ANID basal centers: CATA meets with AC3E to boost collaboration

Applied research

“Our goal is to identify synergies and complementarities between the different disciplines each center specializes in. We believe that promoting technology transfer at all levels and making it a strategic objective for our centers is crucial,” said Oscar Solar, CEO of AC3E.

The Advanced Center for Electrical Engineering (AC3E) specializes in electrical and electronic engineering, and has gained recognition for its developments in areas such as energy and power systems, intelligent industry, and health technologies. These include the development of ultra-fast charging stations for electric vehicles and the advanced voice monitor (AVM), a device that can monitor patients’ vocal health and allow for early detection of pathologies.

The Center for Astrophysical Research (CATA) is well known for its high-level research in astrophysics, having participated in some of the most important discoveries in the field worldwide. Additionally, CATA has developed many technological capabilities including the development of instruments for large observatories and the handling of large amounts of data. An example of this is the development of a calibration system for telescopes based on drones, which is designed to operate in the telescopes of Llano de Chajnantor, 50 km east of San Pedro de Atacama, a project led by UC-CATA researcher Rolando Dünner.

Partnership

“The objective of these meetings between basal centers is to understand the specific development niches of each one of them in terms of research, installed capacities, human capital, and infrastructure, as well as good practices, from the administrative point of view and even strategies of linkage with the environment and technology transfer”, says Jovan Kuzmicic, CATA technology Transfer Manager, about the meeting.

According to the specialist, there are excellent opportunities for collaboration and synergy between the two research centers: AC3E, for example, has specific developments in the areas of transmission and electronics, while CATA has vast experience in handling large volumes of data, as well as in generating highly complex algorithms to extract information from that data. “There is significant potential for collaboration. They develop technology that requires data, while we as CATA can contribute with new tools for these developments,” concludes Kuzmicic.

The meeting was also attended by CATA astronomers César Fuentes (U.Chile-CATA) Rolando Dünner (UC-CATA); Marcos Díaz, (U.Chile-CATA); David Monasterio (engineer U.Chile-CATA); Ricardo Finger (Head Laboratory U.Chile-CATA) and David Azócar (CATA communications manager). AC3E was represented by Jorge Marín (postdoctoral researcher); Fabian Rubillar (Technology Transfer Unit); Diego González (Head of Technology Transfer Unit); Jorge Silva (Senior Researcher); Mauricio Araya (Researcher); Felipe Tobar (Researcher); Gabriela Montenegro (Research and Development Engineer).