The president of FACONAUTO learns about Andaltec's R&D activity in the automotive sector.

Faconauto's President, Gerardo Perez, has shown his support for the R&D activity carried out by Andaltec in the automotive sector during his visit to the technology center's headquarters in Martos. Gerardo Perez has been accompanied by Laura Peral, responsible for Projects and Corporate Social Responsibility, and Raul Morales, Faconauto?s Communication Director. The heads of the employers' association which integrates the official car dealership associations in Spain were received by Victor Torres, Mayor of Martos and Vice President of the Andaltec Foundation, and Jose Maria Navarro, Andaltec's Manager, who guided the visit through the center's Projects, Lighting, Prototypes and Laboratories areas.

One of the main points of the visit was Andaltec's night-time road simulation tunnel, the largest public tunnel in Europe at 80 meters long, an infrastructure of great interest to the automotive industry. In addition, the researcher Francisco Javier Navas presented the European project Comp0live, led by Andaltec Centro Tecnológico, which is working on the development of biocomposites reinforced with olive pruning, with applications in the automotive sector and in domestic and urban furniture. The objective is to manufacture automotive components with the bioplastic developed in this project, in which Ford-Werke GmbH (Germany), the University of Jaén, Citoliva and Matricería Peña (Spain), Caliplast and Plasturgia (France) are also participating.

Comp0live aims to valorize this by-product to turn it into a raw material in the market and also to reduce CO2 emissions caused by practices such as pruning burning, which is still carried out today. One of the most significant advances of this project is that, when this olive pruning fiber, conveniently treated, is added to a polymer as reinforcement, a bioplastic material is created with a significant improvement in its properties. In addition, an innovative appearance and texture is achieved, even when recycled plastics are involved. The researchers have so far made significant progress in the development of the material and are currently working on the scale-up of manufacturing, in which they have good prospects of success.

Gerardo Pérez has been very impressed by the technological capabilities of Andaltec Centro Tecnológico in the automotive sector. "I have been able to know projects and technological services absolutely leading in the automotive sector, a sector that is experiencing a disruption never seen before and that will need leading technological entities to meet the challenges ahead. As a native of Jaén, I leave committed to Andaltec and proud of a province that has to make a flag of an entity like this technology center," he said.

On the other hand, Victor Torres has thanked the visit of Faconauto?s managers to Andaltec, which he has described as a reference in innovation and research in the different sectors in which it works. He has also pointed out its constant support to the companies and its contribution to the generation of employment, "which turns Martos and the province of Jaen into a neuralgic point of the plastic sector linked to the automotive, food packaging or products for agriculture". He has also highlighted the importance of making the technological capabilities of the center known to Faconauto, which is one of the three big business organizations of the automotive sector in Spain.

Andaltec is a National Technology Center certified by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, which has more than 10,000 square meters of facilities, making it one of the largest in Andalusia. Andaltec's headquarters in Martos has state-of-the-art scientific equipment for research in new materials, development and validation of new products, as well as process optimization. The center provides technological services to companies in a dozen countries and is currently involved in numerous R&D projects at national and European level.