Diversity is a big strength for businesses – when it’s practiced in everyday culture
In conversation with Anja Dargel, General Representative at Berliner Sparkasse, and Bessie Fischer-Bohn, Head of HR at WISTA Management GmbH:
WISTA is again hosting the Diversity Conference Adlershof. Why is this an important topic? Bessie Fischer-Bohn: We offer a framework for sustainable economic growth at Adlershof Technology Park. For a long time, this…
»Diversity isn’t an added bonus – it’s our only chance«
A conversation with diversity expert Wolfgang Jockusch about hesitation and fears, inclusive leadership, and why companies can’t afford to ignore diversity:
Everyone’s talking about diversity, but what does it actually mean? Wolfgang Jockusch: First and foremost, diversity is a fact. People are and always have been diverse. Unfortunately, the topic often gets narrowed…
Inclusive cleanroom on wheels
The start-up Sphaira from the Charlottenburg Innovation Centre CHIC develops electric vehicles for transporting patients:
It comes as no surprise that feelings of isolation are common in isolation wards. Whether the patients are younger or older, being cut off from the outside world for weeks, and sometimes months on end, takes a toll on…
A place for personal exchange
Matthieu Voss wants to develop the Charlottenburg Innovation Centre into a public space:
The Charlottenburg Innovation Centre (CHIC) recently saw a change of leadership. Matthieu Voss moved in, bringing his ideas with him. Who is the new boss, and what vision does he have for CHIC? Voss reveals that he…
Scouts in the sky: how vultures and satellites protect Africa’s wildlife
Nanosatellites from the Charlottenburg company Rapid Cubes help in the fight against poaching:
Elephants and rhinos often steal the spotlight in efforts to protect Africa’s wildlife. A groundbreaking project called GAIA is now bringing in unexpected helpers: vultures, nanosatellites, and the expertise of the…
»Stirring up excitement«
Created by Freie Universität Berlin, Scale Up Lab of will be one of the first tenants at FUHUB, which is part of the WISTA-managed Zukunftsort Berlin-Südwest:
Bio and life science research—particularly fundamental research—often operates on the barely imaginable nanometre scale. The substances or structures created at this scale are typically designed for medical…
The future of work: When machines become colleagues
Tomorrow’s world of work is being shaped at the “Zukunftsorte” locations in Berlin:
The world is changing. Innovations like chatbots, virtual realities, and smart robots have arrived in the workplace and will bring about fundamental changes in the years ahead. At Berlin Science Week in November 2024,…
Searching for young talent at Knorr-Bremse Rail Vehicle Systems
How the Marzahn-based company recruits trainees:
Workers turned, milled, and filed for months to manufacture several 1930s replacement parts for a historical S-Bahn, Berlin’s long-standing rapid transit railway. Now restored, the train then took the apprentices of…
The cognitive Iron Man suit
Zixio, a start-up located in the CHIC, develops tailor-made software and digital products in the field of cognitive systems and AI:
Joanna Czarnecka’s father was an entrepreneur and artist in Poland. He taught her that self-employment is hard work. Nevertheless, in 2019, she co-founded the company Zixio with Andreas Salzmann, developing…
From the lecture hall to the executive chair
Munay Zamorano took over the cosmetics company New Natural in her early 20s:
Based at the CHIC Charlottenburg Innovation Centre, New Natural sells over 1,000 certified products from ten natural cosmetics brands to perfumeries, drugstores, and online stores in more than 30 countries. Their…
“Dual leadership for the purpose of knowledge transfer”
Generation change at the Steglitz-Zehlendorf economic development agency:
In the Steglitz-Zehlendorf district, the economic development agency is facing a leadership transition. Its director, Michael Pawlik, is retiring after nearly 45 years of service. Till-Steffen Busse will follow in his…
Substitution, not cancellation
The start-up LehrCraft wants to use its placement platform to help alleviate staff shortages in schools and reduce class cancellations:
“What do teachers and clouds have in common? The day improves when they go away.” Everybody knows these types of jokes. But what if teachers really go away and regular classes cannot be guaranteed? The reasons for the…
The liberators of manufacturing
The EchoRing system from R3 Solutions enables wireless, highly reliable and extremely fast data transmission:
The Götterflug rollercoaster at Belantis, an amusement park in Leipzig, is THE attraction. This thrill ride is controlled, monitored, and secured by R3 solutions, a company based in Berlin-Charlottenburg, and its…
The future of agriculture is being grown in a cupboard
Lite&Fog aim at making plant cultivation more sustainable and efficient. Their method allows for the on-demand production of foodstuffs, as well as active ingredients for medicine and cosmetics:
Seen from afar, it looks like a green column behind glass. Moving closer, it turns out to be lettuce plants that grow in all directions along the entire length of a thick, round textile tube. Rather than reaching for…
Racing towards new drugs thanks to cell-free protein synthesis
Based in Berlin-Dahlem, the science-oriented start-up PharmaTech is unleashing new opportunities for personalised medicine:
Without proteins, life would be impossible. The macromolecules are made up of amino acids and are a key component of every living cell. Our muscles, heart, brain, skin, and hair consist predominantly of proteins.…
Good clean fun times two
DLR is working at two new institutes in Cottbus to help make industry and flying more sustainable :
Lowering CO₂ emissions is a pressing problem of our time. In Cottbus, people are working on solutions for it. Supported by funding for structural economic change, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) founded two…
In step with the times
The Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing also helps with making innovation ready for the market:
The brick building at the address Unter den Eichen 87 radiates history. Set in massive stone in Berlin-Lichterfelde, it demonstrates its status as a renowned government institution. “Federal Institute for Materials…
Precision made in Berlin
Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Germany’s national metrology institute, is considered the cradle of quantum physics and tests the limits of what can be measured. The PTB’s Institut Berlin, or IB, is based in a thriving neighbourhood in Charlottenburg.:
Whenever something requires high precision, the PTB comes into play. As the national metrology institute, it is also the highest authority in Germany for all issues related to correct and reliable measurements.…
A place for talent
ST3AM in Adlershof seeks to reconcile seemingly contradictory worlds of work. Occupational psychologists are helping it succeed with a research project.:
“From research in occupational psychology, we know that the workplace and a space’s environmental factors like lighting, acoustics, and colours play an important role in determining how well, how creative, and how…
“Things will evolve”
Michael Jakobs is planning the “GREEN HUB” coworking space in Lübbenau:
Whenever something new is being built in Lübbenau, Michael Jakobs has a hand in it. He has been working for the WIS Wohnungsbaugesellschaft, a housing association in the Spree Forest, for more than 25 years, for a…