40 years of innovation – stories from Linköping Science Park
Robert Forchheimer is an inventor, researcher, and Professor Emeritus at Linköping University (LiU). His connection to Linköping Science Park is foundational, notably through his role as a co-founder and major owner of Sectra in the 1970s. He also started IVP in 1985, a company focusing on integrated vision products that later became part of the global SICK corporation.
Forchheimer’s work spans decades of technological progress in Linköping, blending deep academic pursuit with practical industry application. He is known for his involvement in developing video compression technology that proved crucial to the MPEG standard used globally by streaming services today. Despite the technical significance of this algorithm, he continues to investigate the documented origins of the work he and a doctoral student presented in 1983.
As both a researcher and dedicated instructor, Forchheimer plans to continue teaching until he reaches 120 years old, emphasizing his deep connection to the university environment. He notes that the relationship between the university and the science park is often perceived as a one-way street, where knowledge flows only from academia to business. He counters this by highlighting the value that flows back to research. Companies frequently assist the university by funding doctoral students, which allows research environments to dive deeper into solutions, avoiding the commercial pressure that often forces early product release.
Forchheimer advocates for Linköping Science Park to emphasize how both people and information continuously move back and forth between the university and the companies. This transparency helps counter the idea that innovation begins and ends solely with academic research.
The core of his video compression work is summarized by his statement:
“What’s true is that the method Staffan and I presented in 1983, which we called hybrid coding or motion-compensated transform coding, later became the basis for the MPeG standard.”
Explore the full history of Robert Forchheimer’s contributions to tech innovation and Linköping’s entrepreneurial ecosystem in the complete 40-year book.
This text is part of the article series based on Linköping Science Park’s 40-year book, which is available here
