Success for the first innovation festival at UiB
There was great interest in the first UiB Innovation Festival on September 20th. Vice-Rector Gottfried Greve hopes the event will create a new momentum for the innovation culture at The University of Bergen (UiB).
Main content
Many found their way to the UiB building "Nygårdsgaten 5" for the first edition of the UiB Innovation Festival on Friday, September 20th. The subtitle of the festival was “from research to change” - indicating that although innovation is a broad concept relevant in all academic fields, a common factor is that innovation should ideally lead to a beneficial change for society.
The event was also part of "Innovasjonsuken Opp", which lasted from September 16th to 22nd.
There was a lot of activity in the common area at the first edition of the UiB Innovation Festival.
Initiator and Vice-Rector for Innovation, Projects and Knowledge Clusters at UiB, Gottfried Greve, was pleased with the successful execution of an event he hopes will become a regular tradition at the university.
“Innovation is a very important task for the university, and one of the goals of this day has been to inspire and strengthen the innovation culture at UiB,” said Greve.
He hopes more students and staff have been inspired to think creatively about how their own research can have value outside academia as well:
“I believe such a meeting place across academic fields, between students and staff, and between academia and industry, can inspire and help to bring forward even more research based knowledge from the university - for the benefit of society. Additionally, it is positive that the various academic fields get this opportunity to meet the industry and the public sector, to learn more about their needs”.
All Faculties Represented
Throughout the day, attendees were treated to a variety of insights into what innovation can mean in different academic fields, with all faculties represented in the program. For instance, the audience got glimpses into the breadth of the innovation concept through an innovation relay, where 8 researchers each had 4 minutes to present their innovative concepts and projects.
Professor Ignacio Herrera Anchustegui from the Faculty of Law addressed the topic “Oil and gas electrification through offshore wind: Legal Innovation trends” in four minutes.
The Deputy Dean at the Department of Biological and Medical Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Karsten Specht, talked about how an idea that originated in a basement in Nesttun became a global success for NordicNeuroLab. They develop and supply equipment to study brain activity and have now delivered equipment to medical facilities in more than 70 countries.
In a large common area with 20 stands, attendees could explore exciting innovations, get valuable advice on everything from CV writing to patent applications, or take the opportunity to network with other innovative students, staff, and companies.
At the booth of Tissue Engineering Group, the Department of Clinical Dentistry, one could learn about a new 3D bone printing bioreactor
The exhibition The Road Ahead received a lot of attention. It is part of the research project “Exit Earth,” led by Professor Ashley Booth and Associate Professor Bente Irminger at the Faculty of Fine Art, Music, and Design.
The keynote speaker for the day was Dr. Emma Salgård Cunha, Senior Associate Commercialisation Director, Cambridge Enterprise at the University of Cambridge. She gave an inspiring talk titled: Building social impact at scale: experiments in arts, humanities and social science commercialisation at the University of Cambridge.
Dr. Emma Salgård Cunha at the University of Cambridge.
Additionally, there were six parallel sessions on topics ranging from student innovation to AI prompting.
Vice-Rector Gottfried Greve participated in the mini-design sprint by innovation pilots Stine Lines and Johannes Helleve - an innovation tool for quickly creating and testing new solutions. Greve worked in a group with Emilie Tryggan, Åshild Løvstakken, and Cecilie Nordbotten.
Was Oppenheimer a responsible researcher or not? This was the starting point for a session on responsible research and innovation, led by Anne Blanchard from the Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities.
There was also a panel discussion on the green transition and UiB’s role in the region. An important point here was how best to bring the wide range of research-based knowledge at the university into society; including utilizing existing meeting places and seeking new types of collaboration between industry, researchers, and students.
A panel discussion between Einar Vaage from Greenspot Mongstad, Bjarte Fagerås from GCE Ocean Technology, Heidi Synnøve Gaustad from Green Region Vestland, Innovation Norway, and Vice-Rector Gottfried Greve. The discussion was moderated by Håvard Haarstad, head of the Centre for Climate and Energy Transformation (CET) at UiB.
At the end of the festival, the UiB Idé grant was officially awarded, which was given out for the fourth time this year. Both employees and students can apply for the grant, which gives students and researchers at UiB the opportunity to take their innovative ideas to the next level.
This year’s winners of the UiB Idé Grant were:
Students:
- Ny ekstern defibrillator. Mads Malm Svenningsson; supervisor Vegard Tuseth. Klinisk institutt 2, Det medisinske fakultet
- Kasi – en kasuistikkapp for medisinstudenter. Erlend Thue, Jesper Andreas Viste, Gard Andreas Svendal, Jonas Hodneland Sundfjord og Trond August Flåtas; supervisor Harald Gotten Wiker. Klinisk institutt 2, Det medisinske fakultet
- Autonome seil for optimal utnyttelse av vind. Tom Gjerdevik Lepsøe, Viljar Helgestad Gjerde, Victor Heldal Stien, Hoa Thi Nguyen; supervisor Bruno Antonio Roccia. Geofysisk institutt, Det matematisk-naturvitenskaplige fakultet
- Lappe: Plattform for klesreparasjon gjennom et nettverk av hobby-syere. August Aulie Arnesen, Emilie Hemsett, Ingvild Stensland, Momina Naz Majid, Leonita Brandal, Tale Torkildsen; supervisor Thomas Ågotnes. Design, Fakultet for kunst, musikk og design/Institutt for informasjons- og medievitenskap, Det samfunnsvitenskapelige fakultet
- Verti – Norges første kommersielt utviklede akvaponi. Ryan Day, Erlend Helle Nordberg; supervisor Sigurd Handeland. Institutt for biovitenskap, Det matematisk-naturvitenskaplige fakultet
Employees:
- Space weather preparedness for power grid operators. Spencer Mark Hatch. Institutt for fysikk og teknologi, Det matematisk-naturvitenskaplige fakultet
- “Mine Medisiner” – digital applikasjon for smarttelefon. Arvid Rongve, Astrid Bjørke Jenssen, Mads Malm Svenningsson. Klinisk institutt 1, Det medisinske fakultet
- AI-Powered Grading, Assessment & Feedback Tool. Olav Tenstad. Institutt for biomedisin, Det medisinske fakultet
The Vice Dean for Research and Innovation at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Øyvind Frette, was the chair of the program committee for the first edition of the UiB Innovation Festival. Frette is pleased with the good participation and engagement throughout the day.
“I hope and believe that the attendees could go home with new insights and inspiration,” he said.
Several of this year’s UiB idé winners participated in the UiB Innovation Festival. They were congratulated by the Vice-Rector for Innovation, Projects and Knowledge Clusters at UiB, Gottfried Greve (on the right in the picture).
