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Young researchers swot up on management

This May, more than 60 scientists from 13 European countries attended a week-long seminar series on knowledge management in Erkner, Germany. The workshops formed the core of the EU project TRAYSS PRIME and gave participants valuable insight into management and leadership skills. The Steinbeis Research Center Technology Management North East in Rostock coordinated the program for rising talent.

Aside from project management in research, workshops focused on ways to use intellectual property, how to apply for EU research funds, and how to manage time and conflicts. Visits to Bayer Health Care and the research committee of the Lower House of German Parliament took learning outside the classroom. Participants also had an opportunity to network and propose ideas for partnerships further down the road. The week-long seminar was organized by ProSciencia Beratung (in Lübeck, Germany) with assistance from project partners Steinbeis Research Center Technology Management North East and ScanBalt, the international biotechnology network.

A Slovakian PhD candidate, Zuzana Hugonin is doing research in inorganic chemistry at the University of Stockholm. The benefit of the seminar is obvious: “I had no idea that I could have prevented so many mistakes throughout my projects. I’ll see my scientific work in a new light now, and I’m sure that these skills – like better organization and preparation – will free up more time and help me, and my work, stay flexible.”

Frank Graage, Director of the Steinbeis Research Center Technology Management North East, sums up: “The feedback from seminar participants and just talking with up-and-coming talent in life sciences proves that the idea of management seminars really has its finger on today’s pulse.” The next step: launch the seminar at graduate schools and research institutions. 

Gründler GmbH captures high-tech CyberOne Award

Space in Gründler’s trophy case is slowly becoming tight. After winning last year’s award celebrating innovation in Baden-Württemberg (please see Transfer Magazine 4/07), the young, Freudenstadt-based company with Steinbeis equity holding was recently awarded second place in the bwcon: Hightech Award CyberOne competition. 

Gründler develops, produces and markets systems used in intensive care medicine. Founded in 2000, the head office at the edge of the German Black Forest employs 15 people. Gründler was recognized for its achievement, creating the patient gas humidifier HumiCare® 200. This device adjusts artificial respiration to normal physiological conditions – it’s a true breakthrough in intensive care medicine. Using the HumiCare® 200 drastically reduces harmful side effects and complications in artificial respiration, and the device also guarantees a more constant and reliable air flow.

The Hightech Award CyberOne is the technology award bestowed by the Business Initiative Baden-Württemberg: Connected e. V. (bwcon). It recognizes innovative and successful solutions and business models proposed by new and growing companies in Baden-Württemberg. The aim is twofold: promote upand- coming companies and make it easier for them to reach venture capital organizations. 

Contact

Markus Gründler
Dr. Christoph Gründler
Gründler GmbH (Freudenstadt)
info@gruendler-stiftung.org

New media update: Holtzbrinck and SUB launch ‘New Media Campus’

Publishing house Georg von Holtzbrinck has just issued a new employee development series specifically designed for new media. Academic partner and program co-developer: the School of Management and Innovation (SMI) at Steinbeis University Berlin.

“New Media Campus topics are a way for us to explore the most important innovations and developments going on in today’s media. We are taking up the cause of new technology and responding to how users’ habits have changed. Ultimately, we aim to position ourselves as the go-to leader when it comes to new media projects,” explains Dr. Stefan von Holtzbrinck, partner and Chairman of the Executive Board.

New Media Campus targets employees in every company within the Georg von Holtzbrinck publishing house: from fresh startups and established new media companies to traditional book and magazine publishers. The series provides every interested person with precisely the information needed to stay abreast of fast-paced developments in the media world. What’s more, this educational initiative aims to foster a better understanding of customers. The outcome: recognize pertinent market developments and drive innovation.

“The New Media Campus intentionally turns right where traditional executive education concepts turn left. Here the focus is on new trends and timely issues. And we want to help develop expertise in innovative ways, in ways that allow employees and senior managers at the publishing company learn from and with one another,” explains Carsten Rasner, Director of the School of Management and Innovation. Some formats include training sessions on management and leadership or new media markets and technologies. Others entail experiential workshops with peer groups designed to help understand the customer better. Networking events and interactive platforms help participates share work-related ideas with one another – and with competitors as well as experts in other industries. Hailing from Germany and around the world, New Media Campus instructors are experts in academia and the media business.

For the past few years, the SMI has worked as the academic partner to the Stuttgartbased publishing company and has founded a number of research centers dedicated to innovation management as well as media and convergence management. What prompted the decision makers at Holtzbrinck? The marriage of academia and business. “The SMI is well-versed in what business needs and can answer those needs with top-notch instructors who take a pragmatic approach. The SMI makes a perfect partner,” emphasizes Cathrin Vischer, Head of Staff Development and Marketing, and the publishing company’s representative for New Media Campus.

Steinbeis project captures innovation award

In June 2008, Bavaria’s Prime Minister Dr. Günther Beckstein conferred the 2008 Bavarian Innovation Award on Continental and Ingolstadt University of Applied Sciences. One of the ten achievement awards went to Prof. Dr. Christian Kipfelsberger, Director of the Steinbeis Transfer Center Plastics and Composites Technology in Naila, Germany and to his partners: SGL Technologies and Saint-Gobain Rigips. 

With his partners, Kipfelsberger developed a plasterboard that conducts heat as though it were water. This new material also protects against electromagnetic radiation. Beckstein noted that all recipients “displayed an exceptional talent for taking outstanding ideas and joining forces with intrepid partners to design new kinds of products.”

Introduced in 1996, the Bavarian Innovation Award carries the second-highest state endowment for innovation. The Bavarian government aims to position groundbreaking technical innovation as a worthy, achievable goal throughout the state. This approach should also encourage Bavarians to show initiative and take more risks. The jury includes members of the Academic and Technical Advisory Council (part of the Bavarian state government) and the Bavarian Academy of Sciences.

High-profile textbook prize goes to SUB professor Helmut Schneider

High honors for Professor Helmut Schneider, Marketing and Dialogue Marketing Chair at the School of Management and Innovation, part of Steinbeis University Berlin: together with Professor Klaus Backhaus (University of Münster), Schneider was awarded the Textbook Prize by the German Association of University Teachers of Business Administration (VHB in German). 

Published by Schäffer-Poeschel, Professor Schneider’s book Strategic Marketing was awarded the prize for 2007. The award ceremony was part of the association’s conference held during a German holiday in May. This year’s location: the Free University of Berlin. This conferral is the fifth time the VHB has recognized the importance of scholarly instruction in business administration.

In his speech, presenter Professor Michael Kleinaltenkamp (Free University Berlin) praised the book for its structure clearly designed to educate: “The authors have managed to explain strategic marketing clearly and thoroughly, drawing on consistent and relevant analogies to competitive sports.”

The VHB is dedicated to promoting research, instruction, and skills development within business administration. It also acts as the glue between its members, professionals in the field as well as related institutions within Germany and abroad. International in focus, the association consists of over 1600 members who are involved with business administration at an academic level.

State Medal for Merit goes to Johann Löhn

This past April, Baden-Württemberg’s Prime Minister Günther Oettinger awarded the State Medal for Merit to Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Johann Löhn. The ceremony was part of a program and welcomed Löhn as one of 26 new recipients. Until 2004, Löhn served as Chairman of the Board of the Steinbeis Foundation and is the acting president of the Steinbeis University Berlin. The award was bestowed on him to honor his commitment to Baden-Württemberg as a center of technology. 

The Medal for Merit recognizes outstanding achievements in service to one’s state and its citizens. The award is “a sign of great appreciation and gratitude for your exceptional service. And it’s a reflection of your strong ties to Baden-Württemberg […] Thanks to your efforts and your dedication, your character and your charisma, your sense of duty and your professional ethics, you’ve truly done us – and our community – a great service,” said Oettinger in welcoming the new recipients.

The medal is bestowed based on the nominations of the Baden-Wuerttemberg Parliament President and government officials, and the Prime Minister makes the final decision. Foundation policy dictates that the number of recipients may not exceed 1000 living recipients at a time.

Contact

Anja Reinhardt
Steinbeis Foundation (Stuttgart)
anja.reinhardt@stw.de

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