The Department for New Materials is oriented toward the design, synthesis, formulation and improvement of a range of materials (electroactive, electro-optic, magnetic, nanostructured, bifunctional, hybrid, etc.) for use in different equipment/products that are of interest to our customer companies.

It is industrial demand for new products/equipment with high added value plus a significant component of innovation that has in actual fact prompted the specific set-up of the Department into its six current R&D units: Biomaterials, Electro-optics, Synthesis, Sensors and Actuators, Nanotechnologies and Magnetism. The Department has a multidisciplinary staff of 33 researchers (2007) as well as cutting-edge scientific equipment to enable it to respond to increasingly demanding requirements for generating knowledge/technology and transferring it to our customers.

The development of customised, multifunctional materials, their validation in prototypes of equipment/products, and the applied development, based on this acquired knowledge, of new end products for companies in different sectors is a mark of distinction for us. At the same time this guarantees the success/satisfaction of our customers, who know how to recognise the excellence of the research teams in each Unit, the right balance between basic and applied research which is conducted in them, and the added value of interaction between them, which frequently gives rise to new hybrid materials with a high degree of innovation/added value for their new ranges of products.

Finally, this high level of specialisation coupled with collaboration with other R&D agents in different regional, national and international projects are further characteristics that define our Department.