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Businesses and organisations that collaborate with Howest have the possibility to access our existing high-tech infrastructure. We would love to welcome you to one of our labs!

Do you have questions? Contact research [at] howest.be (Research Howest).

Smart Technology AI Research lab

STAR lab (Smart Tech AI Research lab, formerly Sizing Servers) has been a fixture research lab at Howest since 2007. The team consists of lecturers and researchers from the Multimedia and Creative Technology (MCT) programme.

The mission of STAR lab is to help companies implement state-of-the-art IT technology. In recent years, the focus has been on artificial intelligence, Internet of Things and Data Engineering. We seek to reduce the effort for SMEs to apply artificial intelligence to their processes.

Collaborations often start as research projects, but STAR lab also helps companies and organisations find tailor-made solutions.

More info

STAR lab
Metaverse

Business Innovation Lab

"AI is here to stay", maar wat kan artificiële intelligentie voor jouw bedrijf betekenen? En wat met Web3, de metaverse en PowerBI? Welke opportuniteiten bieden deze technologieën voor jouw onderneming? De mogelijkheden zijn bijna eindeloos. Dankzij de kennis en expertise van de onderzoekers van het Business Innovation Lab kan je geïnformeerde keuzes maken op maat van jouw bedrijf op een innovatieve, sociale en duurzame manier.

Meer info

Industrial Design Center

The Industrial Design Centre in Kortrijk is home to Howest's Industrial Product Design programme. It is an open knowledge centre where industry, research and education meet, make and create.

Do you have an innovative idea you would like to see further developed? Do you have your own product that's in need of an update? At the IDC, we challenge and engage each other in every step of the design process.

You are welcome at IDC for a number of activities - from problem analysis to ideation, prototyping product concepts to user testing, small series production to light measurements, and more!

More info

Industrial Design Center
energy lab howest

Energy Lab

Are you looking for expertise in energy and data implementation? Welcome to Howest's Energy Lab!

We lead a number of significant research projects and offer 'service to industry'. We help companies with the practical implementation of renewable sources, building energy management systems (data capture, visualisation, reporting), performing feasibility studies, developing data for new applications, and more.

jurgen.van.ryckeghem [at] howest.be (More info)

Life Sciences Research Center

Laboratories and companies don't always have the necessary knowledge and expertise on site or the resources needed to hire full-time bioinformaticians. The Life Sciences Research Centre (bioinformatics knowledge centre - BiKC) responds to this need with practical research and services.

Tailor-made applications are designed to analyse biomedical and biotechnological data, which may or may not be combined with databases for data storage and management. The knowledge centre also has a nanopore laboratory using the latest third-generation sequencing technology to analyse the code of DNA and RNA in real-time.

With the support of VLAIO, a high-performance server will be purchased in 2023 to better store and process big data from experiments and sample analyses.

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studenten in het lab
MAM

Mind- and Makerspace

Are you (as a starter) looking for a creative hub? With so much to offer, Makerspace (MaM) in Bruges is the place to be! This hotspot has a large workspace, an instruction room, seven MaM studios, a wood workshop, and so much more. You can give free rein to your creativity in these spaces and rent equipment at reasonable rates.

Are you (as a starter) looking mostly for a workspace? MaM has five flex desks to rent. There you can receive clients in an inspiring atmosphere, brainstorm the wildest ideas at the coffee machine and gain access to equipment.

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Sport Innovation Campus

The Sport Innovation Campus in Bruges is a collaboration between Sport Flanders and Hogeschool West-Vlaanderen. It focuses on four domains: exergaming, active design, new sports and digital coaching. Together with companies, start-ups and the professionals from the field, students and researchers search for new prototypes within these domains. Courses are also organised to introduce professionals to the latest sports and exercise trends.

The Sports Innovation Campus is known for its virtual reality Sports Cube, testing ground for exergames, and the Hado Arena where dodgeball is played in augmented reality.

More info

Sportscube at SIC