Summer trip: Rhineland-Palatinate’s Minister of Science Clemens Hoch made a guest appearance at Mainz University of Applied Sciences on August 16, 2023, to learn about the collaborative EMPOWER project. Clemens Hoch, who sees the strength of universities in their focus on applications, was impressed by the innovation potential of the EMPOWER projects and the high degree of interconnectedness of the universities participating in EMPOWER.
As part of his summer trip, Rhineland-Palatinate’s Minister of Science, Clemens Hoch, made a stop at Mainz University of Applied Sciences yesterday. He was particularly interested in the collaborative EMPOWER project, which involves Mainz University of Applied Sciences, Mainz Catholic University of Applied Sciences, Worms University of Applied Sciences, Bingen Technical University of Applied Sciences, and Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society. University President Prof. Dr. Susanne Weissman welcomed the Minister to the university campus in Mainz, stating, “We are pleased to be able to give you a deeper look today at the collaborative project, which, together with our collaboration partners, will enable us to exploit our innovation potential even further, to drive strategic networking in the region, and to serve as a driving force in solving socially relevant issues.”
“With the EMPOWER project, participating universities are given the opportunity to exploit their innovation potential even further and to drive forward their strategic networking in the region. Together with collaboration partners, they can act as a driving force in addressing socially relevant issues. The state of Rhineland-Palatinate is participating as part of the federal initiative Innovative Hochschule with a total sum of just under 1.3 million Euro over the entire duration of the project. In view of current and future challenges, it is essential for universities with a modern structure to intensively investigate how the knowledge they gain can be transferred to all areas of society and utilized in a sustainable manner,” said Minister Hoch.
“EMPOWER serves to strategically strengthen a research-based transfer of ideas, knowledge, and technology between the participating universities and external organizations from society, business, and culture. EMPOWER focuses on the societal megatrend topics of connectivity, health, sustainability, cyber security, and new work. The pilot projects address current relevant issues in business, culture, and society and develop sustainable solutions,” remarked Prof. Dr. Anett Mehler-Bicher, head of the overall project and Vice President for Research & Transfer at Mainz University of Applied Sciences, explaining the overarching goals of the collaborative EMPOWER project.
A variety of highly contemporary and innovative projects
Clemens Hoch learned first-hand about the cross-university pilot projects on Smart Industry and Mixed Reality in the business sector, as well as about alternatives to battery storage when switching to electric power production. Representatives from the participating universities also presented the New Venture Studio, the Digital Manufacturing Competence Center and the Cyber Security Think Tank to him. App developments for New Work and for participation of senior citizens in society rounded off the picture and helped the Minister of Science gain an impression of the diverse, highly contemporary, and innovative projects the EMPOWER partner universities are working on and researching together.
About EMPOWER
EMPOWER is a collaborative project involving five universities of applied sciences in Rhineland-Palatinate, launched in 2023 (the project will run until the end of 2027). As a cross-university transfer alliance in Rheinhessen/Vorderpfalz, EMPOWER’s goal is to promote the research-based transfer of ideas, knowledge, and technology with business and in society in the region. To achieve this, each of the five universities participating in the transfer alliance is contributing its expertise on a megatrend topic: Mainz University of Applied Sciences | Connectivity, Catholic University of Applied Sciences Mainz | Health, Worms University of Applied Sciences | Cyber Security, Bingen Technical University of Applied Sciences | Sustainability, Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society | New Work. EMPOWER is funded by the federal-state initiative Innovative Hochschule with a total of 13.2 million Euro.