Leuven, knowledge pearlFostering high-tech entrepreneurship in the heart of Europe

Content.

Leuven, a region for innovation & high-tech entrepreneurship 3Leuven, a dynamic and fast-growing region 8Leuven, specialising in four technology domains 11

Life sciences 12Health Sciences campus in expansion 16

Nanotechnology 18imec campus in expansion 20

Mechatronics & smart systems 22Cleantech 24

Leuven, a great place to live 26

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Key ingredients for innovation.

Leuven is situated at the heart of Belgium and Europe,only 25 kilometres from Brussels, the European capital. The city of Leuven has a long tradition of high-tech businessdevelopment and plays a leading role in the Europeanknowledge economy. It provides the key ingredientsfor innovation and high-tech entrepreneurship:

■ cutting-edge science & technologies;■ a long tradition of technology transfer;■ an innovative business climate with many high-tech

companies and state-of-the-art incubators & science parks;■ investment capital;■ people & networking opportunities;■ a network of international affiliations and partnerships.

Renowned knowledge institutes.

The KU Leuven Association, including University Hospitals

Leuven, is consistently ranked among Europe’s top 20academic research centres and is continually workingto enhance and reinforce this position. The network ofuniversity hospitals, which together make up UniversityHospitals Leuven, enrich the Leuven region with one ofEurope’s most modern and dynamic healthcareinfrastructures.

The role of the KU Leuven Association in the Leuvenknowledge economy region is closely linked to theachievements of the nano electronics research institute imec.Imec performs world-leading research on nano electronicsand has global partnerships in ICT, healthcare and energy.

Leuven, a region for innovation & high-tech entrepreneurship

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Furthermore, several departments of the Flemish Interuniversity

Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) are also located in Leuven.The KU Leuven Association, the Leuven-based VIB departmentsand imec have a combined R&D budget of € 664 million andemploy about 20,500 people, 8,000 of whom are researchers.

Hundreds of high-tech companies.

Leuven’s knowledge institutes provide fertile ground forinnovation and high-tech entrepreneurship. They alsogenerate a huge inflow of state-of-the-art knowledge that bringswith it a myriad of innovative ideas for new and existingcompanies. This favourable climate for knowledge-drivenentre preneurship and innovation makes the Leuven regionan attractive location for many high-tech companies.Most of the 135 KU Leuven and imec spin-off companiesare located in or around Leuven. Approximately 300 high-tech companies have set up operations in the Leuven region.

Significant investment capital.

A large amount of investment capital is available to supportand stimulate innovative entrepreneurship, either via venturecapital groups or via university funds such as the GemmaFrisius Fund, a seed capital fund established by KU Leuvenand two private equity banks. In addition, Capital-E is aventure capital fund linked to imec. The Leuven region is alsohome to several venture capital firms managing funds suchas the Capricorn funds and the Quest for Growth fund.

A long tradition of technology transfer.

KU Leuven Research & Development (LRD) was establishedin 1972 as one of the first technology transfer officesin Europe. Over the last 40 years, LRD has developeda tradition of collaborating with industry, securing andlicensing intellectual property rights, and creating spin-offcompanies. LRD is dedicated to building bridges betweenscience and industry, and to transferring knowledge andtechnologies to the marketplace.

State-of-the-art lab and office space.

Several incubators, science parks and business centresin the Leuven region provide state-of-the-art lab and officespace for innovative spin-off companies as well as internationalresearch-intensive companies. Together, they constitutea technology belt around the city of Leuven. The Haasrode

Science Park, with a total area of 136 hectares, accommodatestens of high-technology businesses, employing approximately5,000 people in total. The Arenberg Science Park, with anarea of 13 hectares, was opened in 2004. This science park,situated close to imec, consists of four clusters, of which twofocus on biotechnology and two on ICT and other high-techsectors. A third science park, Leuven Noord, will be developedby 2017. The Leuven Bio-incubator offers multifunctionalventilated office and L3 lab space as well as general andtechnical, logistical and environment-technical supportto R&D intensive biotech companies. The KU Leuven

Innovation and Incubation Centre (I&I) provides sharedfacilities, equipment and services to young businesses.

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Highly educated employees and easily accessible.

The Leuven region has a large talent pool of highly educated,multilingual and flexible employees. It is easily accessible,within close proximity to major motorways and only a15-minute drive from Brussels International Airport.By train, it takes only 13 minutes to reach the airportthanks to a direct railway connection. The Antwerp harbour,the second largest port in Europe, is only an hour from Leuven by car. In addition, Leuven has plenty of seminarand conference facilities, and offers a broad range ofhotel accommodation.

Network organisations and technology platforms.

The Leuven Innovation Networking Circle, Leuven.Inc,stimulates high-tech entrepreneurship by bringing togetherlike-minded people from academic research groups, high-techstart-ups, consulting agencies, venture capitalist firms, andwell-established companies in the Leuven region. In additionto this horizontal network, several specialised technologyplatforms are in place. DSP Valley focuses on the design ofhardware and software technology for digital signal processingsystems. LSEC is dedicated to creating IT security awarenessin the industry at large. The Centre for Drug Design

and Discovery (CD3) aims to discover new drugs.Neuroelectronics Research Flanders (NERF) focuseson unravelling the neuronal circuitry of the human brain.The Leuven Medical Technology Centre (L-MTC) hasdeveloped expert skills in medical imaging, healthcareautomation, biomaterials and tissue regeneration,biomonitoring and biocontrol. The Leuven Materials

Research Centre (Leuven-MRC) monitors and coordinatesresearch on materials development. The Leuven Food

Science and Food Research Centre (LFoRCe) conductsground-breaking research on the relationship between foodand health. PharmAbs focuses on generating tailor-mademonoclonal antibodies. The Leuven Centre on Information

and Communication Technology (LICT) combines theexpertise of electronics engineers, computer scientists andsociologists in the ICT field. In addition, the Vlaams-Brabant

Innovation Centre aims to support innovation in SMEs.

Internationally oriented.

With 154 nationalities working, studying and living inLeuven, the city has a distinctly international flavour.International schools, housing and relocation agencies,network organisations, sports clubs, hospitals and cityadministration all take special care to support and servethe international community of the Leuven region.As Belgium is a multi-linguistic country and is home tothe staffs of the European institutions and their families,facilitating families from around the world is an embeddedpart of the culture. The university’s 6,730 internationalstudents accentuate Leuven’s diverse character.

Cross-border cooperation.

A strong and dynamic triple helix cooperation betweenindustry, knowledge institutes and government has led toa very favourable entrepreneurial climate. The city of Leuvenand the province of Vlaams-Brabant collaborate closely onregional development. Together with the knowledge economyregions Eindhoven (The Netherlands) and Aachen (Germany),Leuven forms a strong cross-border network, ELAt

(Eindhoven-Leuven-Aachen triangle). ELAt is one of the topEuropean technological regions, promoting a knowledgeeconomy via cross-border and interregional cooperation.Together with the biomedical clusters of Cambridge (UK) andHeidelberg (Germany), Leuven has formed the Health Axis

Europe alliance to foster health innovation across Europe.Health Axis Europe promotes collaboration in the areas ofregenerative medicine, stem cell research, medical devicesand personalised medicine with a focus on research,development and education as well as on procuring financialsupport, particularly from within the funding structures ofthe European Union. Recently, Leuven joined the Community

of Ariane Cities, which aims to strengthen the cooperationbetween cities and industrial organisations involved inEuropean space transportation programmes.

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Research parks

Networks

High-tech industry

Clusters

Knowledge centres

Technology platforms

€ 664 million R&D; 8,000 researchers

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300 tech companies; 135 spin-offs

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Life Sciences Nanotechnology Mechatronics Cleantech

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Haasrode Arenberg Leuven Noord

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Employment spin-off companies

Leuven’s strong focus on the creation of knowledge andtechnology has led to a rapid increase in innovation andhigh-tech entrepreneurship. Leuven is a dynamic, fast-growingregion with great potential for R&D and high-tech businessdevelopment. Leuven’s knowledge institutes have a considerableimpact on local economic growth, now as well as in the future.Leuven offers the unique combination of an internationalcharacter, a track record in state-of-the-art technologyinnovation and access to the biggest consumer regionin Europe.

Employment

Leuven, a dynamic and fast-growing region

2002

■ KU Leuven■ University Hospitals Leuven■ imec■ Spin-off companies KU Leuven & imec

28,000

24,000

20,000

16,000

12,000

8,000

4,000

0

2002 2012

■ KU Leuven■ imec

5,000

4,000

3,000

2,000

1,000

0

2012

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R&D budget (in euro)

2002 2012

■ KU Leuven■ imec

■ KU Leuven■ imec

Number of spin-off companies

800,000,000

600,000,000

400,000,000

200,000,000

0

2002 2012

150

120

90

60

30

0

Income from research collaboration (in euro)

2002 2012

■ KU Leuven■ imec

■ KU Leuven■ imec■ KU Leuven & imec (joint)

Number of patent applications

400,000,000

300,000,000

200,000,000

100,000,000

02002

300

200

100

0

2012

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Number of international publications in science journals

2002 2012

■ KU Leuven

5,000

4,000

3,000

2,000

1,000

0

■ KU Leuven■ imec■ KU Leuven & imec (joint)

Number of active patent families

2002 2012

2,000

1,500

1,000

500

0

■ KU Leuven, Groep T & KHLeuven

2002 2012

60,000

50,000

40,000

30,000

20,000

10,000

0

■ KU Leuven

2002 2012

800

600

400

200

0

Number of students at KU Leuvenand the Leuven university colleges

Number of PhD degrees at KU Leuven

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The three knowledge institutes, the KU Leuven Association,imec and the VIB departments guarantee a continuous input

of knowledge and innovative ideas, providing the spark,the engine and the fuel for the technological and businessdevelopment of the Leuven region. They have attracted manyknowledge-intensive companies, resulting in a high-tech

ecosystem within the Leuven knowledge region.

The most efficient way of transferring knowledge andtechnology between knowledge institutes and society is viadirect cooperation within the context of research programmes.Technology that is sufficiently market-ready can beimmediately transferred to an existing company, whether ornot via tailored licensing. Another efficient way to innovateis the creation of spin-off companies that exploit researchresults and intellectual property developed within theknowledge institutes. Finally, the creation and the growthof dedicated KU Leuven Research & Development innovationplatforms (e.g. CD3 in the area of drug design and discovery,Leuven-MRC in the area of materials innovation, L-MTC inthe area of medical & healthcare technologies) has sparkedtechnology transfer and created ample opportunity for closeacademic-industrial interaction.

Over the last few years, four major technology domains haveemerged in the Leuven region, which has created dynamicclusters in which innovative companies and knowledgecentres interact closely. These clusters are life sciences,nanotechnology, mechatronics & smart systems, and cleantech.

Leuven, specialising in four technology domains

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Top-ranking, modern hospitals.

The University Hospitals Leuven have2,000 beds and 8,500 employees.They are among the most modernand well-equipped hospitals inEurope and have been accredited bythe Joint Commission International(JCI). The university hospitals areembedded in a Health Sciencescampus where education, advancedresearch and medical care are broughttogether in one single location,facilitating a strong cross-fertilisationbetween research and patient care.Currently the campus is home to1,300 researchers and 5,000 studentswho attend classes there.

A long-standing experience.

Leuven has a long tradition inthe development of revolutionarymedication. In 1979 KU Leuvenresearchers isolated andcharacterised tissue plasminogenactivator (tPA), a key protein involvedin the breakdown of blood clots.Administered as a medication,tPA prevents heart attacks and strokes,and has saved numerous lives.Millions of patients have beentreated with this medication.Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate,another revolutionary drug,was discovered in 1993 as ananti-HIV agent and is the mostcommonly used anti-HIV drugin the world.

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Clinical excellence.

Belgium has the highest number ofclinical trials per capita in the world.Thanks to the availability of highlyskilled research staff and excellentinfrastructure, leading pharmaceuticalcompanies come to Belgium becauseit is particularly suited to deliverhigh-quality clinical trial data.With two weeks for Phase I studies,Belgium has the fastest approvalprocedure within Europe.KU Leuven also plays a leadingrole in these clinical trials bycoordinating them via the ClinicalTrial Centre of the universityhospitals. In addition, the Flemishuniversities, university hospitals,the pharmaceutical and biotechindustries, together with the Flemishgovernment have established theCentre for Medical Innovation (CMI).CMI, which is headquarteredin Leuven, aims to establish anintegrated biobank and promotetranslational research.

A unique technology transfer.platform for drug development.

The Centre for Drug Design andDiscovery, CD3, is a unique technologytransfer platform created byKU Leuven with the investmentsupport of the European InvestmentFund. CD3 aims to discover newdrugs and develop them to the stagewhere the pharmaceutical and biotechindustry are interested in eitherlicensing the technologies developedor in undertaking collaborationswith the project partners.

Potential new medicines can alsoform the basis for spin-off companies.Via CD3, KU Leuven has taken theinitial steps in the developmentof new medication for variousconditions, such as AIDS, HepatitisC virus infections, cancer, arthritis,asthma, Dengue virus infections,epilepsy and Alzheimer’s disease.

Highly qualified researchers.

KU Leuven employs many prominentresearchers who receive internationalacclaim. Désiré Collen and ErikDe Clercq, for example, are twoworld-renowned and well-respectedresearchers who started their careersat KU Leuven. They conductpioneering research on cardio -vascular disease and virology,respectively.

World-class international.companies and spin-offs.

KU Leuven’s long and successfultrack record in biomedical R&D hasled to the creation of numerousspin-off companies with globalappeal, such as ThromboGenics,TiGenix and reMYND.

In 2012, the U.S. Food and DrugAdministration (FDA) approvedThromboGenics' core product,JETREA®, for the treatment ofsymptomatic vitreomacular adhesion.TiGenix develops innovative localtreatments for osteoarthritic ordamaged joints, while reMYNDis a biopharmaceutical companydeveloping disease modifyingtreatments against Alzheimer’sand Parkinson’s disease.

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Large international biomedicalcompanies such as Terumo Europe,IDT and VWR International have alsoestablished operations in the Leuvenregion.

Tailor-made infrastructure.

Leuven offers excellent facilities forlife sciences businesses. The LeuvenBio-Incubator provides an innovative,dynamic and stimulating environmentin which entrepreneurs and companiesactive in the field of biotechnologycan develop their ideas andtechnologies. Its location makes itthe ideal base of operations forbusinesses with European interests. The Leuven Bio-incubator covers62 modules ranging from 125 to250 m² with a total of 9,375 m²of state-of-the-art laboratory andoffice facilities.

Another incubator, the Biogenerator,is the main feature of the ‘Feed FoodHealth’ campus. The Feed FoodHealth project focuses on functionalfood for animals and people, healthand quality of life.

Collaboration with the global.industry.

KU Leuven collaborates with severalglobal players in the pharmaceuticaland healthcare industries, such asUCB, Janssen Pharmaceutica,Johnson & Johnson, GSK and Pfizer.Imec works together with companiessuch as Pacific Biosciences, JohnsHopkins and Philips. For many yearsKU Leuven and imec have beenproviding their R&D expertise to theAustralian company Cochlear, whichdevelops cochlear implants forhearing impaired people.

Interdisciplinary research.

KU Leuven encouragesinter disciplinary research throughhorizontal structures within theuniversity. The Leuven MedicalTechnology Centre (L-MTC) isa case in point. L-MTC incorporates41 different research groupsin engineering and biomedicalsciences and brings together over700 researchers and professors.L-MTC has developed expert skills inthe following areas: medical imaging,bionic systems, healthcareautomation, controlled release,biomaterials and tissue regeneration,biomonitoring, and biocontrol.

Advanced research on nutrition.and health.

LFoRCe, the Leuven Food Scienceand Nutrition Research Centre, wasestablished by KU Leuven to focuson the relation between nutritionand health. It is a multidisciplinaryresearch centre with a wide expertisein food technology, biomedicalresearch and social sciences.The activities of LFoRCe haveresulted in several collaborationswith local and internationalcompanies, as well as in the creationof the spin-off company Fugeia,which focuses on digestive health.Kellogg's stimulates fundamentalresearch at KU Leuven throughthe W.K. Kellogg Chair in CerealScience and Nutrition.

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Big in bioelectronics.

Imec develops solutions for futurecost-effective and reliablehealthcare. Imec works on platformsto advance life sciences and onwearable sensors for monitoring anddiagnostics. The next-generationplatforms that imec builds allowfor intelligent, high-contentscreening and culturing of cellsand biomolecules. These platformssupport pharmaceutical research,but also serve as the basis for futureapplications for diagnosis and long-term therapy. At the heart of thesesystems are bio-nano interfaces,which are interfaces betweenbiological material and electronicsthat allow a fine-grainedtwo-way communication.Imec and Holst Centre collaborateon technology for wearable andimplantable body area networks.These include sensors thatcontinuously register and interprethealth parameters, and actuatorsthat e.g. administer drugs.Such networks have to bewirelessly connected, extremelyreliable, low-power, andcomfortable to wear.

Advanced research on.neuroelectronics.

Imec, KU Leuven and VIB, Flanders’leading life sciences institute whichalso has important R&D departmentsin Leuven, have launched a jointbasic research initiative to unravelthe neuronal circuitry of the humanbrain: Neuroelectronics ResearchFlanders (NERF). Supported by the Flemish government, NERFinvestigates fundamental neuro -scientific questions throughcollaborative, interdisciplinaryresearch which combinesnanoelectronics with neurobiology.This yields vital knowledge for thepharmaceutical and medical industryand is crucial for the study ofpathologies such as Parkinson'sdisease, Alzheimer's disease or even psychiatric disorders.

NERF is located on the imeccampus, where researchers workin inter disciplinary teams, thusbenefitting from imec's state-of-the-art clean room infrastructureand the new 1,000 m² neurolab.In 2012, NERF has eight researchteams (including three visitingteams), totalling over 40 expertsfrom 17 nationalities.

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By investing € 800 million over a period of ten years and doubling the campus’surface, KU Leuven will expand its Gasthuisberg campus into a Health Sciencescampus that brings together education, R&D and medical care in one singlelocation. The objective behind this project is to centralise all KU Leuven lifesciences departments in order to boost academic research and translationalmedicine. This project will allow the University Hospitals Leuven to offerthe highest standard of medical care as well as maintain and strengthentheir leading position on the European level.

The project will start with the construction of a new critical care department,consisting of an emergency room, a new operating room and an intensive care unit.It also involves the construction of a psychiatric hospital. The plans for a KU Leuvenresearch building are currently being finalised. In the long term this project alsoincludes new teaching facilities, an expansion of the oncology department,a children’s psychiatry department, a day care centre, a hotel and an indoorboulevard connecting the different areas of the campus.

Today 5,000 students attend classes at the Gasthuisberg campus and30,000 people visit the site on a daily basis. By 2015 the campus is expectedto welcome 40,000 visitors daily and employ over 20,000 people.

Health Sciences campus in expansion

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Nanotechnology18

A long-standing experience.

Imec was established in 1984 in order tostrengthen the microelectronics industry inthe Flanders region. With a revenue of € 320million in 2012 and over 2,050 employees,imec is a global player in nanoelectronicsresearch. Imec’s research contributesto better healthcare, smart electronics,sustainable energy, and safer transport.Besides imec, there is KU Leuven’sDepartment of Metallurgy and MaterialsEngineering (MTM), which was foundedin 1930, and the Department of ElectricalEngineering (ESAT), which was establishedas early as 1900 and also makes significantcontributions to the engineering research onmicro- and nanoelectronics.

A unique research platform.

Imec has established a unique researchplatform using state-of-the-art cleanroomfacilities (200 and 300 mm silicon wafers,with a link between design and processtechnology). The platform brings togethera unique consortium of companies involvedin the IC (integrated circuit) processingchain, including key global players inthe micro electronics industry such as Intel,Samsung, TSMC and Panasonic. It has asuccessful business model based on openinnovation and interdisciplinary research teams.Almost the entire international semiconductorindustry is clustered around imec.

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A unique technology transfer .platform for materials.

The Strategic Initiative Materials(SIM) was founded in 2009 by tenmajor companies that produce andprocess various materials (includingAGC Flat Glass, Agfa Gevaert,Arcelor-Mittal, Bekaert, Recticel,Solvay and Umicore), in collaborationwith Agoria Vlaanderen, Sirris andthe five Flemish universities, andwith the support of the Flemishgovernment. SIM offers a platformto finance and coordinate jointstrategic research by universities andcompanies. SIM focuses on materialsfor energy and light, durable andsustainable structural materials,as well as tailored nanomaterialsin their environment. KU Leuvenhas an important role within SIM.

World-class international.companies and spin-offs.s

Thanks to the centres of excellencesuch as imec and KU Leuven manyinternational companies, such asPhilips Innovative Applications andResonext Communications, haveestablished operations in the Leuvenregion. Numerous spin-off companieshave also been created basedon the knowledge and technologydeveloped. Septentrio, for example,commercialises the satellitenavigation know-how developedat imec, while Target, anotherimec spin-off company, providesretargetable software tools for thecore elements of systems-on-chip.The imec spin-off company Essensiumspecialises in ASIC solutions forwireless sensor networks.

Easics, a spin-off company ofKU Leuven’s ESAT department andimec, is a system-on-chip designcompany. The spin-off companiesICsense and Ansem focus on high-endchip design.

Interdisciplinary research.

In the Leuven Nanoscience andNanotechnology Research Centre(LNANO) KU Leuven brings togetherall its R&D activities in the field ofnanoscience and nanotechnologyin the form of 26 research groups.The centre has the largest numberof materials and facilities fornano science and nanotechnologyin the entire region of Flanders.The Leuven Materials ResearchCentre (Leuven-MRC) was created in2005 as a collaborative interfacultycentre, functioning as an umbrellaorganisation for 19 materials scienceand technology research groups atKU Leuven. The Leuven-MRCinitiative includes 61 professors andnearly 450 researchers. Leuven-MRCaims to integrate nanotechnologyand materials development, and toguarantee the longevity of materials.Specific standards have been set forthe development of nanocompositesand biopolymers, materials forsensors and micromanufacturing,nanostructured steel and ceramics.

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Research on solar panel.efficiency.

Interdisciplinary cooperation betweenthe Centre for Surface Chemistryand Catalysis and the KU LeuvenDepartment of Molecular andNanomaterials has resulted inthe development of a material withluminescent characteristics thatincreases the efficiency of solarpanels. This material efficientlyconverts the invisible (ultra)violetpart of the light spectrum into visiblelight. Since the efficiency of solarcells is significantly lower for (ultra) -violet light than for yellow or greenlight, for example, this technologymakes solar cells convert sunlightinto energy more efficiently.Moreover, imec’s silicon solar cellindustrial affiliation programme(IIAP) strives to reduce silicon usesharply, while also increasing theefficiency of solar cells. This will lowerthe cost of solar energy substantially.With its IIAP, imec has created aresearch ecosystem aimed at creatinginnovative processes to manufacturethe next generation of silicon solarcells. Researchers from energycompanies, solar cell manufacturersand materials and equipment suppliersare working together with imec’ssolar experts to further develop theseadvanced processes and test themon a semi-industrial pilot line.

In 2010, imec opened the extension of its state-of-the-art 300mmcleanroom, increasing the surface to 10,000m2. The extension is450mm-ready. Meanwhile, imec is preparing the construction of a newcleanroom that will allow imec to keep on delivering its partners topnotchresearch on (sub)-10nm devices, thus enabling the future growth ofthe global nanoelectronics industry.

Imec also extended its lab space to facilitate and advance its research onsilicon and organic solar cells and on biomedical electronics. These labsaccount for another 1,600m2, including facilities for the NeuroelectronicsResearch Flanders (NERF), which aims to unravel the neuronal circuitry ofthe human brain.

In 2014, imec researchers will move into an impressive new 16-floor officetower, which provides office space for up to 450 people and includes labfacilities.

These expansions put imec on a par with the world’s foremost high-technanoelectronics research centres. As such, imec aims to contributesignificantly to the growth of the Flemish high-tech economy.

imec campus in expansion

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Mechatronics &smart systems

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A long-standing experience.

KU Leuven has developed a large amount of expertise and know-how in mechatronics, the domain of mechanics,robotics and electronics. As early as 1973, the Division ofProduction engineering, Machine design and Automation(PMA) introduced a digital FFT analyser as one of the firstEuropean labs. The PMA Division, together with theDepartment of Electrical Engineering (ESAT) and theDepartment of Computer Science, forms the backbone of the research on mechatronics at KU Leuven.

The first KU Leuven spin-off.

A first PMA division spin-off was founded in 1979:Leuven Measurements and Systems (LMS International),the world leader in the field of computer aided dynamicanalysis. LMS International was also the very first spin-offcompany of the university. In 2012, it was acquired bySiemens.

World-class international companies and spin-offs.

After LMS International, many other spin-off companies in the field of mechatronics have been established in theLeuven region. Materialise has the world’s largest rapidprototyping and manufacturing capacity in one singlelocation. Materialise is market leader for 3D printing andDigital CAD software as well as a major player in medicaland dental image processing and surgery simulation.LayerWise specialises in metal rapid manufacturing.

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Krypton was one of the firstspin-off companies in the fieldof mechatronics, but was lateracquired by the fast-growingspin-off company Metris.Metris provides completesolutions for 3D digitising,3D inspection and reverse

engineering. In 2009 it was acquired by Nikon Metrology.Xenics, an imec spin-off company, provides a wide arrayof infrared imaging solutions. These companies and manyothers located in the Leuven region are all active in the fieldof mechatronics and smart systems. This mechatronics clusteraccounts for half of the employment in the Leuven spin-offcompanies, which amounts to about 3,700 people in total.

Tailor-made infrastructure.

Leuven offers ideal infrastructure for R&D intensiveICT companies. The Arenberg Science Park, which openedin 2004, covers an area of 125,000 m². It offers multi-functional office space and ultramodern lab facilities as wellas support services. This science park, adjacent to the imecresearch campus, consists of four clusters, of which twofocus on biotechnology and two on ICT and other high-techsectors. The Arenberg Science Park houses numerousKU Leuven and imec spin-off companies. In addition,the KU Leuven Innovation & Incubation Centre (I&I) is aspecialised incubator for mechatronics offering outstandingfacilities for prototyping and small-scale production.

A bridge between academic.research and.industrial applications.

Flanders’ Mechatronics Technology Centre (FMTC) wasfounded in 2003 as a research centre for leading Flemishmechatronics companies. FMTC wants to bridge the gapbetween academic research in the field of mechatronics andits industrial applications. FMTC is supported by the Flemishgovernment and collaborates closely with the KU LeuvenPMA Division.

Multidisciplinary research on ICT.

With the Leuven Centre for Information and CommunicationTechnology (LICT), KU Leuven enables electronics engineers,computer scientists and sociologists to pool their expertiseand experience in the field of ICT. This has resulted in amultidisciplinary research centre that aims to play a leadingrole in the global ICT research community. LICT bringstogether over 50 professors and over 350 researchers.The research centre focuses on social as well as industrialneeds in an attempt to make people’s lives more comfortableand more secure, improve their health and preserve energysources as well as the environment. KU Leuven is alsoan active and leading participant in iMinds. iMinds is anindependent research institute founded by the Flemishgovernment to stimulate ICT innovation. iMinds is structuredin five research departments and unites over 1,000 researchersfrom various Flemish universities and knowledge centres.Finally, LSEC (Leaders in Security) is dedicated to creatingIT security awareness in the business world in general bybringing together companies with expertise in electronicsecurity, such as Ubizen, which is now part of Verizon Business.

Heterogeneous integration technologies.for innovative smart systems.

Imec’s smart systems research is concerned with energy-efficient wireless communication, wireless autonomoustransducer systems, innovative visualisation and imagersystems and organic electronics for applications suchas intelligent clothing, RFID labels, rollable displays,plastic signage and lighting. Imec’s smart systems researchforms a unique link between its design and processtechnologies as many of these innovative smart systemsmake use of heterogeneous integration technologies.Imec refines and extends standard chip processes withnew processing steps to make novel micro- and nanodevices,adding new functions to the chips other than logic and memory.Possible applications are MEMS (microelectromechanicalsystems) and NEMS (nanoelectromechanical systems), such assmart sensors, actuators and power scavengers, but alsobiochips, microimplantable appliances and solar cells.

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World-class international.companies and spin-offs.

Thanks to the intensive cleantechresearch at KU Leuven and imec,several spin-off companies have beencreated with very diverse activities.Photovoltech, IPCOS, M4E, Inspyro,Triphase and EconCore are allexamples of companies which havespecialised in a specific cleantechdomain, ranging from solar cellmanufacturing, over advancedprocess control and rapid productdevelopment for power electronics,to the development of lightweightstructures. Waterleau is one of thefew global players with a completeportfolio of water, air and wastetreatment, as well as energyrecovery applications. With regardto anaerobic waste water treatment,Waterleau belongs to the global topthree. Bluways develops integratedhybrid driving systems that provideunprecedented reductions in harmfulemissions and increase fuel efficiency.

A leading position in.sustainable energy R&D.

Imec holds a prominent globalposition in photovoltaic technologies.A significant amount of research onphotovoltaic cells is centralised inthe KU Leuven and imec centresof excellence. Apart from solarenergy, KU Leuven’s research alsofocuses on the development oflightweight materials for wind mills.

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Excellence in smart grid research.

Smart grids are intelligent energy distribution networks thatcan avoid overproduction of energy by bringing production inline with demand. The increasing number of households thatproduce their own solar energy and release it into the powergrid will increasingly cause production and demand to fluctuate.At the end of 2009, the European Institute of Innovationand Technology (EIT) selected the consortium of KU Leuvenand VITO (Flemish Institute for Technological Research),together with TU Eindhoven and a few other leading Europeanresearch institutes and companies, to further developthe ‘InnoEnergy’ project. This project is related to the creationof ‘Energyville’, a large European research centre for renewableenergy, concentrating on smart grids and energy-efficientbuildings and cities. In addition, imec’s research on galliumnitride (GaN) based switching technologies will allow smartgrids to carry much larger currents and voltages than today.

Specialised funding for cleantech companies.

Capricorn Venture Partners, located in Leuven, managesventure capital funds on a pan-European level. The CapricornCleantech Fund invests in innovative European growthcompanies and this in a broad range of cleantech areas.The fund has € 112 million under management, availablefor investments in early to mid-stage new ventures.

Interdisciplinary research.

Leuven Sustainable Earth (LSUE) is a KU Leuven researchcentre which seeks to develop knowledge and technologyfor a sustainable management of our natural resources.LSUE integrates the expertise of more than 60 professors,including environmental scientists, engineers, economists,sociologists and legal experts, who work together in25 research groups. The common goal is to find solutionsfor a more sustainable future by focusing on a number ofresearch domains, such as climate, water, biodiversity,energy and sustainable food production.

Diverse, coordinated research.

KU Leuven’s cleantech research is very diverse, ranging fromwater and air purification by using membrane technology,over biofuels and ecodesign, to additive manufacturing andthe efficient production of biomass. The Leuven MaterialsResearch Centre (Leuven-MRC) monitors and coordinatesmany of these different fields of research.

Expertise in sustainable manufacturing.

Several KU Leuven spin-off companies develop andcommercialise new manufacturing methods that use energyand materials more efficiently. For example, IPCOS offersadvanced process control, Inspyro optimises metallurgicalprocesses and M4E has developed a magnetic emulsiontechnology that saves up to 90% of energy comparedto conventional technologies.

Specialised in sustainable structural materials.

A considerable amount of research at KU Leuven focuseson sustainable structural materials, such as lightweightmaterials and biobased materials. This has led to thecreation of EconCore, a spin-off company that developslightweight honeycomb cores for applications in logistics,construction and packaging. The Strategic InitiativeMaterials (SIM), a platform that provides funding formaterials research, and Leuven-MRC bring togethersignificant expertise on sustainable structural materials.

Experience in ‘cradle to cradle’ technologies.

Cleantech research in the Leuven region also concentrateson materials that can be reused in different products foran indefinite amount of time without any loss of quality.When such products are discarded, the materials can berecovered completely and used again for other products,within a ‘cradle to cradle’ model. For instance, wastematerials can be used to store CO2 and residues ofincineration processes can be recycled.

Leuven is a beautiful, welcoming and accessible – in short,a great – place to live. Steeped in centuries of culture andhistory, Leuven quickly captures your heart. It is aninternationally oriented city accustomed to accommodatingindividuals and families from every background. It boasts anexcellent education system, including international schools,and offers a high standard of medical care. It is fully linkedinto Belgium’s motorway, railway and bus network and isonly 15 kilometres from Brussels International Airport and25 kilometres from Brussels, the capital of Europe.

With a population of 98,000 inhabitants, Leuven is a lovelymedium-sized city offering a pleasant balance between work,leisure, culture and sport. Since its founding in 1425,KU Leuven has played an important role in the history ofthe city, which itself spans more than a thousand years.

Many historic buildings, such as the city hall, the universityhall, Saint Peter’s Church and the university library, bearwitness to Leuven’s prosperous history. The Stella Artoisbrewery, which was established in 1366 and has now,as AB Inbev, become a global player in brewing, has alsohelped shape Leuven into the flourishing city it is today.

The city’s 50,000 students, spread across the university anduniversity colleges, give the city a youthful and vibrant feel.154 nationalities work, study and live in Leuven and givethe city an unmistakably international flavour. There areplenty of bars, restaurants, sports facilities and music eventsto enjoy, while those searching for a little peace and quietcan go for a stroll in the parks, squares, museums orcountryside in and around Leuven.

Leuven, a great place to live

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Published by KU Leuven Research & Development, in cooperation with imec and the city of Leuven

KU Leuven Research & DevelopmentWaaistraat 6 – box 51053000 LeuvenBelgiumT +32 (0)16 32 65 00E lrd@kuleuven.be

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© KU Leuven Research & Development, 2013

© Pictures: imec, KU Leuven, UZ Leuven, stad Leuven, Rob Stevens, THV AR-TE - dJGA - STABO

and Patrick Henderyckx.

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law as a "stichting van openbaar nut”), imec Belgium (IMEC vzw supported by the Flemish Government),

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Government), imec Taiwan (IMEC Taiwan Co.) and imec China (IMEC Microelectronics (Shangai) Co. Ltd.)

and imec India (Imec India Private Limited).

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v.u.: Kristof Haex, Waaistraat 6, 3000 Leuven

KU Leuven Research & Development City of LeuvenWaaistraat 6 – box 5105 Professor Van Overstraetenplein 13000 Leuven 3000 LeuvenBelgium BelgiumT +32 (0)16 32 65 00 T +32 (0)16 27 23 70E lrd@kuleuven.be E economie@leuven.be

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