 1 oktober 24.00 uur binnen is. Uiterlijk 6 oktober krijg je bevestiging van deelname.

Word je eigen BAAS! vindt plaats op 13 oktober in de Raadzaal van de Gemeente Nijmegen, Korte Nieuwstraat 6, 6511 PP Nijmegen, van 15.00 uur tot 18.00 uur. Op de website van StartUp Nijmegen vind je meer informatie over de wedstrijd, voorwaarden en het volledige prijzenpakket.

CITC and Henkel forge partnership to accelerate high-thermal die attach solutions

Chip Integration Technology Center (CITC) and Henkel announced today that the organizations have formalized an agreement to collaborate on the development of high-thermal die attach solutions for RF and power electronics. Under the terms of the partnership, Henkel will supply commercialized and developmental pressureless sintering die attach formulations and CITC will provide testing and analysis of the materials within next-generation package designs.

CITC’s Thermal High-Performance Packaging program focuses on thermo-mechanical design strategies and device packaging platforms that integrate low-stress, high-reliability rugged interconnect solutions. As die attach and molding materials are often limiting factors for the optimal operation of RF and power packages, Henkel is the ideal partner or innovation in this application area.

In addition to ongoing work in its state-of-the-art R&D centers, Henkel wants to accelerate time-to-market for its semiconductor packaging materials through strategic relationships across industry, government, and academia. CITC, which collaborates with leading power and RF device packaging companies, provides a unique opportunity to characterize and analyze Henkel’s high-thermal die attach formulations as an enabler for leading-edge device designs.

“Henkel’s pressureless sintering die attach materials are already proven in certain mobile applications,” explained Ramachandran “Ram” Trichur, the company’s Global Market Segment Head, Semiconductor Packaging Materials. “We want to extend that success to other sectors such as automotive, where large, high-power chips are the norm. Our pressureless sintering solutions are unique because they deliver the simple, low-stress processability of conventional die attach adhesives and very high thermal conductivity capabilities. The work at CITC will augment our in-house projects, allowing additional performance and reliability validation.”

The new die attach technology has the potential to enable the replacement of lead (Pb) within RF and power semiconductor devices that incorporate larger die on copper leadframes, allowing the introduction of high operating temperature gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC) power die technologies. Many of CITC’s partners are actively integrating these new chip structures, making the cooperative project an excellent proving ground for Henkel’s pressureless sintering platform.

“In Henkel, we have found a material innovator that will enable the development of power and RF devices with a holistic approach that leverages the latest in die attach technology,” concluded CITC General Manager, Jeroen van den Brand. “With many major power device manufacturers based in Europe, and in Nijmegen in particular, we view this partnership as vital to satisfying the current and future demands within these important market sectors.”

Website EFRO grant period 2021-2027

For the EFRO program period 2021-2027, the new website www.efro-oost.eu was recently put online. On this site, you can find all the current information about the program EFRO 2021-2027 for Eastern Netherlands.

In the coming period, the site will be further supplemented with information about the grant opportunities, openings, rules, budgets, news, stories from entrepreneurs/beneficiaries and information needed for progress and final reports. Keep an eye on this website if you are an entrepreneur and would like to make use of it. (Please note, the website is in Dutch)

Zomer Ondernemer Rijk van Nijmegen

The ZomerOndernemer Rijk van Nijmegen project will start in mid-July. ZomerOndernemer Rijk van Nijmegen is an entrepreneurial project in which young people aged between 15 and 25 living in the region are helped to start up their own business. In this way, young people can become acquainted with entrepreneurship. An entrepreneurial attitude offers more perspective. You see more opportunities and possibilities and that is exactly what is transferred and stimulated among this target group.

The participants receive professional coaching and resources not only to work out the business idea, but also to execute the idea. In the past, this has resulted in numerous young people starting their own businesses thanks to ZomerOndernemer. And that throughout the Netherlands.

This project is being carried out in collaboration with various companies in the Nijmegen region. This includes workshops, speakers and company visits to interesting entrepreneurs. The project lasts 6 weeks with a three-day entrepreneurial training as a kick-off. This is followed by a number of return days followed by a festive kick-off where the participants present their own company.

Participation is completely free and is made possible by Fonds 21 and the municipalities of Nijmegen, Beuningen, Wijchen, Berg en Dal and Druten. More information: www.zomerondernemer.nl.

Get a weekly pitch tip from Frank Smallegange

To keep your public speaking skills fresh you should work on them on a regular basis. For most of us however the trigger to work on these skills is when we have to give our next presentation. To make it easy to keep your presentation skills on top of mind he started #FrankSays. With this hashtag he publishes, every Thursday, a practical pitch tip on Linked In.

If you want to keep improving your public speaking skills follow him on Linked In.

Story: Safe and sound under the Micro-Cosmos

At Briskr, we believe in the power of a strong network. Nijmegen is a hub for health and high tech, which means we have lots of companies in the area that are at the forefront of groundbreaking inventions. Take Micro-Cosmos, a company that creates an environment free of stimuli, so that patients improve recovery in their own space. A great example of how an idea can be transformed into real-life solutions.

Eef Lamers is the co-founder of Micro-Cosmos, but he is fair enough to admit the idea did not come from him. “At a Health Hackathon organized by the Radboudumc, medical professionals and students came up with the idea. I knew those students, but they were too busy finishing their studies to turn the idea into action. I suggested I could try and make it happen, and that’s how it all got started.” At that moment, the product was no more than a drawing. The problem it had to solve was patients in hospitals suffering from the many stimuli in their surroundings. “As a result, patients develop a lack of sleep, which causes a slower recovery.”

We need a solution!
As Eef explained, the product was developed with a very clear goal in mind. “The Hackathon was organized to solve this problem: patients need peaceful surroundings to recover.” In addition to improved patient care, the advantages of a solution are obvious to hospitals as well. “Of all elderly in Intensive Care Units, 70 per cent develop delirium: a state of confusion and disorientation. Because of this, on average, people stay hospitalized 7 more days and recovery takes longer. If you take in mind that daily costs of hospitalization are 500 to 2.000 euros, the possible benefits are quite clear.”

In his efforts to create the best possible solution, Eef maintains close connections with medical professionals from various hospitals. “I don’t have a medical background myself – I studied physics – so I have gathered researchers, patients and nurses to give feedback about the Micro-Cosmos.” We are currently doing a pilot with Radboudumc. At the Intensive and Medium Care Units, and at Cardiology, we are looking into the effects of the Micro-Cosmos on quality of sleep, stress, fear and delirium. We use pilots like these to learn about the ideal circumstances to use the Micro-Cosmos.”

Growing step by step
As a young company, Micro-Cosmos could use some help when they started in 2020. One of the ways they found the help they needed, was through attending Briskr workshops. “We needed to know things like: how does an insurance company work? How do you launch a healthcare product? The workshops helped us find our way. Many doors opened because we could get in touch with people giving us information.” This way, Eef also found partners that helped the company develop. “We are in touch with HealthValley and OostNL. The latter helped us clarify what we didn’t know about investors. This eventually led to a successful application for an innovation loan.”

The company continues to take steps toward its final goal. “We want the Micro-Cosmos to be a standard option for patients all over Europe by 2030. To reach this goal, we have to keep proving that our solution works.” The pilots in the Netherlands helped them gather valuable data on the impact of the Micro-Cosmos, but potentially revolutionary research is about to start in Germany. “We just returned from Berlin, where a year-long pilot will provide the most important information we could possibly get. Two-thousand patients are part of the study, which will help us convince other hospitals of the value of the Micro-Cosmos.”

Podcast Ai for Life: Adaptive Learning

Ep. 11 – Adaptive Learning
Listen to this episode from AI for Life on Spotify. The latest podcast about AI in Nijmegen is about adaptive learning. More and more schools are using digital tools to help students learn, and increasingly these tools are becoming intelligent. By giving real-time feedback and adapting the lessons for the individual student. In this podcast, we discuss the current state of the art and some of the challenges of this technology. How do you balance the needs of an individual student with those of the rest of the class? How do you use these tools in hybrid environments of physical learning and digital learning? And are these tools suitable for all teachers and learners?

In this podcast we talk to: Inge Molenaar, associate professor of educational studies at Radboud University Marieke van Osch, educational expert at the Ministry and Radboudumc and Jorieke Willems of the education company Gynzy.

Listen the podcast here on Spotify.

Innoboot 2022

Innoboot is the annual seminar organzsed by Briskr, Radboud University, RadboudUMC and the HAN. This year the theme was about the disruptive effects that AI has in the most important economic clusters in the region: Health, High Tech and Energy.

The first keynote was from Marcel van Gerven, Professor at Radboud University with the title “Brain inspired computing”. At Donders Institute, a cooperation between Radboud University and RadboudUMC, they try to learn from the human brain and translate this into advanced and more versatile AI approaches. Our brain is not a brute force machine (we would not be able to supply the energy) but has advanced approaches to predict and follow-up on the best paths. This research leads to more promising algorithms as well as better suited hardware, for example devices that help blind people see though a camera and feeding the brain with signals through implants.

For each cluster health, hightech and energy examples have been given. Read the full article.

SocialTech Network Series

With our population expected to grow in the coming decades, the Netherlands is
bound to face an increasing need for more resilient and effective healthcare.
To tackle the challenges before they become an issue of the future, municipalities are
looking towards innovation as the way forward. The Municipality of The Hague is
strongly committed to bringing startups into the social domain to develop the products
and services that are most needed.

Together with YES!Delft, the Municipality of The Hague is running the SocialTech
Startup Network Series, giving startups exclusive access to the Hague’s social domain
ecosystem. For this series, our main focus is to find technological solutions that help
people to stay healthy and independent at home.

If you are a startup (past the ideation stage) with an innovative and scalable
technology that addresses one of the challenges above, then it is your moment to
apply!