Océ and Eindhoven University of Technology

Venlo/Eindhoven, 10 October 2007 - Océ N.V., a global leader in printing and document management, and Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) are going to set up a postgraduate program for Asian engineers and offer them career opportunities within Océ during the next five years. The selected candidates will receive a grant to follow a special two-year Master’s program at the TU/e and will afterwards work in an R&D function within Océ for at least three years. By doing this Océ, which has R&D centers all over the world, hopes to attract foreign specialists in software and mechanical engineering.

Océ and the TU/e have agreed to offer the “Océ-TU/e International Technology Scholarship” for the next five years. During this period ten Asian students will begin the two-year Master’s program at the TU/e each year. They will receive a grant to cover their tuition and accommodation costs. All students will sign a contract with Océ which lays down they must successfully complete the Master’s program in two years and will afterwards work in Océ R&D for at least three years. Together Océ and the TU/e will select the best and cleverest students from Asian countries for this joint initiative.

Comment from Océ Board Member Anton Schaaf

In his comments on the international exchange program Anton Schaaf, member of Océ’s Board of Executive Directors, responsible for technology policy, stated: “Within R&D Océ particularly needs software and mechanical engineering specialists. In the Netherlands there’s shortage of such engineers. That’s why Océ is recruiting talent from abroad. At present Océ has nearly 2,000 R&D employees, working in centers in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium, Romania, the US and Canada. In addition in recent years we have been busy developing a Technology Center in Singapore. This is linked to the transfer of printer production from Venlo to Malaysia and Singapore. The exchange program with the TU/e will help to fulfill Océ’s wish to strengthen our R&D expertise in Asia. For the Asian students this is a unique chance to gain experience with the only European company which is globally active in printing and document management.”

R&D policy at Océ

Each year Océ invests around 7% of its revenue in research and development: constant innovation is of vital importance for the company. Océ has consistently chosen for a long-term vision when building up its product portfolio and investments in R&D. This choice has provided customers with technologies which break entirely new ground. The development of new technologies demands creativity and stamina, but also generates new concepts, which often create highly competitive products. Océ sales of third-party printers are increasing, but development of our own products remains essential. In this way Océ can utilize its traditional strengths in large format and high volume small format and develop them still further.

Comment from Amandus Lundqvist of Eindhoven University of Technology

According to Amandus Lundqvist, Chairman of the Executive Board of the TU/e, co-operation with Océ fits perfectly with the university’s goal of supplying high-tech industry in the region with top-level engineers and researchers. “We prefer to recruit foreign Master’s and Ph.D students from countries where industries in our region have subsidiaries and where we can develop partnerships with the top local universities. Together with our partners we try to attract the best & the brightest. After all that is what the top technology region South-East Netherlands needs. The TU/e is already working with a number of universities, for instance in China and India. In the coming years we will actively expand our international co-operation contacts and build up our international profile as one of the best technological universities in Europe. Within this framework working with Océ is an important step in the right direction.” 

About Océ

Océ N.V. is a leading international provider of digital document management technology and services.  The company’s solutions are based on Océ’s advanced software applications that deliver documents and data over internal networks and the Internet to printing devices and archives -- locally and around the world.  Supporting the workflow solutions are Océ digital printers and scanners, considered the most reliable and productive in the world.  Océ employs around 24,000 people, with 2006 annual revenues of approximately $4 billion, operates in approximately one hundred countries and maintains research and manufacturing centers in the Netherlands, Canada, the United States, Germany, France, Belgium, the Czech Republic, and Romania.  For more information about Océ, visit http://www.oce.com/.

For more information please contact:

Nick Gale
Manager Media Relations
Océ Technologies
Tel.: +31.77.359.5628
Email: nick.gale@oce.com