Endress+Hauser has inaugurated its new premises at the Freiburg Innovation Centre (FRIZ). There, more than 70 employees of the Swiss group of companies specialising in measurement technology are involved in the development of new sensor technologies and software solutions. The teams are embedded in an environment of research institutes, start-ups and other companies.
The FRIZ is located at the technical faculty of the University of Freiburg, Germany. The building complex was completed in 2022 after two years of construction and offers more than 12,000m2 space for flexible offices and laboratories. Endress+Hauser is said to be the largest tenant and currently occupies around 2,400m2 of office space on two floors and another 1,000m2 on the ground floor for chemical and biological laboratories and clean rooms.
The company is bringing six units in the FRIZ that were spread across the city. Together, they combine a range of disciplines and technologies: one team is working on solutions for the industrial Internet of Things (IoT), for example to intelligently link software and sensor technology; another is working on optical analysis technology that can be used to monitor fermentation processes. A third team is looking at sensor and measurement technology of the future, including replacing the human sense of smell.
Jobst Technologies, part of the Swiss subsidiary Innovative Sensor Technology (IST), develops, produces and sells biosensors. Endress+Hauser BioSense, a joint venture with Hahn-Schickard-Gesellschaft, a nonprofit research association, specialises in rapid on-site molecular analyses that can be used in the F&B industry. To protect innovations from imitators, a small team of specialists is also present on campus.
CEO Altendorf said that the new location is a “breeding ground for the measurement technology of tomorrow”. The various disciplines on the campus should complement and stimulate each other, and the proximity to research provides additional impetus. “Innovation often arises at the interfaces, where we enter into exchange with partners from science and industry. By opening up to the university and its institutes, research facilities, spin-offs and other companies, we increase these points of contact.”
The new rooms in the FRIZ will be adorned with a work by glass artist Britta Schmidhauser, which symbolically locates the fields of activity of Endress+Hauser units in Freiburg.
