UNI Festival. MINDS 2026 – a tour of PCBontime d.o.o. As part of the UNI festival. MINDS 2026, which promotes the integration of science, business and the innovation environment, is held on 14 March. October 2026, a professional visit to PCBontime d.o.o., one of the leading Slovenian providers of comprehensive solutions in the field of electronics and printed circuit board production, took place in Cerknica.
The event offered participants an insight into modern production processes and technological solutions in the fields of electronics, production automation, digitization of industry and development of high-tech products.
Special emphasis was placed on the importance of cooperation between the research and economic environment in the development of innovative solutions and strengthening the competitiveness of the Slovenian economy.
The participants were addressed by the Mayor of the Municipality of Cerknica Marko Rupar, the Vice-Rector for Internationalization of the University of Primorska Prof. Dr. Michael Mrissa, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jana Hojnik, Deputy Head of the Centre for Development and Knowledge Transfer of the University of Primorska, Faculty of Management, and Director of PCBontime d.o. o Marjan Zidar.
The speakers emphasized the importance of connecting local companies, researchers and students in creating innovations with added value for the local and wider environment and strengthening the competitiveness of Slovenian companies.
An important part of the event were presentations of solutions to the development challenges of PCBontime d.o.o. within the InnoLink project, implemented by SPIRIT Slovenia.
Five teams of researchers and entrepreneurs presented their proposals for solutions, addressing the specific needs of the company and the possibilities for further development and cooperation. The InnoLink project encourages the establishment and strengthening of partnerships between innovation-active companies and researchers, startups, students and other knowledge creators.
The event in Cerknica once again showed that open innovation and cooperation between different stakeholders represent an important mechanism for the development of new ideas, the transfer of knowledge into practice and the creation of long-term partnerships.
In addition to the presentation of solutions, the participants also visited the production facilities of PCBontime, where they learned about modern technologies and processes that enable the company to operate successfully on international markets.
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Organizers: University of Ljubljana, Univerza v Mariboru / University of Maribor and Univerza na Primorskem, SPIRIT Slovenija, javna agencija. The main partners of the festival are the pharmaceutical companies Lek, a Sandoz company and Ljubljanski univerzitetni inkubator (LUI). The festival is supported by Novartis in Slovenia.
Photo: Sinisa Kanizaj