Bremen's mayor Andreas Bovenschulte visited the Constructor University campus in Bremen-Grohn on Thursday, Februrary 9th. What inspired his visit? Bovenschulte came to meet and exchange with young entrepreneurs who study and work at the University. The focus was on the start-up activities on campus and their integration into Bremen's lively start-up scene.
Bremen's start-up scene is vibrant and fast growing - and thus also strengthens Bremen and the region as a business location. A valuable contribution to this is made by Constructor University, which supports multifaceted start-up and founding activities of its students on its campus in Bremen-Nord. Several young companies have also settled on the campus in Bremen-Grohn, making it a hub for innovation and entrepreneurship.
Mayor Andreas Bovenschulte's visit to the campus shows his great interest in young entrepreneurs from the University and the region. "This is a sign of Constructor University's involvement in Bremen's network," said Thomas Auf der Heyde, Provost of the University, "which is why we are very pleased about this exchange."
Sonja Mattfeld, former project manager of the start-up option "J-CUB" and a doctoral student at the university, played a key role in organizing the meeting. "Mayor Bovenschulte's visit shows the appreciation we have for our start-ups on campus, which are excellently integrated into Bremen's ecosystem through various activities," Mattfeld said. "The added value of this close networking on both sides should not be underestimated. It is precisely this personal atmosphere and proximity between universities, politics and business - combined with the cosmopolitanism of the Hanseatic city - that makes our student start-ups feel so at home in Bremen," Mattfeld explained.
After an exchange of ideas about possible collaborations and further integration of start-up activities at Constructor University into the Bremen ecosystem, Mayor Bovenschulte took time to visit the various start-ups on campus. Among them was the lab of 3D printing start-up Anisoprint. The company set up a research lab on campus last fall. A subsequent item on the agenda was a tour of the Kieserling Foundation lab, led by Yilmaz Uygun, professor of Logistics Engineering, Technologies and Processes. The lab currently houses the world's largest industrial Delta 3D printer.
Mayor Bovenschulte also exchanged ideas with those responsible for the start-up WasteAnt, which aims to use artificial intelligence to help reduce waste, as well as with the students behind the start-up projects ExoHeal and AIROOT. Bovenschulte then checked out some of the student clubs focused on innovation and entrepreneurship. Among them, the Start-up Competition (JSC), the Virtual Reality Club and Jacobs Hack!
"The Constructor University start-up support program is a strong signal for Bremen," said Bovenschulte. "Not only is top international research being conducted here, but the start-up culture is also being significantly promoted here. This further enhances the reputation of the University and Bremen as a research location internationally as a whole. I am seriously impressed by the diverse and cutting-edge startups," said the mayor at the end of his tour around campus.
Image 1: Mayor Bovenschulte experiments with the start-up-project "Exoheal" by sudents Ali Alam, Saleem Zafar, Zain A. Samdani and Rami Udash. (Source: Constructor University)
Image 2: Mayor Bovenschulte and Alexander Kochetkov, Head of the research and development department at the start-up Anisoprint. (Source: Constructor University)