www.sintef.no
For more than 70 years, SINTEF has developed solutions and innovation for society and customers all over the world. This is how we have become a world-leading research institute.
The form of DIH SINTEF
SINTEF is organised as an enterprise group consisting of seven research institutes. In addition, SINTEF Holding manages SINTEF's ownership in start-up companies and other enterprises. SINTEF is located in Trondheim in mid-Norway (1400 employees) and in Oslo (400 employees). We also have personnel in offices and subsidiary companies in Bergen, Tromsø, Ålesund, Raufoss, Mo i Rana, Porsgrunn, Brussels and Hirtshals (Denmark). SINTEF also operates a research station in Svalbard.
In 2016, SINTEF carried out 5700 research projects for 4000 customers. Our multidisciplinary approach enables us to create teams with the broad range of expertise our customers and projects often demand.
In terms of SINTEF as a DIH with activities on inspection and maintenance robotics, a national network on I&M robotics called RINVE is central. RINVE was initiated by SINTEF, co-funded by the Research Council of Norway, and has around 30 members. The member list comprises of end-users (asset owners), technology providers, service providers, research institutes and universities.
SINTEF[1] is one of Europe’s largest independent research organisations. We generate new technologies and knowledge together with our clients. SINTEF is an independent, not-for-profit organisation. None of its owners receive any form of dividend. Any financial surplus is invested in scientific equipment, skills and expertise. We work extensively with other research organisations in Europe. SINTEF has an office in Brussels and is by far the largest Norwegian participant in the EU's research programmes.
We offer world-leading laboratory and test facilities in a wide range of technological fields. Our advanced laboratories range from microelectronics and nanoscale technologies, to the world's largest laboratory for the multiphase transport of oil and gas, and the world's largest marine laboratory.
The commercialisation of our research results is part of SINTEF's role in society. We achieve this by means of licensing and creating new companies based on technologies developed as part of our research activities. SINTEF has spun-out a number of new companies include Zivid, a company specializing 3D sensors for producing high-quality 3D data relevant for e.g. inspection, manipulation and quality check operations.
Several institutes and research groups at SINTEF contribute to SINTEF's overall service delivery within robotics for inspection and maintenance. We have institutes specialising in technology and applications within specific sectors (e.g., SINTEF Manufacturing, SINTEF Ocean, SINTEF Industry, SINTEF Energy) as well as an institute focusing on enabling technologies (SINTEF Digital). There is cooperation between the institutes and research groups to deliver a complete set of technology- and application specific know-how and technologies. We have around 50+ people working on robotics-related technologies including business development.
RINVE[2]
RINVE is a Norwegian network of Norwegian end-users / asset owner, service providers, technology/system providers, research organizations and universities within robotics and automation in inspection and maintenance. RINVE has around 30 members and is growing its member base.
The purpose of RINVE is to facilitate that Norwegian organizations can capitalize on the possibilities within I&M robotics. A main service of RINVE is to provide innovation workshops where end-users can initiate collaborations with providers and research organizations to solve key problems in the industry.
The member base of RINVE currently mainly focus within oil and gas (topside and subsea), transportation (rail, road, aviation, harbours), maritime and energy. The members together have offices throughout Norway.
RINVE is co-financed by its members and has been co-financed by the Research Council of Norway until 2021.
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[1] https://www.sintef.no/en/sintef-group/this-is-sintef/
[2] https://www.sintef.no/RINVE/
Business development[1]
Category: Incubator/accelerator support
Description of activity, value proposition (what?): Dedicated mostly to spin off and start up promoting SINTEF technologies.
Support on business creation, Accompanying the creation of start-ups, Protecting research results, advising on IPR management, Carry out strategic analyses, Find scientific and technical information, business intelligence, Set up industrial and collaborative contracts
Format (how?): Meetings, conference calls, project management.
Profile of DIH contact (who?): Experts in business creation, in IPR management
Involvement, effort from DIH: Meetings with experts in business development
Financial charge for customer: Free for SINTEF
Funding, business plan: Mixed public funding and internal investment in DIH.
Connect to funding sources
Category: Access to financing, Incubator/accelerator support
Description of activity, value proposition (what?): Connect businesses and public organizations to relevant funding opportunities including tax refund mechanisms. Lead or contribute to proposal writing the funding opportunities. Business development as part of proposal writing.
Format (how?): Meetings, conference calls, proposal writing.
Profile of DIH contact (who?): Business developer, technical expert.
Involvement, effort from DIH: Meetings with experts in funding of research, development and innovation in robotics. Proposal writing.
Financial charge for customer: Free(sales activity, or as limited support offer) or paid (DIH involvement only in proposal/funding investigating phase)
Funding, business plan: Subsidised by the DIH when as part of sales activity or as limited support offer (e.g., a 1-hour information meeting). Private funding when DIH involvement is only in sales phase and not in a potential consecutive project.
Hands-on training
Category: Skills and education
Description of activity, value proposition (what?): Training of technical and science personnel
Format (how?): Courses given by DIH personnel. On demand and regular.
Profile of DIH contact (who?): Technical experts
Involvement, effort from DIH: 1-2 day events and shorter events, , supply of training reference material.
Financial charge for customer: Paid service.
Funding, business plan: Flat-fee per seminar/training course.
Research, development and innovation opportunities
Category: Project development, access to finance
Description of activity, value proposition (what?):
Advising on technological research, development and innovation activity. Elaboration of an action plan for R&D&I with milestones, deliverables, agreement on the respective role of stakeholders and on the final delivery. Basis for initiating, e.g., bilateral projects between industry and RTOs in the DIH, or as basis for proposal writing to secure funding.
Format (how?): Meetings, conference calls.
Profile of DIH contact (who?): Business developer, technical expert
Involvement, effort from DIH: Meetings with experts in research, development and innovation in robotics
Financial charge for customer: Free if the activity can lead to project for the DIH or paid else.
Funding, business plan: Subsidised by the DIH. Private finding.
Hosting to Spin off and Start up
Category: Offering housing
Description of activity, value proposition (what?): Accompaniment and hosting follow-up of early-phase spin offs from SINTEF.
Format (how?): On demand
Profile of DIH contact (who?): Business facilitator
Involvement, effort from DIH: Office space, workspace, located in DIH premises Internet infrastructure, lab facilities.
Financial charge for customer: Free
Funding, business plan: Subsidised by SINTEF (e.g., the research group from which the personnel entering the spin-off originates from).
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[1] regarding CEA technologies
Brokerage, Matchmaking
Category: Ecosystem service, Community building, ecosystem learning
Description of activity, value proposition (what?): Organisation of meetings and workshops between players in the value chain to make demand and offer sides meet, share ideas and analyse opportunities for collaboration.
Format (how?): Minimum one event per year at a central location (e.g., an airport) or online with presentations from stakeholders, networking lunch (if not digital), dialogue b2b, tour of the DIH if visit on site.
Profile of DIH contact (who?): Business facilitators, technical experts.
Involvement, effort from DIH: One day event with participation of 3 to 4 experts from the DIH, supply of communication material
Funding, business plan: Subsidised by the DIH, co-financed by the Research Council of Norway.
Awareness creation
Category: Ecosystem service, Community building
Description of activity, value proposition (what?): Robotics awareness presentation for decision-makers and suppliers
Format (how?): Webinar/workshops/conferences that the DIH is invited to
Profile of DIH contact (who?): Senior technical experts
Involvement, effort from DIH: Presentation by one technical expert.
Funding, business plan: Subsidised by the DIH
Dissemination
Description of activity, value proposition (what?): Communication about the offer of services of the DIH. Dissemination of results and key facts in local language and in English
Format (how?): Information distributed through e.g. web sites, social media, newsletters, mailing
Profile of DIH contact (who?): Experts in communication, technical experts
Involvement, effort from DIH: Involvement of the communication teams belonging to the organizations involved in the DIH
Ecosystem building
Description of activity, value proposition (what?): Putting people in touch with professional, sectorial associations certification bodies, public and private investors in region and in Europe
Format (how?): Reference information provided through the DIH web portal and via DIH contact points.
Profile of DIH contact (who?): Business facilitators, technical experts
Involvement, effort from DIH: Access to networks, clusters, associations and federations to which the organizations of the DIH belong and/or has contacts with.
Funding, business plan: Subsidised by the DIH. Potential economic upside for DIH in generating projects which involve the DIH.
Market research, market awareness, market/technology trends
Category: Ecosystem service, Strategy development
Description of activity, value proposition (what?): provision of contact to experts in market analysis, market data held in the network and at the DIH at European and International level
Format (how?): Conference call, meeting with business developers at the DIH
Profile of DIH contact (who?): contact to experts in market analysis
Involvement, effort from DIH: One hour with experts
Financial charge for customer: paying service
Mentoring by technical and application experts
Description of activity, value proposition (what?): Advising on possible usage of robotics and automation
Format (how?): Conference calls, bilateral meetings, meetings on customer's premises
Profile of DIH contact (who?): Technical and application experts
Financial charge for customer: Free (typically 1-2 hours, online) or by payment for larger efforts
Funding, business plan: Subsidised by the DIH (as part of investigating project opportunities) or cost per hour for larger efforts. In some cases mix of public and private funding.
Resources and knowledge sharing
Category: Ecosystem service, Ecosystem learning
Description of activity, value proposition (what?): Organizing access and informing about resources, databases, seminars, workshops, conferences, field trips, newsletters and other information of interest
Format (how?): Reference information provided through the DIH, newsletters and RIMA network web portal. Conferences, field trips, workshops organized by the DIH or in cooperation with partners.
Profile of DIH contact (who?): Communication team. Experts.
Involvement, effort from DIH: Involvement of the communication teams of the organizations involved in the DIH at CEA and SYSTEMATIC
Financial charge for customer: Free (information sharing, some conferences) or paid (e.g., conference fee)
Funding, business plan: Subsidized by the DIH. Mixed Public and private funding.
DIH network promotion, Promotion of the offer
Description of activity, value proposition (what?): Promote both the DIH and its members
Format (how?): Web-pages, newsletters. Participation on roadshows, exhibitions, dissemination, and otherwise represent interests (e.g., suppliers, end-users).
Profile of DIH contact (who?): Communication, business and technical experts
Involvement, effort from DIH: Involvement of the communication teams and technical experts.
Financial charge for customer: Free or paid.
Funding, business plan: Subsidised by the DIH. Mix of public and private funding.
Research and development collaboration
Category: Strategic RDI
Description of activity, value proposition (what?): Research aiming at reaching TRL 5, removal of doubts, specifications, research and development, validation in laboratory
Format (how?): Collaborative research with several partners in Norway, EU and/or outside the EU for 2 years or more
Profile of DIH contact (who?): Project manager, technical experts
Involvement, effort from DIH: Support from experts in the submission of European or national proposals. Long term participation (over 2 years) of several experts from the DIH for technical research and development in robotics
Financial charge for customer: Free or paid and/or via in-kind from the industry
Funding, business plan: Funded by European or national research programmes, mix of public and private funding, or solely private funding (rare cases).
Innovation projects: technology demonstrators, proof of concepts
Category: Contract research
Description of activity, value proposition (what?): Research and development aiming at reaching TRL 6, application of existing technologies, validation in laboratory
Format (how?): Bilateral or collaborative projects from one to a few years.
Involvement, effort from DIH: Support from experts in the submission of European or national proposals. Participation of several experts from the DIH for technical research and development in robotics
Financial charge for customer: Paid
Funding, business plan: Funded by bilateral contracts, European or national innovation programmes, private investors.
Proof of concept, prototyping, commercialisation/industrialisation, small series production
Category: Technical support on scale-up
Description of activity, value proposition (what?): Demonstration in real environment or in realistic conditions. Adaptation of existing technologies to specific use case
Format (how?): Bilateral projects from one to several months
Involvement, effort from DIH: Support from experts in the submission of European or national proposals Participation of several experts from the DIH for development and innovation
Financial charge for customer: Paying
Funding, business plan: Funded by bilateral contracts, European or national innovation programmes, investors
Lab facilities, equipment for lease/use (sensors, robots, robot tooling, etc.), rapid prototyping
Category: Provision of technology infrastructure
Description of activity, value proposition (what?): Demonstration with equipment held in the laboratories at the DIH or deployment of sensors etc. at customer site. Realization of interfaces with DIH equipment. Provision of test benches (for actuation, perception, etc.). Provision of large-scale field laboratories (e.g., test area for autonomous ships in the Trondheim fjord, or an aquaculture facility).
Format (how?): Conducting experiments with the assistance of DIH personnel
Involvement, effort from DIH: Support from experts in the submission of European or national proposals Participation of several experts from the DIH for maturation
Financial charge for customer: Paying, financial charge based on daily rate and depending on the personnel involved, equipment used at the DIH and adaptation needed.
Funding, business plan: Funded by bilateral contracts, European or national innovation programmes, investors.
Certification, product demonstration & testing, comparison of products
Category: Testing and validation
Description of activity, value proposition (what?): For testing and benchmarking, SINTEF holds and can offer access to a set of dedicated to infrastructures to make assessment in realistic conditions (e.g., aquaculture, pipelines, high-voltage environment, outdoor/indoor, large scale pools, ocean (outdoor) facilities). SINTEF can also organize access to infrastructure in other sectors of applications.
Format (how?): Conducting experiments with the assistance of DIH personnel following evaluation protocols. Provision of metrics and tools for benchmarking the utility, usability, effectiveness
Profile of DIH contact (who?): Technical experts. For certification issues, SINTEF usually involves external parties..