Bridging research and industry through AI innovation

Enrichment projects are strategic initiatives designed to close the critical gap between groundbreaking AI research conducted within the Flanders AI Research (FAIR) program and the practical needs of industry and potential users.

Enrichment projects are strategic initiatives designed to close the critical gap between groundbreaking AI research conducted within the Flanders AI Research (FAIR) program and the practical needs of industry and potential users. While FAIR's research typically reaches Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 2 to 3 - representing proof-of-concept in a laboratory setting - many businesses require fully developed, ready-to-use tools, datasets, simulators, and demonstrators. These enrichment projects serve as a crucial bridge, transforming theoretical research outputs into actionable solutions that meet industry expectations.

Strategically crafted, these projects leverage FAIR research results to address market needs while preserving the core principles of strategic basic research. Each enrichment project is a collaborative effort, actively involving two or more companies or organizations. Importantly, these initiatives transcend the interests of any single entity, focusing instead on broad applicability and maximizing valorization potential.

FAIR's research focuses on four application domains: health, industry, planet & energy, and society. Correspondingly, enrichment projects are carefully designed to target specific market challenges within these domains. In 2024, ten innovative enrichment projects have been executed, demonstrating the program's commitment to translating cutting-edge research into practical solutions.

Collaborative opportunities for innovation

Enrichment projects offer companies an unparalleled opportunity to collaborate with leading researchers. These partnerships enable organizations to:

  • Identify and test state-of-the-art AI solutions tailored to their specific needs

  • Contribute to the advancement of AI research in Flanders

  • Develop innovative tools and address early-stage technological challenges

  • Expand their global ‘innovation’ footprint through EU funded project

Whether your organization aims to drive technological innovation, solve complex challenges, or contribute to the development of trustworthy AI, these enrichment projects provide a robust pathway to meaningful impact.

Interested in learning more?

For detailed information about our enrichment projects, please contact our valorization coordinator: Kevin D'hooge kevin.dhooge@imec.be. Explore how enrichment projects can help your organization leverage strategic research to create real-world, transformative solutions.

Title

Description

Filter(s)

Contextual Performance Profiling and Anomaly Detection for Industrial Assets

This project delivers an accessible toolkit for contextual performance profiling and time-series anomaly detection across industrial machinery.

Industry, Anomaly Detection & Monitoring

Data-Efficient Machine Learning for Smart Design of Experiments

This project develops data-efficient methods for selecting experiments and optimizing process parameters when trials, simulations or raw materials are costly.

Industry, Optimization & Experimental Design

Development and Validation of Reinforcement Learning-Enhanced Controllers for Multi-Physical Processes (MPRL2REAL)

This project validates simulation-based workflows for reinforcement learning-enhanced industrial process control, including fine-tuning RL agents on existing control systems to improve safety and performance.

Industry, Reinforcement Learning & Sequential Decision Making

Enhancing Real-Time Automatic Speech Recognition for Flemish Speech (CRISP)

This project delivers an efficient on-device speech recognition solution optimized for Dutch and Flemish speech, combining strong recognition accuracy with low latency and reduced computational requirements.

Industry, Speech & Language AI, Society

Hydration & Happiness: A rObot Water Butler to Improve Elderly Health (H2O)

This project develops a mobile robot that can navigate residential care environments and assist with hydration by handling bottles and pouring water.

Robotics & Autonomous Systems, Society

Improving the Stability and Performance of Laser-Based Polymer 3D Printing

This project combines high-speed sensor data and AI models to detect potential quality issues and improve the stability of laser-based polymer 3D printing.

Industry, Anomaly Detection & Monitoring

Intelligent Spraying for Smart Farming (POSING)

This project supports targeted agricultural treatment through real-time monitoring and AI, while providing explanations and feedback to farmers to increase trust and technology adoption.

Industry, Computer Vision, Explainable & Trustworthy AI, Planet & Energy

Interactive Explainable AI

This project provides a toolbox that enables domain experts to inspect and correct AI models through their local explanations, demonstrated for automated seizure detection.

Health, Explainable & Trustworthy AI

Interactive Grid Congestion Forecasting (Pythia2GIS)

This project enhances the Pythia congestion-forecasting platform with an operational dashboard and geographic visualizations that help grid operators explore and interpret predictions.

Planet & Energy, Predictive Modelling & Forecasting

Multi-Fidelity Engineering Design Optimization with Partial Information (MEDO-PI)

This project validates data-efficient optimization methods, including surrogate modelling and multi-fidelity approaches, to reduce the number of costly simulations required for complex engineering design.

Industry, Optimization & Experimental Design

Physics-InspiRed AI Models for Engineering Design (PIRAMED)

This project combines AI with physics-based modelling to create accurate, data-efficient and physically consistent models for faster design and optimization of complex engineering systems.

Industry, Optimization & Experimental Design

Privacy-Aware Vision AI for Industry (PRIVAI)

This project validates a privacy-preserving computer vision approach that masks sensitive visual information while retaining the data needed for accurate industrial AI applications.

Industry, Computer Vision, Explainable & Trustworthy AI

Private and Sustainable Extreme-Edge AI

This project demonstrates how large language models can be personalized with sensitive data on devices in the home, without transferring that data to the cloud.

Society, Speech & Language AI, Explainable & Trustworthy AI

Relative POSe Estimation for Intelligent Drones and rObots in GPS-deNied Environments (POSEIDON)

This project combines onboard odometry with inter-robot distance measurements to help robots and drones determine their relative positions and collaborate without external positioning infrastructure.

Industry, Robotics & Autonomous Systems

Retrieval-Augmented Visual and Language Modelling for Intelligent Document Processing (RAVLIDP)

This project combines visual processing, large language models and information retrieval to answer questions and extract information from complex documents.

Speech & Language AI, Society

Robust Interpretation of Machine-Learning-Extracted Features from OCT Data

This project combines visual processing, large language models and information retrieval to answer questions and extract information from complex documents.

Health, Computer Vision, Explainable & Trustworthy AI

Scalable Congestion Forecasting for Electricity Grids (PredictiveClustering2Pythia)

This project integrates predictive clustering into the Pythia platform to improve and scale congestion forecasting for low-voltage electricity distribution grids.

Planet & Energy, Predictive Modelling & Forecasting

Toolbox for Automated Failure Diagnosis Using Ontology-Based Knowledge Graphs (TAFO-KG)

This project develops and validates a toolbox that combines machine ontologies, knowledge graphs and data-driven reasoning to provide transparent and interpretable failure diagnosis across heterogeneous industrial machinery.

Industry, Knowledge Representation & Reasoning, Anomaly Detection & Monitoring

Tree Robotic Equipment with Enhanced Advanced Intelligence (TREEAI)

This project identifies and validates key technological requirements for robust robotic systems that can support labor-intensive orchard operations such as harvesting, pruning, thinning and crop management.

Industry, Robotics & Autonomous Systems, Computer Vision, Planet & Energy