On 15 June 2016, Secretary of State for the Economy Francine Closener inaugurated the extension to Technoport’s digital manufacturing laboratory (‘fab lab’). The extension is housed at the 1535° creative hub in Differdange, which is a unique entrepreneurship concept open to all creative jobs.
This means that the national incubator for innovative businesses Technoport S.A. now has two laboratories: one at the Belval site with equipment suitable for small-scale prototyping, and one in Differdange with more industrial-style equipment for projects on a larger scale.
Technoport S.A. was created in 2012 by the Luxembourg State and the SNCI by bringing together under single governance the formerly separate public incubation infrastructures of the Technoport in Esch/Belval and Ecostart in Foetz. Technoport’s mission is to promote innovative high-tech entrepreneurship in the Grand Duchy. One of the tools for achieving this objective was the creation in 2013 of the first fab lab for use by the general public in the Grand Duchy.
Since 2013, more than 600 schoolchildren between the ages of 6 and 12 have taken part each year in practical workshops at the fab lab at the Belval site; more than a hundred prototyping projects were carried out there in 2015 by not-for-profit associations, SMBs, and even large industrial groups. As a result of this success, the extension of the Technoport fab lab installed at 1535° in Differdange has been fitted out with even better quality machinery.
In her speech, the Secretary of State for the Economy said, “This is a win-win partnership: the extension of the fab lab on the 1535° site gives more visibility to Technoport’s digital manufacturing laboratory, while the fab lab enables the creative hub to expand the range of services it offers. Thus the 1535° reinforces its role as a player in a national ecosystem favourable to the development of young innovative and creative businesses.”
Technoport’s Director, Diego De Biasio, emphasised how important it was for an incubator such as Technoport to have a platform for fast prototyping: “The fab lab has become for us a fundamental pillar in promoting the emergence of product-oriented companies. We now offer high-tech and innovative entrepreneurs a full range of services, from the validation of their ideas up to fast prototyping, making it possible to attract start-ups such as Airboxlab, XDVision and Makikko. As a platform open to the public, the fab lab has enabled us to build up interesting links with the creative industries sector, hence our interest in hosting the extension at 1535°.”
