Rebecca Gibson |
Dassault Systèmes is to extend its 3DEXPERIENCE Lab open innovation laboratory and start-up accelerator to North America to support entrepreneurial projects that have the potential to transform society.
Set to open in May 2017 at Dassault Systèmes’ US headquarters near Boston, the lab will be open to start-ups, entrepreneurs, students, makers, and individuals from industrial innovation departments or research laboratories based anywhere in North America.
Potential participants must be working on projects that address cities, lifestyle, the internet of things, or ideation themes. They will be able to access to Dassault Systèmes’ cloud-based 3DEXPERIENCE platform, technical skills, mentoring and worldwide ecosystem, as part of one- or two-year programmes to accelerate their product development.
The 3DEXPERIENCE Lab will also house a new digital fabrication space designed and set up in collaboration with Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Bits and Atoms. In this ‘Fab Lab’, innovators can use computer-controlled tools and processes to create product prototypes or refine their product ideas.
“North America has been a wellspring for some of the most impactful start-up and entrepreneurial technological innovations of our time,” said Bruno Latchague, senior executive vice president of Global Field Operations (Americas) at Dassault Systèmes. “By expanding the 3DEXPERIENCE Lab to North America, we hope to continue this tradition of invention by offering entrepreneurs, makers and start-ups unique resources to work on disruptive innovations, leverage collective intelligence and create an impact on society.”
First launched in Europe in November 2015, the 3DEXPERIENCE Lab aims to foster entrepreneurship and strengthen society’s future of creation. Success stories so far include large-scale additive construction using robots, 3D printing of personalised organs for simulation of surgery, open-source drones that have capabilities of both a helicopter and an aeroplane, and upstream innovation by sketching in immersive virtual reality.