Vicente Cortés Galeano , Professor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at the Higher Technical School of Engineering (ETSI) of the University of Seville and president of INERCO , has received the National Industrial Engineering Award in the Professional Career category, which was presented at the gala held in the auditorium of the ETSI.

This recognizes “the important contributions to Andalusian and Spanish engineering, both with the creation and development of a leading engineering company like Inerco, and his work in bringing fieldwork to new engineering professionals throughout his long career as a teacher and researcher at the Higher Technical School of Engineering of Seville.”

More than 500 guests attended the gala, where the president of the General Council of Industrial Engineers, César Franco, stated that “Spain, Europe, and our planet face challenges for which industrial engineering holds many of the answers. Today we have seen excellent examples of industrial engineering's contribution to the energy transformation, digitalization, and the mobility of passengers and goods. Universities must continue to be a breeding ground for talent to face the challenges of today and those of the future. Universities must be closely connected to the business world. We need beacons that demonstrate how industrial engineering helps improve our daily lives,” Franco concluded. 

This year's awards are marked in the speeches by the recent study of the Engineering Observatory in Spain which, among its conclusions this year, highlighted the need to incorporate 200,000 new engineers in the next 10 years. 

Other awards

In addition to the award for Vicente Cortés, the Industrial Engineer of the Year award has been given to Elena Moral Grande, COO (Chief Operating Officer) at Talgo, in recognition of both her “participation in key projects in our country's leadership in the railway sector, and her selfless work in giving visibility to the profession and, in particular, to female talent.” 

The Solidarity Project award recognizes the work of the Rodolfo Benito Samaniego Foundation, for its selfless work "in projects that seek solutions to improve the world in which we all live," stressed Ana Isabel Hidalgo Serna, president of the Foundation. 

The Engineering Project award was givento the Digital Twin of Navantia's Ferrol Estuary shipyardin recognition of its "impact on optimizing industrial management, advanced safety, and the use of Industry 4.0 technology in the real-time integration of systems at the Ferrol Estuary shipyard." The award was accepted by Rafael Morgade, Director of Industrial Digital Transformation at the Ferrol shipyard, and David Roca, project coordinator and head of maintenance at the Ferrol Estuary. The Innovative Company award was received by Rafael Mateo, CEO of Acciona Energía, both for being the world's largest "100% renewable energy company" and for the global development of leading clean energy generation projects with transformative results such as Power to Green Hydrogen Mallorca.