Ferrol, May 10th, 2024. The Concepción Arenal Assembly Hall on the Ferrol Campus hosted this Friday the commemorative ceremony of the 25th anniversary of the Integrated Engineering Group of the University of A Coruña, an event in which companies, institutions and the people who are part of it had a special role and which culminated with the presentation of more than 30 awards. The rector of the University of A Coruña, Ricardo Cao, and the vice-rector of the Ferrol Campus and Social Responsibility, Ana Ares, were responsible for opening an event that brought together more than 100 people on the Ferrol campus.
In his speech, the rector of the University of A Coruña, Ricardo Cao, highlighted the interdisciplinary nature of the Integrated Engineering Group as an example of reference for the university community in terms of strengthening business relationships. From a more personal point of view, and from his perspective as a researcher, Cao wanted to highlight some of the occasions on which he has collaborated with the group and the good results obtained. Ana Ares, Vice-Rector of the Ferrol Campus and Social Responsibility, highlighted all the work carried out over the last 25 years in the field of teaching innovation, focusing mainly on those projects linked to Artificial Intelligence (AI). The intervention of the general manager of the engineering company specialised in industrial automation and control, Texas Controls, Frank Fernández, and the coordinator of the group, Richard Duro, completed the first part of the event.
On its 25th anniversary, the Integrated Engineering Group wanted to recognise the University of A Coruña, the University of A Coruña Foundation (FUAC), the Centre for Research in Information and Communication Technologies (CITIC), located on the A Coruña Campus, the Centre for Research in Naval and Industrial Technologies (CITENI), also located on the Ferrol Campus, and the Joint Research Centre CEMI UDC – Navantia, ao Centro de Investigación en Tecnoloxías Navais e Industriais (CITENI), located on the Ferrol Campus, ao Centro Mixto de Investigación CEMI UDC – Navantia, also located on the Ferrol Campus, and ao Centro de Supercomputación de Galicia (CESGA).
Navantia, Texas Controls, the Intaf group, Electrorayma, Northius, CT Ingenieros, Itelsis, Cofrico, Scio, TMGA and Prointega also received their corresponding recognition. In the same way, the Integrated Engineering Group of the University of A Coruña wanted to pay tribute to the researchers Manuel Graña from the University of the Basque Country, Javier González from the University of Vigo, as well as María del Camino Rodríguez Vela and Ramiro Varela Arias from the University of Oviedo.
The newest researcher of the Integrated Engineering Group also received the corresponding award together with the administrative technician Silvia Fernández, the head of Projects in Industry, Arsenio Iglesias, and the researcher of the group José Antonio Becerra Permuy. In this line, the research group also wanted to thank Pilar Caamaño Sobrino, member of the Modelling and Simulation Group of the NATO Maritime Research and Experimentation Centre, Andrés Faíña Medín, professor and researcher at the IT University of Copenhagen, and Juan Luis Crespo Mariño, professor and researcher at the Tecnolóxico de Costa Rica, who at some point in their research career were linked to the University of A Coruña. Finally, the Integrated Engineering Group acknowledged and praised the work carried out throughout his university career by four of its senior researchers, José Daniel Pena Agras, Alejandro García del Valle, Fernando Junco Ocampo and Fernando López Peña.
A multi-disciplinary and multi-departmental team of 55 researchers
The Integrated Engineering Group of the University of A Coruña is made up of a multidisciplinary and multidepartmental team of 55 researchers linked to different areas of knowledge such as naval and industrial engineering, computing or production organisation. Part of the research staff is assigned to the Centre for Research in Information and Communication Technologies (CITIC), located on the Campus of A Coruña, and the other to the Centre for Research in Naval and Industrial Technologies (CITENI), located on the Campus of Ferrol.
Since its creation in 1999, the Integrated Engineering Group of the University of A Coruña has worked in the fields of naval engineering, fluid engineering, industrial and production organisation, robotics and Artificial Intelligence. However, its main objective is to continue with advanced interdisciplinary research at the frontier between different areas with a marked vocation to contribute to the technological improvement of the industry in its immediate surroundings and to the training of international level doctors.
Over the last few years, the Integrated Engineering Group of the University of A Coruña has formalised more than 150 contracts to carry out projects in collaboration with industry and, at the same time, has received public funding for the implementation of more than 100 research projects in collaboration with more than 70 national and international groups. Today, the research staff of this group is working on eight European and international projects, coordinating three of them.
As a result of its work, the Integrated Engineering Group of the University of A Coruña was granted five international patents applied for in collaboration with different Galician companies, 38 software registers and led the creation of three spin-off companies. In addition to this, its members have organised or co-organised 16 international congresses and participated in the scientific and technical committees of more than 120. In addition, some of the members of the research group form or have formed part in the past of the steering committees of international associations and organisations such as the International Maritime Organization (IMO) or the International Neural Network Society (INNS).
