Topic 2 – How CERN technology makes its way into society

 

Speaker: Dr. Han Hubert Dols (Head of Business Development & Entrepreneurship at CERN)

 

CERN as incubator of ideas and accelerator of inventions :

 

Dr. H.H. Dols (CERN) said that it was a common misconception that staff members at CERN had a background in physics. A wide cross section of technological and engineering fields was represented, including welding, electronics, programming, robotics and automation. The work performed at CERN had inspired the development of numerous disruptive and revolutionary technologies that had made their way into society, such as the World Wide Web, the mouse trackerball and the touchscreen. CERN was therefore working to accelerate such innovations and developments. It was believed that CERN technology could support development and encourage innovation the most in such areas, and address many of society’s present-day challenges.

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Collaborations often occurred by coincidence or serendipity. To facilitate strategic connections, encourage engagement and ensure a greater frequency of collaborations, CERN had taken numerous actions within its network. First, many conferences and events were proactively organized with industrial players where it was believed that CERN technologies could potentially be of substantial benefit. Second, intellectual property was carefully managed to establish clear indications of property ownership. Third, almost all software used within the Organization was managed on an open-source basis. Lastly, support was provided to personnel who wished to start up their own businesses.

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However, reconciling CERN’s technology capabilities and expertise with commercial markets posed certain difficulties. The Organization did not possess the necessary business intelligence and knowledge. CERN did not function in the same way as a typical business, which typically would start with the needs of a particular market or how to address a specific need or problem. Similarly, promoting and pushing innovative technologies onto companies may not prove to be particularly effective in encouraging uptake, as there may not be a business case for certain companies. A hybrid approach that reconciled technology push alongside market pull proved to be most effective. In coordination with its Member States, the hybrid approach focused on five strategic areas for proactive action: health care, the environment, digital, aerospace and quantum.

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Understanding the potential unaddressed needs across different industries :

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At the lowest level, there was an active examination of new technologies and know-how among the Organization’s technical departments and experts to understand the uniqueness of CERN’s capabilities. In parallel, attendance at industry events and conferences provided a basis for understanding the potential unaddressed needs across different industries and the typical problems faced by society at large that could be solved. At the next level, technical and intellectual property dossiers were developed by the technical departments and experts, which were then translated into a clear value proposition for companies, so that they could understand how the technologies specifically related to their businesses’ needs. At the top level, it was essential to mobilize technical experts so they could contribute meaningfully to projects that had a strong positive focus on or linked to general sustainability goals. To identify such projects and which companies would be open to such contributions, CERN liaised with representatives from its Member States. The profile of an innovation partner was typically a start-up or a company that was open to new technologies and know-how, with an innovation horizon of between five to ten years.

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Once a company had been identified, there were typically three key stages to successfully shape and nurture innovation partnerships. The first stage involved understanding a company’s needs. Discussions on innovation with technical or research and development teams generally took place with a view to understanding the company’s ambition and identifying the gaps in their expertise. Occasionally, several director-level individuals from the company may be invited to a discovery day programme at CERN, which would include a set agenda of topics to discuss or visits to departments or labs that would be of potential interest. It was hoped that such actions would lead to interest from both parties.

After establishing potential areas of action, the second stage involved discussing certain specific commitments, such as resources, compensation and intellectual property, which typically involved collaborative research and development activities.

 

Partnership with CERN :

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Lastly, the partnership needed to be formalized. There were numerous formats that could be implemented to collaborate with industry and institutional partners. First, a licence agreement, which would allow a specific technology that had been developed and invented by CERN to be used by a company in a specific field. Second, a consultancy-type arrangement, which could help to advance certain problems, provide new insights and tackle certain challenges. Third, CERN could leverage its technologies and facilities to perform research under contract. Fourth, collaborative research and development, which allowed both parties to investigate a general issue and jointly work to find a solution. Generally, it took many years for such partnerships between industry and institutional partners to develop.

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One such partnership had been established with MedAustron, Austria, and the National Center for Oncological Hadrontherapy, Italy, that provided hadrontherapy to treat patients with specific types of cancer. Such treatment was particularly successful against deep tumours, against which traditional radiation therapy had proven to be ineffective. Aspects of CERN’s technologies were used within the equipment used to provide the therapy. Both facilities used a particle accelerator, housed in a room adjacent to the treatment room, to direct a beam of protons onto the tumours.

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Another partnership was with the Bundesdruckerei Group, Germany, in relation to the development of material sciences and technologies in the fields of identity management, cryptography and data handling, especially passport and banknote production.

CERN had also developed machine-learning algorithms that processed data quickly and generated accurate calculations, usually in a matter of nanoseconds, using specific items of software and hardware. ZENSEACT (a Volvo Cars subsidiary company) had entered into a collaboration with CERN to leverage such technologies with a view to ensuring that motor vehicles could never hit pedestrians.

In regard to data science, CERN was collaborating with Wageningen University & Research and The Commodity Risk Management Expertise Center to develop new methods to protect the commodities and financial markets from fraud and spoofing, by identifying anomalies that were particularly difficult for regulators to detect. Combining different technologies from different sciences had leveraged new insights that were producing tangible results.

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CERN was also working with the European Space Agency on a contract research basis on satellite technology that was studying the effects of radiation on electronics.

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One of the participants asked if CERN had purchased any technologies from external parties or if all technologies used within the Organization were developed exclusively on an in-house basis.

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Dr. H.H. Dols (CERN) said that CERN spent significant amounts of money on procuring technologies from different parties. It was interesting to note that it was sometimes challenging for external companies to meet CERN’s demanding requirements and expectations regarding precision and accuracy. However, help and support was provided in that regard, and allowed such companies to become better competitors in their markets. It was also true that many companies performed better in certain areas than CERN, which was why procurement was necessary.

One of the participants asked if there was a difference between the technology transfer that occurred within universities and the technology transfer at CERN.

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Dr. H. H. Dols (CERN) said that the research carried out at universities was often more applied and more directly related to the development of a specific product. In many cases, universities received funding from industry. CERN’s technology, on the other hand, was more niche and focused on relatively extreme areas of technology research, which did not typically have applications for everyday products. Universities were also more willing to take a more direct stake or investment in start-ups.

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A new initiative entitled the CERN Innovation Programme on Environmental Applications had been established with a view to leveraging the Organization’s technologies to benefit the environment. There were four key areas in this regard: renewable and low-carbon energy, sustainability and green science, clean transportation and future mobility, and climate change and pollution control. One such example was with Tokamak Energy, in the United Kingdom, where a consultancy arrangement had been implemented to provide expertise and capacity in the simulation of currents and magnetic fields in fusion power. CERN was also collaborating with ABB in developing a digital representation of CERN’s entire cooling and ventilation system with a view to becoming more efficient and reducing the energy used in that regard. It was interesting to note that electric motors represented approximately 30% of all energy consumption in big industry. By applying sensors to motors that detected vibrations, it was possible to identify how an engine was performing and how it subsequently could become more efficient. An agreement had been reached with ABB to publish and share the related data among other big industry players so that they could similarly benefit, and as a result reduce their electricity consumption. It was recently announced that CERN would collaborate with Airbus to assess super-conducting technologies for future zero-emission aeroplanes, with a view to potentially using hydrogen on-board.

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The Organization had also helped to facilitate the work of start-ups, both in regard to existing companies and employees who wished to set up their own company, through the CERN Venture Connect programme. CERN was not an incubator or a venture capitalist, but rather brought together a network of venture capitalists and incubators to accelerate development. There were many different start-ups that utilized CERN’s technologies, such as: InsightART, which used Medipix chips to analyse layers in paint to authenticate paintings; TIND, which was used to digitize archives, texts and library systems; and MARS Bio Imaging, which produced colour X-ray imaging.

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Working with CERN and innovating together brought numerous benefits to society, but there were some key lessons that had been learned from previous collaborations. CERN was particularly strong in its research at the extreme ends of the technology scale, which could help solve societal challenges. It was important to have passionate experts in both parties to understand business problems and products, and to understand how to use certain technologies more comprehensively. Every collaboration needed to start with a concrete project and a clear business need. Companies usually operated with shorter time frames and business cycles, which were not necessarily reflected at CERN. Ultimately, courage was an essential trait, as it was generally unclear which projects would ultimately be a success and potentially be a disruptive force in society.