ITMATI at the 2013 Transfer Forum: "Application of Mathematical Models to Business"

On February the 13th ITMATI spoke on "Application of mathematical models to busniess" in its participation in the 2nd European Forum for Science, Technology and Innovation "2013 Transfer Forum" held in Malaga. The Foro Transfiere is the most important of its kind held in Spain. This conference was funded by the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology - Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.

Research groups from ITMATI (The Institute of Technological Mathematics), a recently established consortium, presented examples of mathematical success in business. The idea behind the ITMATI initiative originated in Galicia with the participation of nine groups of applied mathematics, statistics and operations research from the three Galician universities: The University of A Coruña, The University of Santiago de Compostela and The University of Vigo. ITMATI was created to act as a consolidating pole for industrial mathematics in Galicia, to significantly increase collaborations with business, and to provide a measurable qualitative and quantitative leap in terms of business investment in R&D.
Although day-to-day use by Spanish companies of mathematical techniques and methods is not widespread, it is a fact that those which are able to do so achieve significant improvements in their results. One of the best ways of disseminating and publicising the potential of this technology is the presentation of case studies in which the application of mathematical techniques has been a driving element and engine for groundbreaking innovation in the productive sector and in society. To this end, ITMATI participated in a speakers corner in the Foro Transfiere 2013.

Highlighted success stories:

• Success in the financial sector: Valuation of financial assets.
• Design and operation of induction furnaces for Ferroatlantica R&D.
• Successful treatment of epidemiological data for the Epidemiology Service of the General Directorate of Innovation and Public Health Management of the Xunta de Galicia.
• Prediction of claims in the insurance section of Inditex.

In addition to this conference, ITMATI has maintained bilateral meetings with the heads of different businesses, administrations and research centres to study new collaborations in which the transfer of mathematical technology can generate new innovations that add value to the productive sector.

This year more than 50 companies from all sectors participated in the transfer forum networking.  Notable participants from the infrastructure and transport sector include companies such as: ADIF, Aertec, Airbus Military, Ferrovial, Indra, Sice, Sando, Thales and Azvi. In food processing: Montero Alimentación and Spectrapply; in Energy: Iberdrola; in Industry: Tecnalia; In health: Advanced Marker Discovery, Merck and Vivia Biotech; Services and Financing: CDTI and Incotec; and ICT: IBM and Schneider, among others.

This participation in Transfer Forum was funded by the Spanish Science and Technology Foundation - Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (FECYT) under the framework of the Mathematics as an innovative element of innovation in industry project.

PRESS RELEASE (published before the event).