Transfer activity promoted as director of IMDEA Materials

One of the pillars of IMDEA Materials Institute is its ability to carry out research of excellence at the frontiers of knowledge, but also being able to transfer this scientific knowledge to industry through various technology transfer mechanisms to create value in the market and in society. During his current period as Director of the Institute, Prof. J.M. Torralba has continued to promote and strengthen the activities of valorisation and transfer of the results obtained from the research projects. The main technology transfer performance indicators of IMDEA Materials for the period 2022-March 2024 are presented below.

During this period, IMDEA Materials has signed 21 direct research contracts with 14 different companies, including world leaders in manufacturing such as ITP Aero, Rolex, Acciona, Airbus and technological SMEs such as Nano4Energy, Citd and Idaero, with a total executed budget of more than 3 million euros. In addition to these direct contracts, the Institute has participated in 13 collaborative research projects, with a total budget for IMDEA Materials of 4,2 million euros, funded by public bodies (6 of them by the European Commission) and involving more than 40 leading companies, both large and SMEs. Among these collaborative projects 2 are industrial doctorates and 1 is a large national collaborative project (IRIDISCENTE-MICIN TransMisiones, total budget of 9 million euros), led by Prof. Torralba, in close collaboration with ArcelorMittal and 6 other companies.  

During this period, the Institute has registered 8 patents and 2 software. The current active IPR portfolio consists of 27 patents and 5 software covering a wide range of areas such as metal alloys, composites, polymers, nanotechnology, manufacturing and advanced materials and processes for industrial applications. IMDEA Materials has granted 2 commercial software licences and 22 academic software licenses to different national and international universities and research centres. IMDEA Materials ‘first Spin-off, Floatech SL, closed an investment round of 1,4 million euros in November 2023 to build a pilot plant for the production of silicon anodes for the next generation of lithium-ion batteries.

In 2023, IMDEA Materials generated income of 1,2 million euros from technology transfer activities, including licences, research contracts and R&D services. This remarkable result, which represents 18% of total revenues, highlights the significant economic impact of the Institute's technology transfer initiatives.