On 4th June, IQS inaugurated the INNOHUB IQS, a strategic project that places the institution and the city of Barcelona on the map of European excellence in Industry 5.0. The ceremony, held in the centre’s Auditorium and attended by nearly 300 people, was joined by the Honourable Albert Dalmau Miranda, Minister of the Presidency of the Generalitat of Catalonia; Dr Vicenç Pedret, Chairman of the IQS Board of Trustees; Dr Salvador Borrós, Director General of IQS; Ms Kathy Looman, Executive Director of the Gene Haas Foundation; the Rector of the Universitat Ramon Llull, Dr Carles Pérez Testor; and Fr Pau Vidal, S.J., Delegate of the Jesuits of Catalonia, who performed the blessing of the facilities.
IQS Inaugurates a Strategic Innovation ‘Hub’ in Industry 5.0 and Sustainability
“Our mission and vision have not changed: we want to continue being an engine of growth, always placing people at the centre. In times of artificial intelligence, our commitment to Industry 5.0 consists in bringing human intelligence into dialogue with artificial intelligence to understand how human beings interact with machines,” emphasised Dr Salvador Borrós during his address. In addition to highlighting the institution’s commitment to progress, the Director General of IQS underlined the technical dimension of the equipment. “We have incorporated into this INNOHUB IQS a capability that is particularly needed by many companies in our country: a manufacturing centre that integrates advanced additive manufacturing and traditional fabrication techniques within a single space,” he stated.
Fr Pau Vidal, S.J., Delegate of the Jesuits of Catalonia, emphasised the humanistic and social dimension of research, recalling that “technology must be orientated towards the good of society, in areas such as health, the care of people, and environmental sustainability,” and that innovation only makes sense when it contributes to a just transformation and to human and spiritual growth.
Councillor Albert Dalmau, for his part, highlighted the meaning of innovation. “Technology without purpose contributes little. I believe that both things come together in these facilities: technology and purpose,” he affirmed. He went on to stress the “necessary commitment between the private sector and educational institutions” to drive the country’s economy forward.
Along the same lines, the Rector of the Universitat Ramon Llull, Dr Carles Pérez Testor, highlighted the relationship between university and industry: “The INNOHUB is the fruit of this industry–university collaboration. Without this bond, it would certainly be very difficult to bring forward major projects such as those being developed here.”
Following the speeches, attendees were able to enjoy a guided tour of the new facilities to see the laboratories and state-of-the-art equipment up close.
2,000 m² of Technology at the Service of Research and Industry
The INNOHUB IQS is a talent attraction and retention hub that will enable more than 45 permanent professionals, as well as the entire community of students and researchers, to work on real solutions for climate and industrial challenges. The new infrastructure is organised across three floors designed for multidisciplinary research and interaction between research groups and companies:
Lower Ground Floor (Industry 5.0 and Advanced Manufacturing): Spanning over 400 m², this space is aligned with the European vision of a circular and regenerative economy. It houses five key laboratories: Manufacturing Lab (Workshop 5.0), AddiTech Fablab (additive manufacturing), Co-creation Lab (prototyping and entrepreneurship), Smart Factory Lab (AI applied to production), and the Cognitive Machine Lab, where human–machine interactions and digital twins are developed.
Ground Floor (Chemical Engineering Pilot Plant): Covering 767 m², it is equipped to implement semi-industrial scale manufacturing processes, in both batch and continuous mode (flow chemistry), a field in which IQS is a national benchmark.
First Floor (Sustainable Technologies and Nanotechnology): It incorporates the Centre for Sustainable Technologies (525 m²), dedicated to the circular economy and CO₂ capture. It also includes the Pharmaceutical Engineering and Advanced Therapies Laboratory (125 m²), for research in regenerative medicine and cancer treatment.
The installation is completed on the rooftop with solar panels that provide renewable energy for the development of energy efficiency projects. To address industrial challenges, the centre is equipped with the latest generation of instrumentation.
A First-Rate Strategic Collaboration
The success of the INNOHUB IQS is founded on the close collaboration between the university and the business community. Particularly noteworthy is the participation of Haas, the global leader in manufacturing technology, which has established its own laboratory within the facilities. This alliance reinforces the hub’s vision as a real Smart Factory where advanced manufacturing and human–machine interaction are the central pillars.
“We believe it is fundamental that technology continues to advance, and the only way for this to happen is for university centres to have modern equipment so that students can learn with cutting-edge technology and quickly launch their own businesses,” stated Kathy Looman, Executive Director of the Gene Haas Foundation, at the inauguration.
Alongside Haas, the project has received support from various leading companies of the IQS Business Foundation that have chosen to join this innovation ecosystem, including AC MARCA, Carburos Metálicos (Air Products Group), Ernesto Ventós S.A., LETI Pharma, LLEAL, Molins, Roca Sanitario and WERFEN.
The celebration concluded with an institutional reception at which commemorative addresses marked the close of the 25th anniversary of Industrial Engineering studies at IQS, drawing to a close a cycle of educational excellence and opening a new one centred on sustainable reindustrialisation and the transfer of cutting-edge technology.