Innovation at the service of the customer
STARTinnova is entering the final stretch of this edition, which began in the fall of 2015. The e-learning program, which champions innovation and Cantabrian youth, also includes the development of micro-presentations by participating mentor companies. During this sixth session, the Center for Technological Development of Components (CTC) and Lostal shared their own business experiences.
Journal
Beatriz San Cristóbal is the director of the Component Technology Center (CTC), established in 2000 as a non-profit foundation, which is currently recognized as a Technology Center by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. Its objective is to add value to companies through Research, Technological Development, and Innovation projects, contributing to enhancing their competitiveness and sustainability, becoming their technological partner, and serving as a meeting point between their needs and research activities.
San Cristóbal wanted to share CTC's most recent achievement: the presentation of an innovative material for the manufacturing of high-end sinks, which they developed for the Cantabrian firm Bathco. It is a new formulation that, starting from traditional cement, achieves a lighter, more impermeable product with a wide variety of possible shades and finishes in the final product. This new material has been registered under the name ‘cemLab’.
STARTinnova10 has enabled the exchange of experiences between companies
«Bathco asked us to develop a product to meet the need for a new material for the design of a line of sinks, for which they provided us with their market knowledge,» he explained. «From there, we carried out tests as challenges to achieve the development of a perfect cement-based formulation,» he commented. «We sought raw materials; we made samples with evaluation tests, and finally, we achieved the manufacture of a unique sink prototype using ‘cemLab,’ as this innovation has been named.».
Beatriz San Cristóbal also highlighted, within the CTC's work activities, the Marine Corrosion Test Site ‘El Bocal’ (MCTS ‘El Bocal’), an open-sea Marine Laboratory. Within all areas of knowledge, the CTC is positioned in experimental sciences and engineering, developing R+D+i in the following areas: Industrial Systems and Nuclear Components, Marine Renewable Energies, Industrial Automation and Robotics, Advanced Materials and Nanomaterials.
Santiago García, Director of Lostal, reviewed the history of a company dedicated to bathrooms, flooring and cladding, plumbing materials, heating and air conditioning, as well as construction and civil engineering materials.
