Business partnership

Bachelor of Engineering students create innovative solutions at Sony

24-year-old Victoria Strauss Søgaard, 27-year-old Nicolai Casper Raith Hansen, and 25-year-old Magnus Hørlyk Friis have two things in common: they will all three graduate as Bachelors of Engineering (BEng) in Process and Innovation this summer, and they are part of DTU’s business partnership with Sony.

The showroom, in which Magnus Hørlyk Friis (to the left), Victoria Strauss Søgaard (in the middle) and Nicolai Casper Raith Hansen (to the right) are sitting, is called the Alpha Room. It's part of Sony's department in Valby. Photo: Magnus Møller.

Thursday 30 March 2023

Linnea Lundberg

Victoria Strauss Søgaard, Nicolai Casper Raith Hansen, and Magnus Hørlyk Friis know the workflows of the Sony Startup Acceleration Program, the innovation department at the company’s Nordic headquarters in Lund, better than most. Victoria and Nicolai are doing their BEng project in close collaboration with the company, while Magnus has been doing an internship at Sony together with Nicolai.

The competences they have acquired during their Process and Innovation study programme, which they will graduate from this summer, enable them to solve complex innovation-related problems at Sony. The purpose of Nicolai and Victoria’s project includes improving the internal consultancy services in the company, while Magnus and Nicolai have, for instance, been responsible for a workshop on innovation attended by most of SONY’s departments worldwide.

“Process and Innovation is one-third anthropology, one-third business, and one-third engineering. It’s about talking to people, identifying a problem, and solving it in the right way, and that’s where we come in,” Magnus explains.

Nicolai continues:

“We’re the glue between the engineers and the business people because we have the needed insight into the world of engineering combined with business understanding. Victoria, Magnus, and I also have a start-up together with three other DTU students alongside our studies, and this has made Sony particularly interested in us. In fact, right from the start of our internship, Magnus and I were able to draw on specific experiences with processes and innovation from our own entrepreneurial adventure.”

Magnus Hørlyk Friis and Nicolai Casper Raith Hansen have, among other things, been responsible for a workshop on innovation attended by most of Sony’s departments worldwide. Photo: Magnus Møller.

Generalists in a specialist world

The BEng programme in Process and Innovation takes 3½ years, but Victoria, Magnus, and Nicolai have chosen to extend their study programme by one semester, so they have time to develop their start-up while writing their final projects. According to Victoria, this particular study programme is very special because it makes you a generalist while allowing you to specialize, if that is what you want.

“We call ourselves generalists in a specialist world, and we work a lot with team dynamics. Process and Innovation is generally a broad study programme, but it also gives students the opportunity to specialize during their studies, for example by focusing on sustainability, software, or project management,” she explains.
Nicolai and Victoria have just begun their final project, and, for Victoria, their purpose is quite clear.

“It’s about improving the internal consultancy services in the company to create the greatest possible value for Sony,” she concludes.

Nicolai Casper Raith Hansen and Victoria Strauss Søgaard are doing their BEng project in close collaboration with Sony. The purpose of the project includes improving the internal consultancy services in the company. Photo: Magnus Møller.

International collaboration

DTU collaborates with a large number of companies to give students the best possible opportunities to find the internship that is just right for them. One of these companies is Sony, which offers BEng students internships and gives them the opportunity to write their final BEng project in collaboration with the company.

Associate Professor Torben Hede has long experience with innovation from private companies, including Sony, and it was obvious for him to establish a collaboration with the large Japanese company on behalf of DTU.

“The collaboration gives the students the opportunity to try their hand at innovation in a large international company, where students can do an internship, write their BEng project, or solve problems for the company in connection with Innovation Pilot, which is an interdisciplinary project course that all BEng students have to complete,” explains Torben Hede.

Olle Landegren, who works with internal and external innovation in the Sony Startup Acceleration Program department, is also enthusiastic about the collaboration and its educational benefits for both the students and the company.

“We want to learn more about how to create new companies, and we’ve therefore chosen to collaborate with DTU and the start-up industry, among others. We also want to be inspired and challenge the students with real problems that they learn a lot from solving, and where we can subsequently use their results to improve our workflows, for example,” he explains.

Victoria Strauss Søgaard, Magnus Hørlyk Friis and Nicolai Casper Raith Hansen have the start-up Paint'R together with three other DTU students alongside their studies. Paint'R produces sustainable paint buckets. Photo: Magnus Møller.

DTU-Sony collaboration

About Sony Startup Acceleration Program

Sony Startup Acceleration Program Europe (SSAP Europe) helps idea creators from companies, startups, universities and NPOs to realize their vision. SSAP supports the various idea creators from ideation through incubation, marketing and expansion and can offer unique opportunities in the Japanese market.

Contact

Torben Hede Department of Engineering Technology and Didactics torhed@dtu.dk