New BK Lab for collaborative innovations

The new BK Lab for innovations offers a creative space to develop new innovations and to make cutting-edge research visible within the faculty. The new Lab, located at BG.West.200, offers a communal space where researchers can interact, collaborate and push the boundaries of their research projects. 

The Lab is aptly titled ‘the Sandbox’, referring to a software environment where programmers can test their applications without doing any damage. The new lab offers a similar type of environment: a safe context to experiment and to search for new perspectives. The Sandbox offers a dynamic environment for different types of (heavy) machinery, depending on the necessities of each individual research project. 

The Sandbox is more than a physical location within BK Bouwkunde. Autonomous and collaborative research labs and projects work together within the same location, creating a new environment where a natural interaction between the different areas of expertise becomes possible. Paul de Ruiter, one of the initiators of the Lab, explains: “If you want to collaborate, it is often very helpful to just look around and see what is happening. You get inspired by the research of others. If you want to start a new collaboration, it is generally good to start with the question ‘How can we collaborate?’ If the answer is ‘I have no idea’, that means new common areas of interest can be found, and brand new fields of research can be explored.” The Lab is therefore not defined by the hardware, but by the researchers themselves. New collaborations can lead to new research niches, opening up new opportunities.

The Lab is open to all. Currently, research projects and respective equipment of both LAMA and Robotic Building are already implemented in the Lab. Researchers at BK Bouwkunde, but also students, are welcome to discuss research ideas. Vera Laszlo is the manager of the Lab, so please contact her for any questions.