Industrial Technologies

For three decades, the EU Framework Programmes have been funding breakthroughs across Europe. RTD’s Horizon Magazine looks at the people and events that have helped shape European research policy, taking you behind the scenes during the pivotal moments from the last 30 years of research funding. These articles have been brought together into a special Horizon supplement to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Framework Programmes.

Horizon 2020 has started, a new game with new rules. What are the experiences so far? What has improved? What new obstacles and challenges have appeared? Are there already best practices we can learn from?

Advanced and clean manufacturing is a key driver of the industrial revolution. The aim is to explore how technology transfer can be used as a mechanism to help EU industry, and manufacturing SMEs, to adopt new advanced and clean manufacturing technologies. Practical examples will illustrate the potential of technology transfer. Technology providers, industry executives, technology transfer officers, policy makers and financial intermediaries will share experiences and lessons learned.

With the support of the European Research Council (ERC) "Proof of Concept" grants, 59 researchers in Europe will now get the chance to turn their inventions into viable products.

An EU research project is developing tools to help software engineers create energy-efficient code, which could reduce electricity consumption at data centres by up to 50% and improve battery life in smart devices.

Many scientists point out that the goal of social sciences is not simply to understand how people behave in large groups, but to understand what motivates individuals to behave the way they do. Could this fundamental insight be transformed in a step forward towards the solution of important societal challenges like traffic congestion or the sustainability a fully electrified transportation system? Among others, those are the questions that DATASIM project tried to address.

Augmented reality systems are making miners safer and more productive in dark, dangerous and confined spaces. Such systems are in operation in commercial mines following the results of the EU-funded EMIMSAR project.

This new edition of RE.WORK Technology Summit will explore new technological advancements shaping the future of business and society. Industry leaders, technology pioneers, entrepreneurs, researchers and government will explore emerging technologies including robotics, BCI, the internet of things, nanotechnology and artificial intelligence

Research partnerships between the EU, the private sector and Member States presented their first calls for projects and partners under Horizon 2020, the EU's €80 billion research and innovation programme, at an event in Brussels on 9 July 2014.

The European Commission and the European Investment Bank Group (EIB) launched a new generation of EU financial instruments and advisory services to help innovative firms access finance more easily.

This short video animation will guide you through the first steps you will need to take to apply to Horizon 2020.

Find out more about Horizon 2020 in this three minute animation clip which will give you a general overview of the programme specifics.

Industrial Technologies 2014 is expected to attract 1500 visitors from over 50 countries to Athens, Greece, on April 9-11, 2014, including experts, decision-makers and influencers in the fields of nano and biotechnology, advanced materials, and new production technologies.

Parts for cars, airplanes, machines and all types of devices are made with factory tools that must be not only strong and precise, but also exceptionally durable.

Electric cars are the most likely environmental-friendly replacement for combustion engine-powered vehicles. To help industry make the expected transition, the EU-funded LOCOBOT project has developed reconfigurable robotic assistants to increase productivity on the assembly line – reducing costs. And as the robots are so adaptable, they will be particularly useful for the new and varied production processes expected in electric-car manufacturing.

If Europe’s chemical industry – a sector with enormous growth potential – can achieve greater water efficiency, then the benefits will not just be environmental. Making better use of natural resources will help improve the sector’s competitiveness and ensure compliance with ever more stringent rules to protect the environment.

Zeta Biopharma is a medium-sized Austrian company that manufactures high-tech plants used in the pharmaceutical industry. Zeta has recently taken advantage of the EU’s Risk Sharing Instrument (RSI) to finance the development of its business.

Thanks to the OPEN GARMENTS project, we should all soon be able to go online, specify the precise design we want for that new shirt, dress, accessory, or whatever, and have it delivered to our door in days. All at a cost that is comparable to that of a traditional mass-produced item.

In connection with World Cancer Day 2014 (http://www.worldcancerday.org/), the European Technology Platform on Nanomedicine (ETPN) and its partners would like to invite you to the Nano World Cancer Day on the theme  "Shedding light on Nanomedicine and Cancer".

The objective of this pan-European event is to hold several press conferences simultaneously in different leading regions of Europe to emphasise the role of nanomedicine in the fight against cancer.       

Organisers' Websites :

NAMDIATREAM at www.namdiatream.eu

MULTIFUN at www.multifun-project.eu

ETP NANOMEDICINE at http://www.etp-nanomedicine.eu/public

Imagine, instead of hitting “Print” and watching a document slide out of your desktop printer, the end product is an aeroplane part, a hearing aid, a sculpture, or an artificial finger. As futuristic as this may sound, a technology known as “additive manufacturing” is turning the improbable into the possible.