Back in April 2012, Fontys and TU/e signed an intention agreement concerning improved connections between Eindhoven's technology education delivered at the university of applied sciences and the university. According to Fonty's press release, the first step in this direction is now being taken four years later with the purchase of the TNO building on the TU/e campus.

Fontys thinks it will need until 2020 to carry out internal renovations and extend the building in readiness for 3,500 students. The programs involved are ICT, Applied Natural Sciences, Engineering, Automotive and Business Management, Education and Technology. In total, 44,000 students are currently studying at Fontys.

According to Fontys spokesperson Piet van Ierland, the renovation and extension plans will be developed in greater detail in the coming months and it is hoped that the proposals will be complete before the summer vacation. "The actual purchase will take place sometime in 2017," says Van Ierland.

As Van Ierland sees it, the most important benefits of occupying premises on the TU/e campus will take the form of improved HBO student transition to TU/e's Master's programs and the sharing of campus facilities.

Jo van Ham, member of TU/e's Executive Board, said that Fontys' occupation of the TNO building was "good for cooperation in the fields of technology and engineering. Our campus is continuing to develop into a vibrant technology campus, one where the full range of education is present: from senior secondary vocational education to higher vocational education to university education. That Fontys is clustering with TU/e is good for the innovative power of the Brainport Region. It will strengthen the human capital involved in high-tech manufacturing."