Successful Innovation Infrastructure Visibility Conference

On 7th and 8th November, the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), together with the Spanish Association of Science and Technology Parks (APTE), organised the Innovation Infrastructure Visibility Conference, an initiative to open the doors of their research centres across various technological fields. This open day event aimed to showcase and promote the capabilities and opportunities offered by innovation spaces within the association's member science and technology parks.

On the first day, participants explored maritime facilities at the Vilanova i la Geltrú Campus, where they visited the SARTI research group and the OBSEA marine observatory, which is part of two European scientific infrastructure networks. Projects from the Bioacoustics Applications Laboratory were also presented; however, due to the disruptions caused by Storm DANA, they were unable to attend in person. The conference saw participation distributed between researchers (60%) and companies (40%).

In the agrotech field, visits focused on UPC's Agròpolis and the Drone Lab at the Mediterranean Technology Park, as well as AIRGILab, located on the Terrassa campus. Participants learned about new infrastructures in agrivoltaics, 6G-based solutions to promote robotisation, and measurement systems for smart agriculture. The welcome was given by José Manuel Yúfera, the rector's delegate to CBL and PMT board member, and Cristina Cervelló, director of EETAC.

Among the experts who stood out at this event were Gil Gorchs, a researcher on the Symbiosyst project, and David Caballero from the UPC's Industrial Equipment Design Centre, who presented the GroPerBot and AgroMoby projects. In total, 25 professionals participated in the agrotech sessions, representing companies, public administrations, and researchers in the sector.

Finally, the last day of the conference was dedicated to the energy sector, with visits to the Hydrogen Research Centre (CER-H2) and the Multiscale Research and Engineering Centre, recently recognised with the María de Maeztu distinction for its excellence in research in nanoengineering applied to energy. Participants, mainly researchers (80%) and public administration representatives, learned about the applications of hydrogen as a clean energy source in intensive sectors and heavy transport.