Mikel Jauregi, Minister of Industry, Energy Transition and Sustainability, visit Ceit
17 | 04 | 2025
During his visit to the Ibaeta facilities, the Minister Mikel Jauregi has claimed the importance of research and technological development at the service of the industry to make it more competitive.
Mikel Jauregi, Minister of Industry, Energy Transition and Sustainability of the Basque Government, visited Ceit s headquarters in Ibaeta, where he was able to see the technology center's facilities first hand. The corporate president, Ignacio Martín; the executive president, Eduardo Ayesa; and the general director , Juan Meléndez, received the Minister, as well as the Vice President of research and Sustainability of the University of Navarra, Paloma Grau. They were also accompanied by the Vice Councilor for Technology, Innovation and Digital Transformation, Jaione Ganzarain.
Together they were able to tour the various facilities of the center, which is part of the network of 17 technology centers and research cooperative BRTA - Basque Research & Technology Alliance of the Basque Government.
Excellence in the generation of technology, talent and European funds for transfer to Basque industry.
A hallmark of the center is its commitment to excellence in technology generation. This purpose is materialized through the completion of doctoral thesis (currently 58 in development), the publication of indexed articles (around 60 per year) and participation in conferences at international congresses (more than 100 annually).
Ceit employs more than 280 professionals of 12 different nationalities, and throughout the year it incorporates about 60 students doing internships, Degree and Master's Degree projects. Throughout its 43 years of life, the technology center has trained more than 500 PhDs and some 400 graduates who have mainly joined the surrounding companies.
In the European context, Ceit has captured around 65 million euros through projects in the various framework programs to finance the generation of technology. In this sense, the counselor Mikel Jauregi wanted to highlight the important contribution of the technology center to the industry of the Basque Country. "With more than 100 European projects developed, Ceit is a reference letter when it comes to transferring technology, knowledge and professionals to the industrial sector. We are talking about projects such as Europe's Rail, the main research and innovation program in the European railway sector, where Ceit is a core topic together with business giants such as CAF, Talgo or Indra".
As Jauregi has valued, "at a time when uncertainty is total at international level, we are clear that our bet for the future from Euskadi is for more industry and more Europe. We are aware that industry represents progress, wealth and quality work . In a world where we are gradually moving towards a commercial closure, the Basque Country can play an important role in the reindustrialization of the European Union. We are more aware than ever of the importance of being able to manufacture at home, and for this we have to be more innovative, more technological and more competitive".
"For this, it is a core topic that the Basque Country continues to be fertile ground for the industrial sectors of the future due to our excellence in technological research and development . This is where the role of our technology centers, and Ceit in particular, is fundamental in helping our industry to become more technologically advanced, with products of greater added value and a greater innovative component in core topic sectors such as transport, circular Economics , digitalization or advanced manufacturing. Technological development and innovation make real sense when we are able to transfer them to industry and turn them into solutions to the great challenges of the future, such as digital transformation or energy transition. That is why we are committed to more industry, better industry and fewer emissions," concluded the Minister.
