Events that move people from interest to participation

Cenk Özöztürk (COO of Cologne Bonn Airport) shares insights into leadership, decision-making, and the execution of large-scale transformation projects within one of Germany’s most important transportation infrastructures.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Arno Kwade discusses the journey from scientific ideas to real-world applications, offering insights into innovation, technology transfer, and the development of major research initiatives.

How do you turn deep technical expertise into a company that customers actually want? Dominik Schürmann, co-founder of heylogin, shares lessons from building a cybersecurity startup: making decisions under uncertainty, learning sales and finance as a technical founder, dealing with regulation and bureaucracy, understanding what customers really value, and navigating the moments when things do not go according to plan. The session focuses on practical experience, mistakes, and lessons learned rather than startup theory.

How do you turn scientific research into a real product and build a successful business around it? Dr. Alexander Rohr, Co-Founder and CEO of Lilian Labs, shares his journey from academic research at TU Braunschweig to building a technology company specializing in innovative water analysis systems. After a short introduction to Lilian Labs and its technology, the session opens up for an interactive discussion about entrepreneurship, product development, financing, customer acquisition, and the challenges of bringing innovation to market. The focus is on real experiences, difficult decisions, mistakes, and lessons learned along the way.