AIMS, the Basque alliance to boost artificial intelligence in industrial manufacturing

• IDEKO, BCAM, the UPV/EHU, the CFAA advanced aeronautical manufacturing centre and the IMH Campus advanced training centre have joined forces to create this collaborative space, which seeks to accelerate digitalisation in production environments
• The newly created alliance is located at CFAA’s facilities in the Zamudio technology park and will develop AI solutions applied to manufacturing

With the mission of accelerating the digitalisation of production environments, the IDEKO technology centre, the CFAA advanced aeronautical manufacturing centre, the IMH Campus advanced training centre, the BCAM Basque centre for applied mathematics and the University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU have joined forces to create the AIMS, Artificial Intelligence Manufacturing for Sustainability, a collaborative environment that seeks to promote the application of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions in the industrial manufacturing sector.

This new unit is located at the CFAA facilities in the Zamudio technology park, and will have the main challenge of promoting the penetration of digital technologies in production systems through collaboration between the actors involved. The physical headquarters of this project, located on the ground floor of the CFAA and equipped with state-of-the-art equipment such as fourteen machine tools, additive manufacturing systems and metrology applications, was completed in March. AIMS is a great opportunity to advance in the application of AI in the Basque manufacturing sector, a milestone that will allow us to make a key qualitative leap in technology and innovation.

Within this alliance, CFAA will contribute its experience in advanced manufacturing aimed at the aeronautical sector, while BCAM, as a centre of excellence with a vocation to support and apply the latest advances in mathematics to the country’s productive sectors, will work on the more scientific dimension of the initiative. But in addition to promoting AI in industrial manufacturing, AIMS has the mediumterm challenge of training professionals capable of generating the innovation demanded by the industrial manufacturing sectors and bringing the reality of these environments closer to future researchers.

In this sense, IDEKO will provide specialised personnel, with the aim of putting its knowledge of the machine tool sector and artificial intelligence technologies at the service of this new space, which will operate as a sub-site of the Elgoibar technology centre.

For its part, the UPV/EHU will be responsible for providing teaching staff and students in training, from students doing their final degree work to PhD students. The Basque university will involve several areas of specialisation in this alliance, including the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Likewise, IMH Campus, which already has a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in dual mode attached to the UPV/EHU, adds to the project the capacity for specialised continuous training.

Combining and complementing the talent of different technological disciplines in the same space will be key to accelerating digitalisation and the incorporation of new functions into the production systems of Basque industry. To achieve this, the training of new professionals who are motivated, enthusiastic and with a common vision of the road ahead is a fundamental part of our commitment to society and industry.

IMH Campus trains specialists in advanced manufacturing with the skills and competencies most in demand in the industry of the future, through vocational training, university training and continuing education. Women and men who develop both technical and human skills and contribute talent in real projects within the extensive network of IMH Campus collaborating companies: a network of connections that makes progress a reality.

IMH Campus is an agent of the RVCTI and operates as a centre attached to the UPV/EHU, and is also an integral part of the AFM Cluster.

The challenge is very big, to bring the latest artificial intelligence and digitalisation technologies to advanced manufacturing environments. But the partners in this alliance clearly have the know-how, the means, the best researchers, and a location where many companies collaborate on R&D projects. Success is within reach.

About CFAA

The CFAA, Centre for Advanced Aeronautical Manufacturing was inaugurated in 2017 to develop machines and processes close to the needs of the aeronautical turbine sector. It is the result of an agreement between the Basque Government and the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, a Business Association with 92 companies and organisations, and the University of the Basque Country/Euskal Herriko Unibersitatea, UPV/EHU. It is constituted as a mixed centre of the University of the Basque Country/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea.

Its objective is to work with a direct approach to final applications, as well as the generation of new knowledge in advanced manufacturing technologies, especially oriented to the aeronautical sector. Therefore, the new AIMS project consolidates the centre’s project and makes its activity even more attractive both for the business sector and for the field of technological development. And all this without forgetting the multiple benefits for the training of the students.

About IDEKO

The IDEKO Basque technology centre, a member of the BRTA alliance, has a track record of more than 35 years dedicated to research, development and innovation in new technologies applied to advanced manufacturing, with a special focus on precision machines and processes and artificial intelligence applied to manufacturing. Its R&D&I activity is aimed at offering innovative solutions that contribute to the competitiveness of the business fabric and is structured around 4 research groups: Dynamics and Control, Manufacturing Processes, ICTs and Automation and Design and Precision Engineering.

About IMH Campus

At IMH Campus we train people specialising in advanced manufacturing with the skills and competencies most in demand in the industry of the future, through vocational
training, university training and continuing education. Women and men who develop both technical and human skills and contribute talent in real projects within the
extensive network of IMH Campus collaborating companies: a network of connections that makes progress a reality.

IMH Campus is an agent of the RVCTI and operates as a centre attached to the UPV/EHU, and is also an integral part of the AFM Cluster.

About BCAM

BCAM – Basque Center for Applied Mathematics, is a leading research centre in the field of Applied Mathematics, which was founded in 2008 by the Basque Government as a Basic Research and Excellence Centre (BERC), with a focus on interdisciplinary research in mathematics, as well as on training, attracting talented scientists and promoting scientific and technological advances worldwide. It has also obtained accreditation as a Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence on two occasions.

Through its Knowledge Transfer Unit (KTU), BCAM aims to develop mathematical solutions to scientific challenges based on real-life applications, in order to disseminate knowledge and technology to industry and society at large based on mathematics, data science, statistical methods and artificial intelligence. Therefore, through its participation in AIMS, collaborations in the smart manufacturing sector will be fostered and BCAM will contribute to those R&D&I projects where it can bring added value.

About UPV/EHU

The UPV/EHU, founded in 1980, is a public, research-oriented university that is committed to the creation of knowledge and its transmission to society, within an intense process of internationalisation, compatible with its close ties to Basque culture. It has facilities in Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa and Araba and is one of the leading public universities in Spain.

The university has widely recognised research groups in departments such as Mechanical Engineering, Information Technology, Business Organisation and others. Eman ta zabal zazu (give and spread it) is its motto, and this project and its great openness to cooperation is proof of it.