Endress+Hauser Opens Innovation Center

Endress+Hauser has opened its new Freiburg Innovation Center FRIZ, where more than 70 employees of the Swiss group of companies specializing in measurement technology are involved in the development of new sensor technologies and software solutions.

Endress+Hauser celebrated the inauguration of the innovation cluster with guests, the site’s employees, and representatives from the shareholder family and the Group. The various teams work closely in the new innovative environment of research institutes, start-ups, and other companies.

The FRIZ is located on the grounds of the Technical Faculty of the University of Freiburg, Germany. The building complex was completed in 2022 after two years of construction and offers more than 12,000 sq m of space for modern and flexible offices and laboratories. Endress+Hauser is the largest tenant and currently occupies about 2,400 sq m of office space on two floors and another 1,000 sq m on the ground floor for chemical and biological laboratories and clean rooms.

Disciplines and Technologies

The company is bringing together six units in the FRIZ that were previously spread across the city. Together, they combine a range of disciplines and technologies. One team is working on solutions for the Industrial Internet of Things to intelligently link software and sensor technology, while another is working on optical analysis technology that can be used to monitor fermentation processes. Another team is looking at sensor and measurement technology of the future, including replacing the human sense of smell.

Jobst Technologies, part of the Swiss subsidiary Innovative Sensor Technology IST, develops, produces, and sells biosensors. Endress+Hauser BioSense, a joint venture with Hahn-Schickard-Gesellschaft, a nonprofit research association, specializes in rapid on-site molecular analyses that can be used in the food & beverage industry. To protect innovations from imitators, a small team of patent specialists is also on campus.

Future of Measurement Technology

CEO Matthias Altendorf sees the new location as a “breeding ground for the measurement technology of tomorrow.” The various disciplines on the campus should complement and stimulate each other, and the proximity to research provides additional impetus. “Innovation often arises at the interfaces, where we enter into exchange with partners from science and industry. By opening up to the university and its institutes, research facilities, spin-offs and other companies, we increase these points of contact,” said Altendorf.

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