Bei der Eröffnung von ryon
Steffen Bruckner und Jörg von Hagen (ryon), Staatsminister Kaweh Mansoori, TUDa-Präsidentin Tanja Brühl und Kai Beckmann, Merck. (Foto: ryon/Arne Landwehr)
“Innovation starts now” – under this motto, the Transition Center of the ryon GreenTech Accelerator in Gernsheim was opened last week. A state-of-the-art laboratory infrastructure for innovation and research projects has been established in the Transition Center. ryon is thus filling a gap in the offerings for start-ups and scale-ups in the fields of chemistry, biotechnology, materials, and engineering sciences, as emphasized by TUDa President Tanja Brühl. Together with the Hessian Minister of Economic Affairs Kaweh Mansoori, Kai Beckmann, member of the management board of the Merck Group, as well as the two ryon managing directors Prof. Dr. Dipl.-Ing. Jörg von Hagen and Steffen Bruckner, she symbolically unveiled the building. Also present were Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther, Vice President for Innovation at TUDa, and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Peter Stephan, Vice President for Research at TUDa, as well as many representatives from science, business, politics, and the start-up ecosystem of southern Hesse.
The building, covering approximately 300 square meters, is equipped with modern facilities and can accommodate up to six start-ups or research groups. With ryon, a state-of-the-art infrastructure is being created that fills a gap in the offerings for start-ups and scale-ups in the fields of chemistry, biotechnology, materials, and engineering sciences. This is combined with tailored services and offerings, such as summer schools, from which students and scientists at our universities equally benefit. With ryon, a performance- and future-oriented ecosystem is strengthened, bringing start-ups and scale-ups together with partners from the business world in a fruitful exchange of learning from and with each other. Ryon is therefore an important building block on our common path towards a network of excellence universities in the excellence strategy of the federal government and the states, emphasized President Tanja Brühl in her welcome address on behalf of the two universities involved as shareholders, Darmstadt and Frankfurt.
State Minister Monsoori during his welcome address. (Photo: ryon/Arne Landwehr)
State Minister Monsoori during his greeting. (Photo: ryon/Arne Landwehr)
State Minister Monsoori in the laboratory of the TUDa start-ups HOPES. (Photo: ryon/Arne Landwehr)
The opening was moderated by Dr. Claudia Becker from HIGHEST. (Photo: Mathias Stanzel)
Dr. Kai Beckmann from Merck during his welcome address. (Photo: ryon/Arne Landwehr)
The managing directors of ryon, Jörg von Hagen and Steffen Bruckner, during the welcome (Photo: ryon/Arne Landwehr)
Full house at the Transition Center. (Photo: Claudia Becker)
Professor Thomas Walther and Harald Holzer in conversation with HOPES. (Photo: Claudia Becker)
The new Hessian Minister of Economic Affairs, Kaweh Mansoori, emphasized in his impulse speech the need for intelligent minds to develop solutions for the transformation of the economy. “Especially in the field of Green Tech, well-equipped laboratories are necessary for this purpose. ryon not only provides these, but is also intended to become a place that strengthens the location from which Hessian ideas are carried into the world.”
Ryon is located at the Merck site fluxum in Gernsheim. Dr. Kai Beckmann, member of the management board of Merck, is convinced that innovation is the key to addressing ecological challenges, as with the modern laboratory infrastructure, start-ups can test and develop new technologies until they are ready for the market.
Start-ups and research groups presented themselves in the Transition Center. Among them were start-ups like HOPES Energy and CeraSleeve®, as well as research groups led by Professor Heinz Koeppl and Tran Quoc Khanh from TU Darmstadt. President Tanja Brühl was impressed by ryon and took this opportunity to call on those present to work together to expand the ryon Transition Center into a cornerstone of Hesse’s innovation ecosystem.