Apr 6 2010
Tekniker-IK4 is providing Basque small and medium-sized enterprises with access to the main European micro and nanotechnology research installations, thanks to its participation in EUMINAfab. Since the end of last year the Basque technological centre has been part of the first European platform of research into micro and nanotechnologies in which the principal centres in the continent share resources in this field. This enables providing open, cost-free access for users to state-of-the-art technologies and to the manufacture and characterisation of a multitude of functional materials.
This type of installation is normally out of the reach of small and medium sized businesses as well as of most academic institutions, due to its high cost and level of specialisation. Thus, being able to take part in a consortium such as EUMINAfab open to users is an innovative way for these micro and nanotechnology organisations to strengthen and complement their technological portfolio, given that access to its resources is open and free of charge.
Moreover, this innovative project will enable the exchange of the scientific and technological capacities of 10 European institutions specialised in the field of micro and nanotechnologies, from industry to the university, making it a reference for European researchers in this sphere.
Tekniker-IK4 is the only partner from Spain in EUMINAfab, a consortium made up of nine other partners: Cardiff University (the United Kingdom), the Centro Ricerche FIAT (Italy), Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique (France), the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany), Fraunhofer Gesellschaft (Germany), IMS Nanofabrication (Austria), Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan (Sweden), MiPlaza Philips Research Europe (the Netherlands) and the National Physical Laboratory (the United Kingdom).