The Industrial Campus of Ferrol organized on July 10 the day of innovation “Bet for the Intelligent Industry of Ferrolterra” with assistance from both the university and business and industrial surroundings of the region, and within the framework of which the project of the University of A Coruña for the creation of the strategic research group i3.
The rector of the UDC, Julio Abalde, explained at the opening ceremony of the day that when the specialization of the Campus of Ferrol was raised as an Industrial Campus, it was already foreseen as one of the steps to be developed in the Campus strategy, after rethinking the academic offer, the structuring of Ferrol’s research in a group that allows the creation of a more competitive, multidisciplinary organization with a greater knowledge transfer towards the companies and industry of the Ferrol area. “It was a proposal from the institution very well received on campus and I appreciate the collaboration of all the teachers who worked on the piece in the project that is now completed,” said Abalde. Anne Gosset, coordinator of this group, finalized the proposal that integrates researchers from the Ferrol Campus of seven working groups. The research of this group, called i3, is aimed at Galicia’s naval, energy and textile strategic sectors, and its objective is the creation of the Research Center of Excellence within the framework of Intelligent Industry and Advanced Manufacturing, which will call Ci3. The proposal will be presented to the Xunta de Galicia, which will decide its approval, and if it is granted, it will be the first research structure in Galicia focused exclusively on the smart industry. At the opening ceremony, the Secretary General of Universities, José Alberto Díez de Castro, declared that “from the Xunta de Galicia always bet because universities are leaders in research in Galicia.” “Galician universities are the mainstay for Galician I + D + i that needs to continue growing,” he continued, congratulating the UDC for organizing this event “that touches on fundamental issues for the future of universities”. Díez de Castro said that “the universities are transforming without making much noise”. “There is a silent revolution in the universities,” he insisted. At the opening of the day also participated the director of the Galician Agency of Innovation (GAIN), Patricia Argerey, who also congratulated the UDC not only for the organization of this day but “for the vision and orientation of this campus to the contour industrial where we are. ” “The specialization of the campuses is a need and in this case, the UDC is knowing how to respond to the contours of the Ferrol region and the smart industry that the Agency is also trying to promote,” he said, recalling several cases of collaboration between the CIS Galicia and the UDC, as a design program in which the University School of Industrial Design participates, or the creation of the first UDC-Navantia Joint Research Unit to develop the 4.0 shipyard. The day continued throughout the morning with various interventions involving representatives of various business and industrial associations of the region, in a session that was attended by fifty people.
