Last Tuesday the 11th edition of KIMconference took place at the L’Auditori Cuatrecasas in Barcelona. With the title “KIMconference2019 Tangibilizando la innovación“, the event attracted entrepreneurs, politicians, private and public sector including fusion experts to discuss and learn about innovation.
The conference had a dedicated section in the field of fusion energy. The first talk of this section was given by Dr Carlos Hidalgo from CIEMAT. He introduced the topic of fusion to the audience and the great scientific and technological challenges that have to be overcome in the coming years. In the second talk, Dr Victor Sáez from Fusion for Energy focused on the contracts won by European companies for the ITER construction. So far, about 6.000M€ have been invested on contracts and about 2.000M€ more will be spent in the coming years.
In the first stage a large percentage of contracts has been made with very large companies and they have been related with civil engineering. In the next stages there will be more opportunities for small and medium size companies. Dr Sáez gave examples of mid size companies based in Spain which have been contracted for the fusion field such as Seven Solutions, GTD and ELYTT. He invited medium and small companies to be aware of the business opportunities at F4E and participate to the development and growth of the fusion industry. From CDTI, the talk tackled the market of big scientific infrastructures and the economical opportunities for companies in Spain.
To close the event KIM recognized a number of companies and startups. Special mention was given to Fundación Grupo Sifu and the startup EyeHarp, focused on enabling people with physical disabilities to learn and play music without barriers.