NTNU, Technology | New public transport for Trondheimers

Today was the start of Hyfer, Trondheim’s new addition to the festival’s facade. It aims to achieve cooperation in various sciences and at the same time reach out to ordinary people.

– Hypha will be very different from science festivals. NTNU has been very silo-based, and people outside the departments have very little knowledge of just how much excitement is going on there. Our goal is to share knowledge in a fun way. It’s not always that easy. Brain health and neurotechnology – two of the topics – are difficult to convey. So we chose slightly unconventional ways to get people interested, says Hyfer’s Marketing Director, McKenna Starck.

electronic skateboard

Styles range from presentations of electronic skateboards to lectures on food waste. But in addition, you will find lectures on “breathing”, yoga and chamber music (!) from soloists of Trondheim.

It’s about telling interesting stories. Festival director Tanya Holmen says there are a lot of exciting things that are hidden from view.

The goal is to create a space suitable for both experts and laypersons. Perhaps students will become so interested that they want to work in an area, says McKenna.

The goal is to create a fun look. And to present technology and science in a non-intimidating way, says Stark.

Hyphae is manufactured in collaboration with NTNU, and many technological innovations also originate from there.

A new itinerary – but only for a while

One is a self-driving, driverless phrase.

Free to the public, it will run from the jetty at Ravnkloa and across the other side of the canal at Fosenkaia. Capacity is 12 people, Holmen says, and the ferry will operate a shuttle service.

Norway is very advanced when it comes to developing the technology used to send ships on missions without a crew on board. The festival director says technology has the potential to revolutionize urban public transportation, and could replace expensive, space-consuming and unfriendly bridge solutions.

In parallel, the old Fløttmannsbåt would transport people through the canal, as it did in earlier times. Thus, the past and the future will cross the channel side by side.

Participated in the Paris Olympics

There was already interest in technology from many countries, among other things, a delegation from the Paris Olympics went to Trondheim to look at the possibilities of developing ferries that could carry passengers across the Seine. It’s the Zeabuz spin-off that commercializes the technology.

The idea is that this should be a step towards new micro-mobility in cities along urban waterways. In the long term, the technology can be further developed to create green, resilient and cost-effective transportation along the entire Norwegian coast.

The idea is for Hyfer to be a place to test new concepts, innovation projects and start-ups. Among other things, we’ve included Angry Birds creator Peter Vesterbacka, who tells us how they created the fantastically innovative environment in northern Silicon Valley, the Gulf of Finland, says Stark.

Why did you include art galleries, graffiti artists, and yoga? Is this an attempt to bring together highly incompatible and new age areas of research?

It’s about how we can work together toward new solutions – and what different people know about brain psychology, mental health, and wellness. Holman says research into headaches, fatigue, and meditation can play together.

Tips from ace on snow

– The person lecturing on this is world-famous skater Kjersti Buaas. She acts as a burnout trainer, and offers helpful tricks that everyone can benefit from. This is not a “hard science”, but it is interesting nonetheless. There are many nuances in this area, Holman says, and there should be more room for discussion.

In line with this, the entire Saturday will be devoted to the theme – at a seaside event. There will also be a sauna, “breathing” and “kayak relay” (!).

– There should be room for discussion. Science is not only for scientists. Stark says he wouldn’t move the discussion if everything happened at the same institute.

– But Heifer isn’t Just Science and Technology. Chamber music may not be the first thing I associate with a recent conference, but it probably is sustainability aspect Soloists in Trondheim take care?

We hope to cooperate more closely with the music community in the future. Also music technology – to bring in some talent coming out of NTNU. Starck says it’s a natural partnership.

Among the other cultural partners, they mentioned Kosmorama, who will be giving the premiere of “After Yang” during Hyfer.

We want to combine science with movies and music. The goal, says McKenna Stark, is also to fulfill the element of learning – not just to have a nice evening.

You can find more information about Hyfer over here.