Picture : This actuator component, used in automotive cooling systems, was the subject of multiple research projects between Johnson Electric and the HEIA-FR.

“The canton of Fribourg fully appreciates the importance of fostering public-private partnerships, and policy makers and university management are heavily invested in it.” Enno de Lange, Senior Manager at Johnson Electric, is delighted that his company is able to operate in such an environment. “Over the last 10 years, Johnson Electric has worked with the Fribourg School of Engineering and Architecture (HEIA-FR) and other industrial players on 15 or so precompetitive research projects. I prefer to call them technology/product development projects, in other words the phase immediately before the actual tech transfer process. At Johnson Electric, being involved in this preliminary phase is crucial because it allows us to influence the direction that the research takes and ensure that the outcomes are commercially viable.”

The excellent working relationship between Johnson Electric, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of automotive sub-systems, with the HEIA-FR has already yielded several successes. “The MagPlast project, which was launched in 2010, developed a technology to produce magnets using magnetically charged injectable polymers. Our plant in Murten is still reaping the benefits of this research.” Enno de Lange quickly singles out another partnership for praise, “In 2017, we put together a project with Innosuisse to develop a new-generation actuator – for on-board climate control systems – which not only offers better performance than our existing product but is also lighter and quieter. It was high risk and very ambitious because we were aiming to generate three innovations from one project. Happily, we pulled it off and today we are preparing to begin the mass production of 35 million actuators per year. This largely automated process has world-beating potential.”

Tapping into the strengths of each partner

Johnson Electric is also an important player in ROSAS (Robust and Safe Systems Center Fribourg), a center of excellence that brings together the Institute of Smart and Secured Systems (iSIS) of the HEIA-FR and other top-flight companies based in the region, including Meggitt Sensing Systems and Liebherr Machines Bulle. Its mission is to create a cluster that taps into the strengths and expertise of each partner for applied research and development projects in the highpotential sector of safe and robust embedded systems. As Enno de Lange explains, “We have managed to generate really interesting results in a very short space of time. The creation of clusters and centers of expertise in Fribourg leads to more innovation. It’s a winning strategy.”