Siemens and UC Berkeley collaboration: CEO visits UC Berkeley to empower students, educators and startups
Siemens kicked off the new year with a visit to UC Berkeley, the Lead University of the Siemens Research and Innovation Ecosystem Bay Area, and home to one of the top university startup accelerators in the world. This past January, President and CEO Dr. Roland Busch, along with several other Siemens representatives, visited the University of California Berkeley (UC Berkeley) campus to collaborate with leadership, faculty and students from the College of Engineering, AUTOLab, and Berkeley SkyDeck. Read more to learn about the collaboration and how Siemens and UC Berkeley are joining hands to usher in the future of innovation!
About UC Berkeley and Berkeley SkyDeck
Located in the heart of the California Bay Area, UC Berkeley is one of the top universities in the world and the top public university in the United States. In addition, their College of Engineering is ranked among the top three engineering schools in the world. By offering a dynamic, interdisciplinary and hands-on education, the College of Engineering aims to spark innovation and social impact that emphasizes inclusivity and excellence. One such program that furthers this mission is Berkeley SkyDeck. As one of the top university startup accelerators in the world, Berkeley SkyDeck aims to create a vibrant ecosystem of advisors, industry partners, and accredited investors to empower startups to turn their visions into reality.
UC Berkeley is also home to AUTOLab, a leading center for research in robotics and automation sciences. This lab supports around 30 post-doctoral, PhD, and undergraduate students who are pursuing projects in everything from Robust Robot Grasping to Robot-Assisted Surgery. Siemens was thrilled to meet representatives across UC Berkeley College of Engineering, SkyDeck and AUTOLab to share their vision for the world of tomorrow.
Siemens and UC Berkeley Collaboration
Siemens has formed a long-standing collaboration with UC Berkeley academics and startups. In Fall 2022, Siemens and UC Berkeley entered a partnership on the development of a new Mechanical Design Ideation Lab in the university’s Mechanical Engineering department. Siemens supported this development as the lead corporate sponsor and also through the contribution of Siemens Xcelerator software, to collaborate, learn, and prototype. Siemens is also currently a Resource Partner with Berkeley SkyDeck, supporting their mission of uplifting startups and empowering the next generation of digital talent. At the university’s campus, Siemens representatives were able to hear from some of the most promising startups coming out of the Berkeley SkyDeck program.
Siemens’ visit to UC Berkeley
Siemens’ visit to UC Berkeley marked another step towards their shared mission of fostering innovation and opportunity. The program started with Berkeley SkyDeck, where three promising startups from the program, Jacobi Robotics, SirenOpt and Chemix, pitched their innovative solutions and visions for tackling real-world issues. Jacobi Robotics offers AI-powered robot programming technology that allows robot arms to move as fast as possible, cutting down deployment time from months into days. SirenOpt makes sensors and software that accelerates R&D and enables cost-effective manufacturing of high-performance thin films. Chemix utilizes AI to develop breakthrough EV battery technologies, accelerating the development of sustainable battery design. These startups were able to engage in open discourse with Dr. Busch and other Siemens representatives, offering their insights on topics like economic impacts on the startup ecosystem and the dynamic of participating in Berkeley SkyDeck both on and off campus. By collaborating with programs like Berkeley SkyDeck and engaging in conversations with the young talent involved with startups, Siemens aims to uplift these promising innovators and provide opportunities for them to bring their visions to life.
In addition, the visit to UC Berkeley included a tour of the AUTOLab, led by long-term Siemens partner and Professor of Industrial Engineering & Operations Research Ken Goldberg. Here, the group was able to learn more about the lab’s ongoing activities, including Cloud Robotics, Interactive Fleet Learning, and New Media Artforms. This portion of the visit also offered a chance for open engagement, with Dr. Busch having the opportunity to meet with a large group of students and experience firsthand the various technologies they are in the process of developing.
Lastly, the visit concluded with a look at the Mechanical Engineering Machine shop, led by Vice Chair of Instruction and Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Hayden Taylor. Located in the Mechanical Engineering Building, this shop offers a space for students to design and manufacture projects for classes, research, or team competitions. Dr. Busch and other Siemens representatives also had the opportunity to meet some of the talented students at UC Berkeley’s College of Engineering. The CalSol team talked about how they use Siemens’ PLM software to design, build, test, and race fully solar-powered vehicles at an international level, and students in Prof. Grace Gu’s laboratory demonstrated their use of Siemens software in advanced research. Siemens was thrilled to have the opportunity to collaborate in-person with Berkeley students and representatives. This visit marks another step towards supporting the students, educators, and startups who are building the world of tomorrow.
Learn More
Interested in learning more about the Berkeley SkyDeck and Siemens collaboration? You can check out a blog post about it here. If you’re interested in learning about how Siemens supports startups, check out Siemens Xcelerator for Startups here.
