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RESEARCH THAT MAKES INDUSTRIAL SENSE

The Ascamm Technology Centre was set up in 1987 by the Catalan Association of Mould and Die Manufacturers. In 1997 it became an independent entity under the legal form of a private non-profit foundation. Ascamm Foundation is located in the Vallès Technological Park and has a built area of 11,000 sq m. It has 130 employees, most of whom are technologists. Ascamm is recognised and registered as a reference technology centre both by the Catalan and Spanish authorities.

Our mission is to generate wealth in our sphere of activity through applied R&D;, innovation and knowledge-intensive services aimed at improving competitiveness and efficiency in businesses. Two fundamental objectives derived from this mission are the following:

• Generating first-rate technological knowledge in the production technologies field.
• Transferring this knowledge to our industrial environment in an effective way, and facilitating the use of that knowledge by the industrial sector.

The actions for achieving the first objective are related to our own R&D.; In some cases this is carried out individually and in the majority of cases, jointly with other research organisations, technological centres, enterprises, etc. More than 200 companies are involved yearly in over 70 ongoing, collaborative research, technology development and innovation projects where Ascamm is the leader or a technical partner.

Ascamm has generated

• 8 Patents of industrial application
• 4 Technology-based start-ups
• 12 Innovative technological products

Knowledge transfer is mainly carried out through the following activities:

• Contract R&D; projects
• Technological services: testing, virtual lab, technical assistance, prototyping,…
• Assessorament i organització industrial
• Advisory services and industrial organisation
• Support in establishing technology-based start-up and spin-off companies.
• Training: on our premises, in-company and on-line
• Dissemination through conferences, publications, etc.

Our know-how is focused on the design and production technologies field, in particular those related to polymers and metals (ferrous materials and light alloys), and composites.

The Centre’s most important research lines are:

The main CAx Design, Simulation. Manufacturing and Robotics systems used by the Centre are the following:

CAD systems (I-DEAS-NX, Catia, SolidWorks, TopSolid), Freeform design system (Sensable), CAE product systems (I-DEAS, Abaqus and Fluent), CAE process systems (Moldflow, Stampack, Autoform, Vulcan), CAM systems (PowerMill, Cimatron, TopCAM, MasterCAM) and ROB systems (Robotmaster and RobotStudio).

Our R&D; Projects Department is comprised of a multidisciplinary and multinational team of 86 experts -among which 10 PhDs and PhD candidates- in the following scientific and technical fields: industrial, materials and chemical engineering, computer science , bioengineering, physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics and industrial design.

The Centre has more than 15 years of experience in R&D; projects. During this time it has obtained results and knowledge that are very useful for industrial companies. Furthermore, to bring added value, specialised technicians offer our clients every guarantee in professionally managing and directing research and innovation projects. Proof of this is the constant demand made by companies and research centres for organising seminars on innovation management and R&D; projects management.

Ascamm Foundation is actively involved with more than 500 companies from its sectors of reference: transport (in the automotive, aeronautics and railway sectors), industrial equipment, energy, biomedical and healthcare (devices and equipment), packaging, consumer goods, plastic and metal transformers, etc. It also has an extensive, consolidated international cooperation network with many industrial, technological and training organisations throughout Europe and the rest of the world.