The FRIZ is located on the grounds of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Freiburg. The building complex, which will be completed in 2022 after two years of construction, offers more than 12,000 square meters of space for modern and flexible offices and laboratories. Endress+Hauser is the largest tenant and currently occupies around 2,400 square meters of office space on two floors and around 1,000 square meters on the first floor, where chemical and biological laboratories and clean rooms are housed.

The company is bringing together six units in the FRIZ that were previously spread across the city. One team is working on solutions for the Industrial Internet of Things, such as the intelligent connection of software and sensor technology; another on optical analysis technology, which can be used to monitor fermentation processes, for example. A third team is working on the sensor and measurement technology of the future, including the replacement of the human sense of smell.

Jobst Technologies, part of the Swiss subsidiary Innovative Sensor Technology IST, develops, produces and sells biosensors. Endress+Hauser BioSense, a joint venture with the Hahn-Schickard-Gesellschaft, specializes in rapid on-site molecular analyses that can be used in the food industry, for example. To protect innovations from imitators, a small team of patent specialists is also present on the campus.

Working on the measurement technology of tomorrow

CEO Matthias Altendorf sees the new location as a "breeding ground for the measurement technology of tomorrow". The various disciplines on the campus could complement and stimulate each other; the proximity to research would provide additional impetus. "Innovation often arises at the interfaces - where we enter into an exchange with partners from science and industry. By opening up to the university and its institutes, research facilities, spin-offs and other companies, we increase the points of contact."