The Ilmenau technology region
In the Erfurt-Weimar-Jena-Ilmenau business location the city of Ilmenau offers a synergetic network of economic, scientific, transfer and service institutions, which have been operating under the name “Technology Region Ilmenau” (TRI) already since 1991. Their objective is the development of a technology-oriented growth region.
The Ilmenau Technical University (TU) constitutes the centre of the TRI that currently with about 7,000 students and more than 1,200 employees is the greatest employer in the region. The Ilmenau Technology and Research Park originated in the immediate vicinity of the TU. Here, in walking distance from the campus, the research and development capacities are bundled and settlement possibilities for technology-oriented organizations created. In other locations of the Ilmenau city and in the region additional spaces for industry and commercial settlement has been made available.
Scientific competence and people (that besides progress in research also have an eye on the markets) as well as the dense networks of the research, transfer and service institutions make Ilmenau and the extended economic region particularly interesting for investors. The Ilmenau Technology and Start-Up Center (TGZI) as well as the Application Center (APZ) are here mentioned representatively. Moreover, modern training and development centres form the foundation and guarantee for an effective technology transfer.
The author was born in Ilmenau in 1949 and is a graduate process engineer. He has been Mayor since 1990 and has been Lord Mayor of the city of Ilmenau since 1994.
