Professor Jesús Muñuzuri Sanz, new Managing Director of AICIA

Major companies such as BAE Systems, Vodafone, and Telefónica, among others, are joining the highest governing body of the Technology Centre

The Andalusian Association for Industrial Research and Cooperation (AICIA) held its Ordinary General Assembly today, welcoming the executives of the new companies joining as members. Important entities such as BAE Systems, Telefónica, Macpuarsa, Vodafone, Aertec, the Cartuja Business Circle, and Premo Group are now part of the highest governing body of the Technology Center, located at the Higher Technical School of Engineering. They join CEPSA, Airbus, Endesa, Atlantic Copper, REE, and others that have been members of the board for years.

AICIA's close relationship with leading companies in the national and international industrial sector guarantees a track record of success in the field of knowledge transfer, as well as a fundamental synergy for the economic, scientific and technological development of the region.

Then, with the new members, the Extraordinary General Assembly took place, the main item on the agenda being the renewal of the position of Managing Director, which has fallen to the Professor of Industrial Organization of the University of Seville, Jesús Muñuzuri Sanz.

Muñuzuri Sanz is an Industrial Engineer with a PhD in the same field from the University of Seville, as well as a Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wales Swansea. In 2016, he joined the faculty of the University of Seville, being appointed Full Professor in the Department of Industrial Organization and Business Management II at the Higher Technical School of Engineering.

A member of AICIA's Organizational Engineering Team, he has led 20 research projects and participated as a researcher in another 75 R&D projects. His main lines of research focus on the Logistics sector: freight transport, intermodal transport, last-mile delivery, etc.

Among its most outstanding projects is Tecnoport 2025, on the optimization of intermodal container transport in the logistics hub of the Port of Seville, as well as the Planning Systems for the Renewal of Pipes of the Supply and Sanitation Networks of EMASESA.

Jesús Muñuzuri Sanz replaces Francisco Jiménez-Espadafor Aguilar, who has been in charge of AICIA since his appointment at the Extraordinary General Assembly held in June 2017.

AICIA Results Report

During these meetings, the members of the General Assembly also learned about the main figures and economic results of the Technology Center in the 2022 financial year.

During this period, the Andalusian Association for Industrial Research and Cooperation (AICIA) highlights revenues exceeding €6,700,000, nearly 11% higher than in 2021. They also report the initiation of 101 research projects, studies, and consultancies. It is important to note that the Center's commitment to internationalization has been bearing fruit for years, as demonstrated by the 28 international projects currently being carried out by AICIA's various research teams.

The most active sectors are aeronautics, energy and ICTs, which account for more than 90% of the total revenue of the Technology Centre.

With over 170 engineers employed and a staff of over 200, AICIA remains one of the leading Technology Centers in Spain.

AICIA

The Association for Research and Industrial Cooperation of Andalusia was born in 1982 from the initiative of a group of professors from the then Higher Technical School of Industrial Engineers of Seville (Etsii), aware, on the one hand, of the need for the teaching staff of this type of centers to experience the reality of industrial companies for a better transmission of it to their students and, on the other hand, of the human potential and the capacity of services to industry and society concentrated in the ETSI.

Aicia is recognized as an Innovation and Technology Center by both the Regional Government of Andalusia and the Ministry of Science and Innovation. Its R&D activities cover all areas ofIndustrial, Chemical, Civil, Aerospace, and Telecommunications Engineering.