The Advanced Center for aerospace technology (Catec) already working at full capacity

Catec has as main goal become a key tool in the generation and management of aerospace science and technology knowledge, in coordination with the University and other research centres, and to provide access, both companies and researchers, to emerging activities in the aerospace industry and aerospace. To this end, activities carried out, both individually and in cooperation with companies, focused on applied research, technological development and foresight and intelligence technology and management (protection and industrialization) technologies.

It is a centre of excellence acts as interface between the agents of the science, technology and enterprise system, and which has among its purposes to meet the demand for r & d of the more than 130 companies that comprise the aeronautical industrial fabric in Andalusia and the rest of national and international companiestransfer to knowledge and technology in their respective fields of application.

Its mission is to contribute to the improvement of the competitiveness of companies in the sector, through scientific research, technological development and innovation, promoting the creation of knowledge and technology transfer. In addition, it aims to become a breeding ground for scientists and technologists highly specialised for the transfer of technology to enterprises in the Andalusian aeronautical sector, as well as for the transmission of the researchers and technologists in the industry.

Catec is part of the technological infrastructure of the aerospace technology park of Andalucía, Aerópolis, business and industrial complex of Spain dedicated exclusively to the aeronautical sector and which is located next to the airport of Seville and the factory of Airbus Military and the FAL of the A400M aircraft. The Catec facilities with an area of 1,500 square metres of offices and 3,000 square metres for laboratories and workshops.

Creating, commissioning and scientific-technological equipment of the Catec has meant an investment of EUR 21 million, financed through a cooperation agreement between the Government of Spain and the Junta de Andalucía.

In addition to the Catec, the Andalusian Foundation for the aerospace development also is responsible for managing the center of flight and simulation training of crews and maintenance technicians, initiative in collaboration with the Airbus Military company.

The aeronautics sector in Andalusia

Andalusia is next to Toulouse (France) and Hamburg (Germany), the third aeronautical pole in Europe, and one which has achieved higher growth in turnover, employment and productivity in recent years at the international level. The Andalusian aeronautical sector 1.541,2 billion euros and created 1.231 new jobs in 2009, representing a growth of 8.8% and 16.3 per cent, respectively, over the previous year, according to the latest statistical report of sector submitted last June. With these data, Andalucía increased its national burden as regards invoicing (reaching 24.1 per cent of the total) and was one of the Spanish communities in which the sector created employment during 2009, from the 22.6 to the 24.7% (8.786 direct jobs) of the total of this industry at the national level.

The Andalusian aviation industry has experienced continued growth since 2001, first year is available to systematized data of the sector. In this period, the Andalusian aeronautics sector has experienced a breakthrough unprecedented in any other Spanish region, with a growth of 211,3% of the turnover (EUR 1.046,2 million) and 131,2% in the number of jobs (4.986 jobs). As for exports, the sector abroad sales grew 72% reaching to 806,2 million euros, representing 6% of the total of Andalusian exports and the best result at the national level in 2009.

The Andalusian aeronautical sector currently has 130 companies, of which more than 90% are concentrated in the Sevilla-Cádiz axis. Among the facts highlights of 2009 highlighted the creation and consolidation of Alestis Aerospace as Tier 1 or first level vendor based in Andalusia, with major packages of the Airbus A350 programme work and other contracts with the Brazilian company Embraer, or the first flight of the A400M, which has also strengthened this Airbus Military program and will take that off permanently with his entry in erie, after the production of the first test aircraft to be used for testing and certification phase.

The overall objectives of the Catec focus on developing different lines relating to new materials aerospace, automation and optimization of industrial processes, development of new systems and embedded subsystems, testing and certification of systems and subsystems, and development of unmanned aerial system (UAV) and its associated technologies. Also the Catec has among its objectives promote a culture of innovation, implement or improve the management of knowledge, and promote cooperation between companies and national and international research centres.

The Center has specialized technical and research staff who work in the following areas:

• Materials and processes: a Department covers a wide range of technologies that are of special interest for manufacturers of aerostructures. Performs tasks of applied research and development in the fields of new processes such as manufacturing and rapid prototyping manufacturing and non-destructive inspection such as computerized tomography of x-ray x, thermography, shearografia laser and ultrasound.
• Avionics and systems not unmanned: this area has available equipment and facilities for the development hardware and software systems shipped with high levels of criticality (DO-178B, involved DO-254, etc.). Its main objective is the innovation in features such as guidance, navigation and control systems, technologies applied to 'sense & avoid' coordination multivehículo (distributed control of formations ATM) and new methods of communication (mobile ad-hoc and security networks).
• Automation and robotics: the area is focused on the automation of processes of manufacturing, Assembly and maintenance of the aircraft industry, mainly. Among its lines of work: development of automated test benches, flexible robotic systems based on mobile platforms or multiple cooperative robots and RFID solutions for the integral management of products and processes. The area also investigates solutions for collaborative environments, integrating the humans in the automatic and robotic systems, and new portable interfaces for industrial environments.
• Simulation and software: the Center is specialized in HPC (High Performance Computing), scientific simulation, software of certifiable real-time (DAL-A including), technology multicore, simulation of avionics, UAV systems simulation systems, UAV, artificial intelligence, control stations for critical systems user interfacesvirtual reality, 3D worlds and training systems.

The Catec also has a fleet of UAV's available to be used as experimental platform, in which the technologies developed by the different technological areas will be tested and validated using these unmanned aerial vehicles.

Also, it has an area of knowledge management, which supports the technological areas by promoting, coordinating and/or managing projects of research and development of national and international levels. In addition, encourages technology transfer and performs a comprehensive technological surveillance of the aerospace sector providing service to clients requesting both the Center. It is the way of communication and dissemination, both internal to the industry, the results of investigations and projects carried out by the Catec.

Currently, the Catec maintains cooperation agreements with five Andalusian universities and national four, two public research organizations (IPOs) and four technology centres Andalusia and three national.

Consisting of one template of 35 professionals and specialists of high qualification, and that it is one of the working groups only in Spain dedicated to technological research for the aeronautical sector, the Centre promotes the regulated qualified training of college students through internships on postgraduate scholarships and final projects and Ph.d. that they enable students Fellows form directly on initiatives aimed at Andalusian aerospace. Also, it implements its research activity through partners or resident specialists cooperating on specific projects of the Catec and that may constitute a team of experts from different entities working together within the initiatives promoted within the seventh framework programme of the EU (Joint Research Unit).

A committed Centre

On the other hand, the Catec has certificates of quality necessary for the development of its activity of technological research, as well as the certifications required for enterprises of the aeronautical and aerospace sectors, such as ISO 9001 (quality management) standards; ISO-EN 9100 (aerospace quality); IN 166001 (RDI) and ISO 14001 (environment).

In addition to this commitment to quality, the Catec is a central concern for the environment and sustainability, and all its activities are designed to have minimal impact on the environment, making efficient use of resources.

The advanced centre of aerospace technologies, in their task of research, development and innovation of new technologies for the aeronautical sector in Spain, develops and participates in numerous projects and pioneering in different fields of interest to the aerospace industry and other related technological sectors.

Their own initiatives include the ATLAS experimental Flight Center, the first Center of Spain, and third in Europe, devoted entirely to the experimentation with technology and unmanned aircraft systems, located in Villacarrillo (Jaén), and that will allow that Andalusia is located at the forefront of one of the areas with the greatest projection in the aviation industry and Aerospace world. Its facilities will have a runway of Flight 800 metres long and 18 m wide, a room of control for the follow-up to the missions, and several hangars independent with Office space and workshops, among others. In addition, the Centre will have a reserve of airspace segregated in an area of the Center - East of the province of Jaén, with an approximate area of 35 x 30 km and a maximum height of up to 5,000 feet (1.6 kilometres, approximately). The main activities to be conducted in this experimental Flight Center will consist in studying how to improve the capacity of the unmanned and proven effective in the air.

The Catec, under the scientific direction of the Professor of the University of Seville Hannibal Potter, also participates and collaborates in other important projects with other companies and technology centres and research at the national and European level as the PLANET projectin the 7th programme framework of the European Commission, and in which we will investigate the integration of systems of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) with wireless sensor networks. The initiative consists of a consortium of 12 partners of Spain, Germany, United Kingdom, Italy and Belgium, with 38% of Spanish participation. The CATEC will be responsible for the tests on protection of the environment to be held in the biological station of Doñana, where carried out experiments of monitoring of the flora and fauna with UAV.

Within the area of research and experimentation with UAV, the Centre also participates in the research project of excellence AEROMAB on aerospace technologies applied to the conservation of the environment and biodiversity, for the monitoring of avifauna and evaluate the impact of infrastructure on different species of birds and mammals, and financed by the Ministry of economy, innovation and science. Also stresses the project PROSES (network protocols for the single European sky), belonging to the Avanza Plan of the Ministry of industry, tourism and trade and the substance of development Regional ERDF, that allows to create new protocols to expand the capacity and reliability of communication of existing aircraft and aircraft systems, and they will facilitate the integration of all users in the future single European airspace.

Other important initiatives in which the Catec works are the VBR 8 x 8 (armored vehicle's wheels) program, funded by the Centre for the development Tecnológico Industrial (CDTI) of the Ministry of science and innovation and which run for the Ministry of defence a hybrid vehicle 8 x 8's second generation with híbrida-eléctrica propulsion for use in both civil and military; the project SEILAF for development, manufacture, integration and implementation of an integrated training system in fighting forest fires Anti, funded by the Ministry of economy, innovation and science; or the MONIF (measurement of forest fires and monitoring using helicopters) also designed to work on technologies and procedures that will make it more efficient to extinguish forest fires using air means and incorporating embedded systems that help to define both the needs of technical and human means to fight the fire as the scorched surface.

The Catec also collaborates in projects as DEPLA (development of protections light aviation), subsidized by the technological Corporation of Andalusia and aimed to develop a new lighter composite materials system for the protection of the aircraft and passengers of impacts and possible attacks, or the project once (systems not crewed with null environmental impact), of the CDTI.