University of the basque country as part of the basque digital innovation hub

Abstract

The Digital Grinding Innovation Hub (DGIH) is a new node in the Basque Country for developing technology in digitalization and grinding. The DGIH is a multi-location project involving not only IDEKO installations but also presenting ramifications in the University of the Basque Country. In general, this hub address the TRL levels 4-6 using the basic research of the university and applying it to real industrial problems. In this sense, the role of the companies such as Danobat, Ekin or UNESA, is a key for the DGIH. One of the branches of the Hub is the education centers, being the main objective to train experts in digitalization and grinding in the different levels of the university teaching: bachelor, master and doctoral degrees. To this end, from September 2018, in the Faculty in Engineering in Bilbao a 15h “Grinding 4.0” seminar is offered and to improve the knowledge in this field also a practical training on industrial grinding machines is given. After the formation, the students get the basics of grinding in order to carry out the end-of-degree projects or PhD thesis, both of them in collaboration with the companies. From academic point of view, one of the objectives of this collaboration is that after Bachelor degree, the student wanted to improve their academic career and to follow researching in grinding and digitalization and the dates of academic year 2018-2019 confirms it. In September 2019 the 100% of the students that participate in the project continue their academic career starting the Master in Mechanical Engineering and also following with the collaboration in the DGIH. In contrast, only the 25% of the student that finished the Bachelor degree with any extra training continue the academic career. Thus, the participation of the university in the Hub is determinant for the generation of talent and for training more competitive students. Finally, the success of the collaboration is also revealed in the number of projects with companies, solving real industrial problems, in the JCR article publications and in the industrial doctorates that have been initiated.