Iñaki Díaz Garmendia becomes General Administration of Ceit
researcher Iñaki Diaz replaces Juan Meléndez as general director of the technology center and researcher Igone Vélez will take over as scientific director.
01 | 12 | 2025
Ceit s board president has appointed Iñaki Díaz Garmendia as the new general director , replacing Juan Meléndez, who has held the position since September 2017. Likewise, Igone Vélez Isasmendi joins the Management committee as scientific director. Both appointments will take effect in January 2026.
Iñaki Díaz Garmendia (Donostia-San Sebastián, 1980) is a graduate (2004) and PhD (2008) in Mechanical Engineering from Tecnun-School of Engineering of the University of Navarra. He also has a diploma in Mechatronics, Robotics and Automation Engineering (2004) and a Degree in Business Administration and Management (2015). researcher at Ceit since 2004, he is the manager of the research line in Vision and Robotics and, since 2022, he holds the position of Deputy Director of the research group Smart Systems for Industry 4.0, which is part of the Materials and Manufacturing and ICT divisions of Ceit. He is a partner professor at Tecnun, in the Mechanical Engineering and Materials department since 2009.
The excellence of his professional career is supported by his active participation and proven leadership in numerous research projects and transfer activities to the industry. This activity has also been reflected in a long list of publications in JCR (Journal Citation Reports) journals and conferences of international prestige.
Igone Vélez, new scientific director
On the other hand, Igone Vélez Isasmendi (Donostia-San Sebastián, 1977) will occupy the position of scientific director of the center, replacing Reyes Elizalde, who had held those functions since 2017.
Vélez holds a degree (2000) and a PhD (2005) in Industrial Automation and Electronics Engineering from Tecnun-Escuela de Ingeniería. She has a Management development Program at IESE Business School (2019). Igone Vélez was distinguished in May with the BRTA Research Career award .
She started her professional career in Ceit 25 years ago as a researcher and, since 2016, she is the director of the ICT division, where she collaborates in research projects focused on design methodologies, signal processing and hardware development for telecommunication and positioning systems. She combines her research work with teaching at Tecnun and is part of the Electrical and Electronic Engineering department .
His scientific excellence is supported by the publication of numerous articles in JCR (Journal Citation Reports) journals, international conferences, and co-authorship of scientific books. This professional career has also led to a close partnership with industry and a relevant involvement in the creation of new technology-based companies.
