Indra and the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid create a chair in the area of aeronautical technologies

Indra, the top multinational consulting and technology firm in Spain and one of the leaders in Europe and Latin America, and the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid have strengthened their collaboration with the launch of the "Indra Chair in Aeronautical Technologies" at the UPM.

The Rector of the UPM, Carlos Conde, and Indra's Executive Vice President, Carlos Suárez, signed the agreement to create the new Chair, accompanied by the Director of the Advanced Technical School of Aeronautical Engineers at the UPM, Miguel Ángel Gómez, and the multinational's Director of University Relations, Carlos Fernández.

The objective of the Chair, which will be based in the Advanced Technical School of Aeronautical Engineers, is to combine the knowledge and experience of both organisations and to collaborate in the development of technical activities, research & development projects, training actions, as well as scientific and technological dissemination activities in the field of technology for aeronautical simulations and also for air navigation and space.

With the new Chair, there are now 83 active University-Company chairs at the UPM. However, as the Rector, Carlos Conde, pointed out during the event to sign the agreement, this is "not just one more Chair" because "since its creation, Indra has been synonymous with quality technological innovation, it has a global vision of technology, a multinational nature, and because most of our graduates integrate themselves professionally in the activities."

Carlos Suárez, Indra's Executive Vice President, pointed out that "Indra is a company with a strong interest in the aerospace sector, where technology and innovation are essential and engineering prevails over everything else. Thanks to their magnificent training, the School's students will contribute towards our objectives in this field."

Collaborate to innovate

The new Chair in Aeronautical Technologies will enable Indra and the UPM to formalise their collaboration in R&D&i projects in a field where innovation is essential and both have extensive experience. The Director of the Advanced Technical School of Aeronautical Engineers, Miguel Ángel Gómez, who is also the Chair's supervisor, explained that "although the chair will begin with flight simulations, in the future it will likely expand to many other areas of Indra's operations related to air traffic management and space, in which we are also interested."

This agreement marks a new step in the close and lasting collaboration between both entities. Since 2006, the multinational technology and consulting firm has had a Chair at the UPM for promoting joint R&D&i activities and programmes in the areas of Information Technology and Security & Defence Systems. In 2008, it launched the Indra-Adecco Foundation-UPM Chair for researching Accessible Technologies, primarily audiovisual. In addition to R&D projects, both chairs, as well as the Energy Classroom created in 2011, include dissemination activities, training, technological transfer, grants, hands-on training, etc.

"In its university relations, Indra strives for two strategic objectives: mutual trust and long-term collaboration", stressed Carlos Fernández, Indra's Director of University Relations. The company has already achieved this goal with the Madrid university. In its commitment to innovation and developing cutting-edge technology, Indra has always relied on the UPM, which has participated in some of the company's important programmes of conceptual and technological complexity. This collaboration, which dates back more than 30 years, has created over 350 joint projects that have resulted in top innovative global solutions.

Training, dissemination and R&D

Promoting projects and studies in the area of solutions and services related to information and communication technologies for the aerospace sector is one of the priority objectives of this collaboration agreement. The specific actions that have been planned include: cooperating in training programmes for educational innovation; announcing notices for final projects submitted to complete degrees or master's programmes; academic excellence awards; informative sessions, conferences and publications; as well as mutual guidance in areas related to the chair. In terms of technical and R&D activities, the common areas of interest include: simulations for data communications between aircraft and the ground; detecting traffic and resolving conflicts; and environmental simulations for flight simulators.

Indra is one of the leading simulator manufacturers in the world and it has more than 30 years of experience in the sector. The company develops simulation systems to provide training for operating all types of vehicles, including planes, helicopters, submarines, buses, trucks, cars, subways and trains, among others. It has more than 200 simulators in 23 countries throughout the world, and these devices have provided over one million hours of training. Indra is also a leading supplier of air traffic management systems, with more than 3,000 installations in over 140 countries. In terms of the space sector, the multinational leads the development of ground segments in Spain and participates actively in the main projects of the European Space Agency.

Within the framework of an open innovation model, Indra collaborates with more than 200 innovation and knowledge institutions, it has agreements with over 155 universities and research centres (57 of them located abroad), and it currently has in place 18 university Chairs. This collaboration enables the company to recruit professionals and access the latest technologies.

Indra

Indra is one of the world's largest consultancy and technology multinationals, a leader in Europe and Latin America and is expanding in other emerging economies. Innovation is the cornerstone of its business, which is highly focussed on the customer and on sustainability. The multinational is one of the leaders in its sector in Europe in terms of investment in R&D and innovation, having invested more than €550M in the last three years. With sales approaching €3,000 million, it employs 42,000 professional and has customers in 128 countries.

Universidad Politécnica de Madrid

The Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) is a research and teaching reference in our country in the areas of architecture and engineering. Each year, it trains nearly 38,000 undergraduate students as well as 6,000 doctorate and master's students. Approximately 4,000 researchers carry out their activities in its centres. The excellence of its 216 research groups is internationally recognised. It is the top Spanish university in terms of obtaining external resources for R&D&i, and it also has the highest participation levels in projects of the VII Framework Programme.

University-Company chairs are an effective mechanism for stable R&D&i collaborations between universities and other public and private entities. The Universidad Politécnica de Madrid provides a strong boost to their creation since, compared to other formulas that are limited to a specific project, these chairs, of which there are currently 83, offer mid and long term collaborations and make it possible to undertake projects that include the generation as well as the transfer of scientific and technological knowledge during a period of time. The UPM has received dual recognition as a Campus of International Excellence.

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