Techport partner of the first hour
Together with all the more than 100 member companies, schools and governments, Techport has worked over the past decade to create a strong and sustainable region. Someone who has been there from the very beginning is Wouter van Gerwen from the company Bilfinger Engineering. Within this multidisciplinary consultancy and engineering firm with 4,000 specialists, he is value engineering facilitator.
Wouter says: “We were already Techport partners before Techport officially existed. The main reason we joined as Bilfinger Engineering was to see what we could do in terms of innovation. What also played a part was that Tata Steel and a few other big engineering companies here in the region, also joined Techport. That was very significant and progressive at the time. That certainly helped to professionalise and accelerate the sustainability of the region.”
From mechanical engineer to value engineering facilitator
“Over the past 10 years, we have done several things with Techport, such as participating in the Techport Innovation Tribes and participating in the Hydrogen Learning Community. Originally, I am a mechanical engineer. I look at how things work and how things can function better. Since four years, in addition to the duties I have as a value engineering facilitator, I have been working a lot on innovation and new services. And in that role, for me, everything I do with Techport and GO! NH do come together.”
Wouter continues: “It started when I won a challenge through Techport in 2019 and got to follow the accelerator programme at GO!-NH. They offer a series of growth accelerator programmes in collaboration with the Province of North Holland that support startups and SMEs in bringing sustainable innovations to market and scaling them up. After that challenge, I stayed involved with GO! NH as a coach.”
“My work I sometimes call ‘kissing frogs’”
“I help small start-ups or scale-ups explore whether what they want is feasible and scalable. Through GO!-NH, I get in touch with them and then I invite them to explain their case in Bilfinger Engineering's onboarding programme. New colleagues attend an onboarding programme in Zeist for three days. In the past, they then bent over a fictitious case, but nowadays we let them look at a real case. That is very interesting, because people from all sorts of different disciplines then look at a company's case.
A huge symbiosis then develops. Together, we then see whether these frogs, as I call them, have the potential to grow into real princes if I kiss them. Or whether they remain frogs after such a session. For instance, I expect a lot from Seaweed. They make, from seaweed, dyes to colour textiles. That would be fine in this region.”
I think it is important to link things together. Techport is a master at that. They connect everything and everyone here in the region and are the bundler of all initiatives.
Wouter van Gerwen - Bilfinger Engineering
Techport as a great connector and bundler
“Techport has grown enormously in its role over the past decade. It has become much more professional and has also gained a certain status as a result. I continue to be amazed at how many companies and schools are affiliated to Techport and how the network continues to grow. At network meetings, I am still surprised by the new companies I get to know. Organisations that I had absolutely no idea were based here and are so big and leading in their niche. Techport continues to inspire me!