Innovation Hub in Karlsruhe: PI Intensifies Cooperation with Science

In the iWerkx^® on the Hoepfner Areal in Karlsruhe (Germany), PI is moving into a 500 sqm innovation hub

In September this year, PI started this by leasing around 500 sqm of office and laboratory space in the iWerkx® on the Hoepfner Areal, to setup its innovation hub in Karlsruhe (Germany). Hence, it is in the direct vicinity of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), the FZI Research Center for Information Technology, and the Technologiefabrik Karlsruhe. “The proximity to these leading institutes promises a strong impetus for our future topics and helps us to consolidate and expand our technology leadership,” assures Markus Spanner, CEO of the PI Group. The medium-sized company already holds more than 500 patents and invests around ten percent of turnover in research and development.

Further Globalization of Research Planned

PI is also planning to establish innovation hubs as research clusters in the USA and Asia. “Through our competencies in nano positioning, we have firmly established ourselves as development and system partners in the global chip industry, in photonics, and in laser materials processing,” emphasizes PI’s CEO. Whereas the focus is on product and production-related development work in actual companies, the research clusters concentrate on future and post-future topics. “We also want to be leaders in our competence areas in three, five, and more years. The innovation hubs are a building block along the way,” emphasizes Spanner.

Physik Instrumente (PI Group) in Brief

The PI Group with headquarters in Karlsruhe, Germany, is the market and technology leader for high-precision positioning technology and piezo applications in the market segments Industrial Automation, Semiconductor Industry, Photonics, and Microscopy & Life Sciences. In close cooperation with international customers, PI's approximately 1,500 specialists have been continuously pushing the boundaries of what is technically possible for more than 50 years. Various drive technologies, internally developed sensor technology, electronics, and control technology provide the basis for this. PI’s portfolio ranges from components to subsystems, to tailor-made complete solutions. 508 granted and pending patents underline the company's claim to leadership in the fields of precision positioning and piezo technology. PI operates on a global scale, with nine production sites in Europe, North America, and Asia, as well as sixteen sales and service subsidiaries.