On 28 June 2021, the Kick-off Conference of the Pilot Action was held in the framework of the Medtech4 Europe Interreg Europe project. The conference was organised by the University of Pécs. The event was attended by all partners, including the staff of South Transdanubian Regional Innovation Agency Nonprofit Ltd. (STRIA). During the event, participants discussed the results of the project’s pilot action so far, the policy background and the strategy of the showrooms.

After a short introduction, the Lead Partner of the Medtech4 Europe project, Céline QUESTER, project manager of the French Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Regional Council, started the event with a presentation of the project (including the Interreg Europe Programme, the partners, activities, results and roadmap). Zsolt PÁLMAI, deputy director of STRIA, then presented the Medtech4 Europe pilot action. During his presentation, he gave a detailed overview of the completed and ongoing activities of the pilot action. Following that the main theme of the conference was introduced by Simon GILLES, head of the showroom of the French partner of the pilot action, the Committee for Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy (CEA). The Grenoble showroom could be briefly described as an entire ecosystem dedicated to open innovation. The 3300 m2 facility opened its doors to the public in January 2020. The three spaces of the facility illustrate the triple approach that characterises the activities of CEA:

  • the past with “Success Stories” – technology transfer achieved,
  • the present with the “Technology Bricks” showroom – developments in progress,
  • the future with the “Vision” showcase – foreseeable innovations over a 5-10-year timeframe.

The first two are already in use, while the Vision is in the development phase. It was emphasized that the showroom should only be visited with an expert guide, as it becomes incomprehensible without that.

After the coffee break, Dr. Péter MARÓTI, head of the PTE 3D Centre and Dr. András LUKÁCS, deputy director of the Institute of Biophysics at the PTE ÁOK presented their own projects in the field of biomedical engineering and spectroscopy-microscopy at the University of Pécs. Finally, they outlined how the knowledge of the French partners and the infrastructure of their Grenoble centre could be adapted to the University of Pécs.

The Medtech4 Europe project is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund and Hungary within the Interreg Europe Program.