Fontys ICT welcomes Heijmans, Thermo Fisher, Kempenhaeghe and Dispersed

There is high demand for well-trained technical talent in the Brainport region. Close cooperation between education and industry is essential to properly prepare the next generation of ICT professionals for the labour market. Within the Fontys ICT InnovationLab, this cooperation takes shape through the “Partner in Innovation” partnership, in which organisations are united in the SPARC cooperative.

Today, this partnership was celebrated during Innovations Insight: four new organisations joined as Partners in Innovation. Fontys ICT and SPARC warmly welcome Heijmans, Thermo Fisher, Kempenhaeghe and Dispersed to the network. This is a great milestone for everyone involved and an important opportunity for our students to work on current and relevant issues in the field in the region.

Partners in Innovation work together with third- and fourth-year students on professional projects or practice-oriented research. The InnovationLab offers a hybrid learning environment for this purpose, where collaboration between students, lecturers, research groups, centres of expertise and Fontys ICT partner companies is encouraged. This creates a learning and working environment that is directly linked to professional practice.

Niek Schmitz, partner coordinator at Fontys ICT, explains: ‘By collaborating with our partners, we can offer students a learning environment that is directly fed by practice. Not only do students work on realistic issues together with professionals and researchers, they also contribute fresh ideas themselves, creating a valuable relationship with the new generation of ICT professionals.’