Establishing a Technology Center

1. Method 

Developing a structured procedure. Over-all monitoring of the project.

Phase 1
Feasibility

Phase 2
Attracting selected partners such as Lenzing AG, Funder Industries, Fritz Egger, Josko, Krems Chemie, Verband Forst Platte Papier, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Johannes Kepler University Linz

Phase 3
Project implementation: leading the workshops and developing a research programme covering the legal, budgetary and organisational framework.

2. Task

Together with some partners from trade, industry and science, Agrolinz wanted to develop a competence centre for ligneous composite materials. On account of the rather small size of the company management team there were no staff resources of a suitable calibre available. Therefore, an external fixed-term manager was required.

Itemised tasks:

• Coordinating the information flow between Agrolinz and the partners involved
  
• Working with the editorial team to draft the short and the long version of the application
  
• Lobbying the Ministry
  
• Procuring financial commitment on the part of the federal provinces  involved in the project ( Upper Austria , Lower Austria and Carinthia )
  
• Inducing the project partners to sign binding letters of intent.
  
• Contribution to: the research programme, organisation, financing, location and legal form
  
• Ensuring timely submission
• One of the main obstacles during the whole process was the accommodation of conflicting interests of the partners from industry and from science for the period from January 1999 to January 2000.
  

3. Results

Out of a total of 19 applications to the Ministry, five projects were approved.
One of them was the Kompetenzzentrum Kplus Holzverbundwerkstoffe (ligneous composite materials)