Fagor Arrasate and Mondragon Unibertsitatea renew their alliance to promote knowledge generation and transfer
Fagor Arrasate and Mondragon Unibertsitatea renew their alliance to promote knowledge generation and transfer
Fagor Arrasate and Mondragon Unibertsitatea renew their alliance to promote knowledge generation and transfer
The company and the university join forces to drive the development and improvement of knowledge and technologies in two innovation areas: on the one hand, sheet metal and composite material manufacturing processes, and on the other hand, intelligent automation.
After almost two decades of successful collaboration, Fagor Arrasate – a global specialist in the design of forming and cutting lines – its R&D unit Koniker, and Mondragon Goi Eskola Politeknikoa (MU-EPS) have signed a new agreement to join efforts and exchange knowledge in order to carry out joint research projects.
This collaboration will foster the development of knowledge and technologies in sheet metal manufacturing processes (steel and aluminum) and composite materials, as well as in intelligent automation. Specifically, work will focus on the main technologies in which Fagor Arrasate specializes, such as leveling, bending, cutting, forming, and roll forming, as well as composite material manufacturing processes, digitalization and intelligent process control, machine vision for quality control, and robotics.
The new technological developments will become part of Fagor Arrasate’s stamping and processing systems, cutting lines, and steel processing equipment. According to the company’s Managing Director, Unai López, this update will allow the company’s products to become “increasingly technologically advanced” and maintain their “competitiveness worldwide.”
The alliance between Mondragon Unibertsitatea and the company focuses on knowledge transfer, an aspect that Carlos García, Director of Mondragon Goi Eskola Politeknikoa (MU-EPS), considers decisive. “This agreement allows us to bring what our teams research into the real world, and it also offers us the opportunity to develop high-level research,” he says. In his opinion, the results obtained are “very enriching” for both parties. The collaboration also includes the attraction of specialized talent and the organization of training initiatives aimed at research staff.
After more than 15 years of continuous cooperation, the agreement is renewed supported by the positive results achieved during this period. This is highlighted by the Director of Koniker, Andoitz Aranburu, who emphasizes that the collaboration between Fagor Arrasate, Mondragon Unibertsitatea, and Koniker has made it possible to promote joint research projects, generate scientific knowledge, and train new researchers in key areas for industry.
“This demonstrates that the research teams are perfectly aligned. With this new agreement, we will be able to address the technological challenges of the future,” says Aranburu.
Commitment to the Basque language is also part of the agreement. Both organizations will promote its use in daily collaboration and encourage those involved in the projects to certify their language proficiency. Likewise, doctoral theses and final degree projects defined within the agreement will be promoted to be developed in Basque.
