ASCAMM Foundation is a Technology Center located near

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, at the

Vallès El Vallès (or simply Vallès) is a historical county in Catalonia, Spain, located in the center of the Catalan Pre-Coastal Range. It is nowadays represented by two separate administrative divisions ( ''comarques'') which are part of the Barcel ...

Technology Park. the origin of this Foundation was the

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

Association of Enterprises Mould-Makers and Die-Makers, in

: Associació Catalana d'Empreses constructores de Motlles i Matrius.

Overview

ASCAMM is an active agent within the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

research and development to

innovation Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed entit ...

value chain, its objective is to increase the competitiveness of companies in a wide range of industry-based sectors. The main activities of this

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

are: * Research and development projects * Product and process advanced engineering * Specialized technical and professional training *

Technology transfer Technology transfer (TT), also called transfer of technology (TOT), is the process of transferring (disseminating) technology from the person or organization that owns or holds it to another person or organization, in an attempt to transform invent ...

* International co-operation initiatives The organization currently employs 100 people, mainly engineering graduates and doctors. It was founded in 1987 for research purposes. In 2007, Ascamm had a turnover of 7.3 Million euros. More than 60% of income is from direct innovation services to Small and medium enterprises. The facilities of the technology centre have 6000 m² of built space with top-level laboratories and equipment: injection molding machines, machines for microprocessing, pressure

die casting Die casting is a metal casting process that is characterized by forcing molten metal under high pressure into a mold cavity. The mold cavity is created using two hardened tool steel dies which have been machined into shape and work similarly ...

machines, materials laboratory, laser

sintering Clinker nodules produced by sintering Sintering or frittage is the process of compacting and forming a solid mass of material by pressure or heat without melting it to the point of liquefaction. Sintering happens as part of a manufacturing ...

and incremental sheet forming stations, comprehensive

CAD Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve co ...

/Computer-aided manufacturing, CAM/Computer-aided engineering, CAE workstations, complete metalworking workshops and mechatronics.
In the ASCAMM sphere, 3 technology-based Research spin-off, spin-off companies have been created: Neosurgery and Hexascreen, oriented to biomedical engineering applications, and Plastiasite, related to knowledge engineering innovative applications. ASCAMM participates actively as RTD performer in the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Union. Likewise, the Center also participates in local (Catalan and Spanish) public funding initiatives.

Main R&D areas

ASCAMM aims at opening new R&D lines to fit industry necessities and opportunities. The center's efforts focus in the application of new or improved technologies by third parties to solve problems and their transfer into potential practical benefits. During the past 20 years ASCAMM has carried stable activity in the following fields: * Materials: polymers, compounds, shape memory alloys, smart materials... * Processes: rapid manufacturing, intelligent manufacturing, micro manufacturing, automation, multimaterial and micro-moulding, laser

and milling, * Knowledge: knowledge engineering, collaborative working environments, non-technological innovation approaches, expert systems for industrial processes, knowledge-based engineering, advanced training programmes... The acquisition of new technologies equipment is done through public funded projects and occasionally by contributions from private companies. Once completed the project goods acquired with public funds remains in Ascamm to provide services to third parties. This have caused conflicts of interests between the services resulting from the activity of Ascamm and business partners to consider that Ascamm makes deslleal competition in its market.

Accreditations

* ASCAMM was the first organization to obtain the label of "Technology Center" from the Department of Labour and Industry of the Generalitat de Catalunya. * ASCAMM is a CIT (Centre of Innovation and Technology) and an OTRI (Office for the Transfer of Research Results) recognized by the MICINN (Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation).

Highlighted memberships

* OPTI Foundation (Monitoring Centre for Industrial Technology Foresight): founder-member and leading centre in industrial design and production technologies. * Founder-member of FEDIT (Spanish Federation of Innovation and Technology Entities). * Founder-member of ACT (Association for Technological Cooperation). * ASERM (Spanish Rapid Manufacturing Association).ASERM Membership
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References

External links

Ascamm homepage

Plastia homepage

Hexascreen homepage

Neos Surgery homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ascamm Industrial design firms Research institutes in Catalonia Organisations based in Barcelona