Interview to Rikardo Bueno, Director for the Scientific Policy of Fatronik and Next Project Coordinator.
Perhaps you could start with a few words on the genesis of the project?
The project started as a joint initiative of diverse machine-tool companies and research centres in Europe, that joined their efforts in a way without precedents to make a big integrated project that would face the most iportant research challenges fotr the machine-tool industry in Europe.
In your opinion, what made your project so particularly successful to earn it a position among these 40 projects?
Probably because it is the flagship project of an important sector of the European industry, where technology is fundamental for the competitiveness. Also because it integrates not only technological research, but also research topics related to the way of doing business and addresses also trining and dissemination in an integrated way.
What have been the project’s main achievements, both in terms of concrete results as well as what it represents for ‘EU research’?
We are now at around 50% of the life of the project. We have already got real breakthroughs in terms of ecological machines and production processes, in terms of machine usability and machine and process performance. Also new business models have been proposed for the sector.
Where does NEXT, and similar initiatives, figure into the future of Europe’s knowledge-based economy?
NEXT is a means for the participating companies to reinforce their competitiveness by means of innovating products and processes. This way of the innovation, i.e., to put into practice the knowledge generated in project such as NEXT, is the way to compete in this sector that is totally globalised.
What has been the EC’s role in the development/success of the project?
It has been fundamental. Not only bacause of the funding, which is extremely important, but also for the support at the preparation and at project lifetime, support in order to get the most of our project, in terms of scientific and economical impacts, in terms of dissemination, and also supporting us to show our work at global scale.
What’s next for NEXT?
There are still two years of project in fron of us, we must complete NEXT, get the best results, and have an economical impact in the participating companies.
And simply, is there anything in particular you would like a summary such as this to say about your project?
I would like to show our project as an initiative that will benefit a whole manufacturing sector, directly with the project results, and indirectly, showing that European machine-tool builders can work together to achieve very ambitious goals.
For you, what is the main message you would like others, i.e. researchers interested in EU-funded research, policy makers, stakeholders, general public, etc. to know about your project?
NEXT is defining and developing the basis of the machine-tools of the future: clean, user friendly and extremely performant, in a team of participants with some of the best companies and research organisations in Europe.
