Twente companies are ready for the future with innovative solutions

Christian Kleijn, Controllab: “It is easy to control a crane standing ashore. But how does one compensate the power of wind and waves when this crane is located on a ship? We use simulations to create a way of controlling that can compensate for these factors. For example, windmills at sea require a team of maintenance engineers to visit once every few months. You want such a crane to reach the tip of the windmill without any risks.

We were already designing controls for other machines when SMST from Drachten asked us to create a way to control their new bridge. We already had a wealth of data because of all our other simulation models, and the new controller was soon ready. We use 20-sim for simulations, and we also have a training simulator for crane operators. Simulations are expensive, but a ship will have to be on location for a week longer if you have to figure it out on the spot. This is inefficient and more expensive due to claims. 

We also work on simulations for storing renewable energy in containers full of batteries. Positive things, in other words. You could also stabilise the course of a tank on bumpy terrain with our technology, but we don’t want that. Wind energy contributes only five per cent compared to oil right now, but that will change. Everything is going well.”

Ivo Aarninkhof, Holland Innovative: “I studied mechanical engineering at the UT, and then worked at Philips for thirteen years. I wanted to bring medical innovations to the field myself to improve healthcare. But I discovered that there was little knowledge available in that area. How do you organise your processes and project management, what legislations do you have to deal with? You need to have all that in order. My partner Hans Meeske had already set up these building blocks for high-tech innovations, so we did the same for medical innovations. Project development, process control, medical legislation and reliability. Put simply; we help organise everything involved with developing a good idea into a reliable and market-ready product. You avoid mistakes and failure costs in this way. 

Major clients such as Philips and ASML hire us for our specialist knowledge on one specific aspect, which allows us to be thorough. We often supervise the entire process with start-ups and SMEs. Years go by before a medical innovation is ready for the market. You have to be patient, but we are standing at the cradle of innovations that will make a big difference. I am active as a director with Sigmascreeing, for example, a breast cancer screening method that is more friendly to women, faster, and more accurate than the current painful mammography. Or with Machnet Robotics, which applies robotics in radiological examinations to visualise constrictions in the carotid arteries. We now have eight employees at Holland Innovative in Enschede, but we want to have fifteen. We are growing rapidly, and we have already climbed up from the basement of The Gallery to the top.”