Faculty of Engineering appoints its first Innovation Pilot

When Righteous Ogieva completed his master’s degree in engineering at the University of Southern Denmark, he received the highest possible grade for a thesis based on an invention from the university’s research environment. He has now become the first Innovation Pilot at the Faculty of Engineering.

During his one-year appointment, Righteous Ogieva will continue working closely with the researchers behind the technology and deepen his technical and scientific understanding of it. This could eventually prepare him for a role as a technical key person in a future spinout company.

Becoming part of such a company is a possibility rather than a predetermined outcome. During the programme, he will follow an intensive learning journey designed to strengthen his technical insight and prepare him to become a technology leader in a future spinout. 

‘I also applied for conventional engineering jobs, but my thesis was about turning ideas into reality. That is exactly the process I want to be part of,’ says Righteous Ogieva.

Strengthening future founder teams

The Innovation Pilot programme supports one of the central ambitions in the Faculty of Engineering’s spinout policy by helping to create founder teams that have strong competences in the technologies our spinouts will be based on. 

The researchers who developed an invention may wish to remain at the university rather than leave their academic positions to build a company. In such cases, a potential spinout still needs people who understand the technology in depth and may eventually be able to assume technical responsibility within the company.

‘We develop many promising technologies at our university, but an invention does not become a company by itself. When the researchers behind an invention do not want to leave the university and become full-time entrepreneurs, we must ensure that those who do join the new company have the required technical insights and skills, in cooperation with us, to succeed.’ says Dean Henrik Bindslev.

The Innovation Pilot scheme begins before graduation. A talented engineering student completes a master’s thesis based on a selected invention from a research group at the Faculty of Engineering. If the thesis receives one of the top grades, 10 or 12, the graduate will be offered a one-year position as an Innovation Pilot.

The pilot remains integrated into the research environment and works on defined technical challenges under the guidance of the researchers behind the invention. This allows the graduate to learn and develop specialised, technical expertise that will be valuable if a spinout is established.

The ambition is to develop the Innovation Pilot into a strong technical profile who can become a key driver of the technology in the spinout.

A material that can sense its surroundings

The technology Righteous Ogieva is working with was developed by a research team led by Assistant Professor Pei Li at the University of Southern Denmark. It involves a resin with piezoelectric properties that can be used to 3D-print smart structures.

Piezoelectric materials can convert mechanical influences such as pressure, force and vibration into electrical signals. This means that a printed component could potentially function both as structure and sensor.

One possible application is a robotic arm. Sensors are normally attached to a robotic arm after it has been manufactured. With the new material, researchers are investigating whether a structure could instead be printed so that sensing is integrated directly into the component.

‘We are trying to develop components in which the sensor is an integral part of the structure itself. If a robotic arm can be 3D-printed so that the arm also functions as a sensor, there is no need to attach separate sensors afterwards,’ explains Righteous Ogieva.

For his master’s thesis, he worked with one potential application of the material: the design of a smart washer. Using simulations, he investigated how such a component might register vibrations and potentially issue a warning if a bolted joint in a machine was beginning to loosen.

The thesis gave him detailed knowledge of both the material and its possible applications. In his new position, he will build on this foundation, continue developing his technical competencies and prepare for a possible future role as a key driver of the technology in a spinout.

A possible manufacturing advantage

Piezoelectric sensors already exist, but preliminary results from the SDU research team indicate that the new resin may offer an important manufacturing advantage.

Conventional piezoelectric materials normally have to be electrically polarised using a high voltage before they acquire their active properties. Initial tests of the material developed at SDU indicate that this additional step may not be necessary.

One possible explanation is that the laser light used during 3D printing aligns the piezoelectric particles within the material. Further research is needed to confirm the mechanism and determine how reliably the material can be produced and used in different components.

These technical questions remain the responsibility of the research environment. As an Innovation Pilot, Righteous Ogieva contributes to this work while developing the specialised expertise that could make him relevant to a future company based on the technology.

Different skills for different roles

A successful spinout requires more than technical expertise. It also needs people with experience in areas such as business development, financing, markets and operations.

The SDU Research and Innovation Organisation supports the process of identifying and attracting people with these complementary skills. This allows the Innovation Pilot to concentrate on developing the technical expertise needed to potentially become one of the central engineering or technology profiles in a future founder team.

The researchers remain responsible for the research and the continued development of the invention at the university. If a company is established, collaboration between the company and the relevant research environments can continue through formal agreements.

For Righteous Ogieva, the Innovation Pilot position enables him to deepen his knowledge of a technology he already knows well and become part of the journey towards a technology-driven spinout.

‘I had just graduated and did not have the resources or the platform to continue working with the technology on my own. Through the Innovation Pilot programme, I have access to the research environment, the guidance and the facilities that make it possible for me to continue developing my expertise,’ he says.

Whether the project ultimately leads to a new company remains to be seen. But the ambition behind the programme is clear. When promising research has the potential to become the basis of a spinout, TEK wants to ensure that the right technical talent can be ready to take the next step with it.