As part of the long-term strategic collaboration agreement the Technion signed last year with PTC, the American software giant will establish an R&D center on the Technion campus, where researchers from both industry and academia will jointly develop technologies for real-world applications. For example, in the field of Internet of Things (IoT) – solutions for improving factory operations, such as machine learning to pinpoint process time losses; in the field of augmented reality (AR) – high fidelity AR visualization for frontline workers in factories; and a host of other smart-industry technologies.
Boston-based PTC develops innovative technological platforms for industrial manufacturers that are engaged in digitization processes (Industry 4.0), in such industries as aerospace, automotive and agricultural equipment. PTC has had a close relationship with Israel for over 30 years, including a long history of collaboration with the Technion, and the new R&D center will further strengthen this bond.
The strategic partnership agreement between PTC and the Technion was enabled by the vision shared by Technion President Prof. Uri Sivan and PTC CEO Jim Heppelmann;both sides are eager to deepen collaboration between academic and industrial researchers. PTC will invest $5 million in the project, which will result in a significant share of the company’s global R&D taking place at the Technion.
The company’s first R&D center on a university campus
PTC has close relationships with top universities in Germany and the U.S., but this will be its first R&D center to be located on a university campus. The new center at the Technion will be an advanced research facility focusing on digital technologies. “The center’s labs will develop new disruptive technologies for enabling digital transformation in various segments of industry, and for improving engineering, manufacturing and service processes towards digital thread, digital engineering, and digital twins,” explains PTC Executive Vice President Kevin Wrenn.
Wrenn, who recently visited the Technion as part of a high-level delegation of PTC executives from the U.S., Canada, India and Israel, described why the company chose to establish a major research facility on a university campus: “Universities have unencumbered freedom to conduct basic research and we wanted our R&D team to be closer to fundamental research. We believe that this is a paradigm that can bring breakthroughs for many technological challenges, including the practical applications of new technologies.”
Choosing the Technion was easy. “It was very natural for PTC’s leadership to support the strategic partnership with the leading Israeli technical university,” he says.
An ecosystem that will nurture innovation
Wrenn says the company believes that “combining the expertise and talent of PTC Israel with the talent of Technion researchers can bring outstanding results. PTC has been collaborating with various Technion faculties and staff members for more than a decade. The university has a global reputation as one of the finest research and education institutions, and it is at the cutting edge of academic research in a wide variety of technologies that can contribute to the digital thread and speed up digital transformation.”
PTC Israel, which was established in 1991 as the company’s first R&D Center outside of its headquarters, is involved in the development of all of PTC’s major technologies and products. Close to 300 people work out of the two offices in Haifa and Herzliya, and today Israel is the company’s second largest R&D hub after India. The new center at the Technion will be headed by Dr. Michael Reitman, VP of Engineering and R&D at PTC Israel.
“Collaborating with thenext generation of engineers and researchers”
Wrenn points out that the new center will fulfill two additional important roles: to expose the Technion community to topnotch real-world industrial research, and to serve as an ecosystem that will nurture innovation through collaboration between academia and industry. To this end, a new academia-industry consortium led by Technion and PTC will be established. Its members will include large manufacturers and industrial companies from Israel and around the world. The planned consortium will facilitate the testing and implementation phases of technologies developed at the new R&D Center.
Says Wrenn: “We are really looking forward to bringing our employees here, and to collaborating with the next generation of engineers and researchers.”
