For many years, AITEX has focused its attention on the development of R&D projects that lead to innovative solutions for a variety of sectors including textile, fashion, home and automotive, to cosmetics, health, construction and sports.
AITEX’s strategic R&D is structured in two different yet complementary phases. The first of these is our in-house R&D, in which the main objective is to GENERATE KNOWLEDGE. The ultimate goal of the second phase is to transfer this knowledge to the private sector and society through specific KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER activities.
What has AITEX achieved in R+D+i during 2022?
Taking stock of 2022, AITEX has participated in two hundred and seventy five R&D&I projects, (two hundred and fourteen of which under private contract.) Three hundred and forty companies have benefited from our services; two hundred and six of which are under private contract. Analysing the geographical distribution of R+D clients, we see there is a good balance, with thirty percent from Europe and Spain each and thirty-nine percent from the Valencian Community.
AITEX’s R&D lines are included in four large thematic areas
> Firstly, the core objective of the new high performance and functionalised materials area is to develop new added-value products which have technical and economic benefits. In this area, our work on reactive extrusion, spinning, texturising and weaving, composite materials and technical finishes is of great interest.
> The second strategic area is textile sustainability and the circular economy. Here, strategic focus is not only centred on recycling techniques, but the value of complementing this with other areas of knowledge related to sustainability, including eco-design, the development of new biopolymers of renewable origin and their application in the sector and applied research into more biodegradable materials, energy efficiency in industrial processes, lower consumption of chemical products and integrated water management to reduce the water footprint.
> Thirdly, there is the area of advanced manufacturing, smart textiles and digitization, focused on meeting the technological challenge of digitisation and the development of more efficient production processes. In this case there are three R&D lines; Industry 4.0 and digitisation, smart textiles and sensorisation and additive manufacturing and 3D printing.
> The fourth area is high value-added solutions for strategic markets, encompassing those projects focused on applications in sectors such as home textiles, automotive, construction, the defense sector, PPE, fashion, health, sports, detergents or cosmetics, among others.
AITEX focuses its efforts on offering customized solutions for multiple sectors. If you are interested in carrying out a research or innovation project, do not hesitate to contact AITEX and we will offer you all the help you need.
