Physik Instrumente (PI) is intensifying its cooperation with leading universities and research institutions. To do so, the specialist for piezo technology, nano positioning, and performance automation is transferring areas from research and development to so-called “innovation hubs” in close proximity to technical universities and colleges.
In September this year, PI started this by leasing around 500 sqm of office and laboratory space in the iWerkx on the Hoepfner Areal, to setup its innovation hub in Karlsruhe (Germany). Hence, it is in the direct vicinity of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), the FZI Research Center for Information Technology, and the Technologiefabrik Karlsruhe. “The proximity to these leading institutes promises a strong impetus for our future topics and helps us to consolidate and expand our technology leadership,” assures Markus Spanner, CEO of the PI Group. The medium-sized company already holds more than 500 patents and invests around ten percent of turnover in research and development.
Further globalisation of research planned
PI is also planning to establish innovation hubs as research clusters in the USA and Asia. “Through our competencies in nano positioning, we have firmly established ourselves as development and system partners in the global chip industry, in photonics, and in laser materials processing,” emphasizes PI’s CEO. Whereas the focus is on product and production-related development work in actual companies, the research clusters concentrate on future and post-future topics. “We also want to be leaders in our competence areas in three, five, and more years. The innovation hubs are a building block along the way,” emphasizes Spanner.