The AIMEN Technology Centre, with more than 55 years of activity, is currently a national and European benchmark in research, development and innovation in the areas of advanced manufacturing and laser manufacturing, digital technologies for manufacturing, smart materials, smart systems and recycling. We discuss with its CEO, Jesús Lago, its role and impact on the Galician business and industrial ecosystem.

What sectors are you focused on and what is the role of AIMEN in the value chain of the Galician business fabric?

AIMEN is present in the main sectors of industrial activity in Galicia (automotive, shipbuilding, aeronautics, metalworking and energy, among others). As a technology centre focused on the field of materials and advanced manufacturing processes, our role in the value chain is to support industry in the transformation of its processes through the incorporation of the most innovative technologies and knowledge transfer.

What are the most important services you offer to companies?

Collaborative R&D&I activities with companies in the form of innovation projects, aimed at improving products and processes by incorporating new materials and digital manufacturing technologies. In addition to this, we offer a wide range of services that provide advanced and innovative technological solutions that add value to industrial products and processes and help companies to be more competitive.

What are AIMEN's R&D priorities?

I would highlight those lines of research and technological services to accompany industry in its transformation towards intelligent and sustainable production.

We continue to focus on advanced manufacturing, in particular the development of processes based on laser technologies, composite and functional materials, and additive manufacturing. Likewise, the R&D&I lines related to the digitalisation of processes and artificial intelligence applied to manufacturing are experiencing a notable increase.

How many innovation projects are you currently working on and which are the most prominent ones?

Throughout 2023 we are working on more than 100 R&D&I projects, so it is difficult to single out just a few. In the last 5 years we have managed to grow our participation in European programmes, in particular in Horizon 2020, now in Horizon Europe, as well as in Cleansky 2; and since a few weeks ago we have been an associate member of the Clean Aviation initiative.

Currently, more than two thirds of the R&D&I projects we carry out have European funding. As an example of a multidisciplinary project, I would like to mention the Level-Up project coordinated by us and which has just ended. In this project we developed different methodologies for implementing circular economy principles in manufacturing. In particular, protocols were developed for the maintenance, repair and improvement of large-scale industrial facilities and investment to increase their useful life. At AIMEN we also developed a laser cell that can be taken directly to companies to carry out on-site repairs.

Another example of a very interesting initiative is Dommnio. This project seeks to combine different additive manufacturing processes in composite materials to manufacture the next generation of multifunctional airframes for the aircraft of the future.

But we also continue to participate in Galician initiatives of greater importance for the Centre, such as Haciendo 4.0 and 4.0 Driveline, led by Stellantis Vigo and GKN Driveline Vigo, respectively, which ended this year and which allowed us, thanks to the support of the Xunta de Galicia, to work with these companies on the problem of developing and implementing 4.0 technologies in their production processes.

Finally, we highlight our positioning in national calls for proposals, where we are particularly active in the State Research Agency's public-private collaboration programme, developing innovative projects in close collaboration with both national industries, such as Iberdrola, and Galician industries such as Finsa, a company with which we presented the Packtabla project in the 2022 call for proposals. This is the second largest project of the more than 300 selected in the call.

Where is the field of advanced materials and manufacturing heading?

We see a very important growth in research on the use of composite materials for the transport and aeronautics sector. They will enable considerable weight reduction for the next generations of aircraft, but on the other hand present more challenges for their integration into circular economy concepts.

Another field that continues to grow at the Centre is the development of additive manufacturing processes, technologies and applications for metals, polymers and composites. The European Commission is promoting the development of projects on these technologies because they allow us to fundamentally change the way we design and manufacture parts, but above all by saving material and energy resources.

However, there are still many barriers to be overcome before its use can be democratised in industry, including, for example, increasing productivity by ensuring the quality of the manufactured parts.

What role does AIMEN's Laser Applications Centre play and what is its impact on the industry?

In 2024 we will celebrate 20 years since the beginning of AIMEN's activity in the field of laser processing of materials. And this activity continues to grow year after year. We currently have more than 20 laser sources that we use for the development of projects and the provision of technological services.

In addition to carrying out R&D projects in this field, we are also helping Galician and Spanish companies to implement laser technology. In the last 5 years we have seen a growing interest of the industry in these technologies and, for this reason, we have created a whole catalogue of technological services that cover from the initial product idea to the implementation in the manufacturing process. Helping industry in general, and SMEs in particular, to implement laser technologies is one of our aims.

In 2020, we launched the coordination of the European Pulsate initiative, which brings together other leading technology centres in Europe and has the same objective.

You have just turned 55, what are the challenges for the future?

We are currently in an absolutely record situation in terms of both the number of projects and personnel, so our main objective for the future is to consolidate our position as a European reference centre for advanced manufacturing processes and new materials.