SMEs in the EU R&D
context
A personal experience
Dr Marta MARTÍNEZ-VÁZQUEZ
Dinner Debate, European Parliament, 29 January 2013
COST is supported
by the EU Framework Programme
ESF provides the COST Office
through a European Commission contract
Presentation Overview
 About me
 About IMST
 VISTA: another COST Action on
antennas?!
 IMST’s COST & EU experience
 Wishes for future R&D
 Conclusions
About me...
 PhD Electrical Engineering, UP Valencia
(Spain)
 Senior Engineer & Project Manager at
IMST GmbH (Germany)
 Chair of IC1102 VISTA
 Previously: COST Actions 260, 284,
IC0603
 EU Projects
 Networking & teaching activities
About IMST
 Foundation:
1992
 Staff:
180
 Headquarters: Kamp-Lintfort,
Germany
IMST Services
IMST
Public funded
research projects
Customised
design
of radio systems,
antennas,
microelectronics
Products
& Services
 Research & development
 Design of RF components &
systems
 Transfer to manufacturing
 Test services & type approval
Target markets





Telecom / IT
Automation
Automotive
Medical devices
Security
IMST & publicly funded R&D
 Strategy:
 Know-how through targeted R&D projects
 Technology transfer in industrial projects
 Germany
 Regional (NRW)
 National (BMBI/BMBF)
 EU
 FP6/FP7IP: STREP, NoE, Coordinating Actions,
InterRegio
 Eureka/Medea+
 ESA
IMST & COST Actions




COST 259 “Wireless Flexible Personalized Communications”
COST 260 “Smart Antennas”
COST 273 “Towards Mobile Broadband Multimedia Networks”
COST 281 “Potential Health Implications from Mobile Communication
Systems”
 COST 2100 “Pervasive Mobile & Ambient Wireless Communications”
 COST IC0603 “Antenna Systems & Sensors for Information Society
Technologies (ASSIST)”
 COST IC1004 “Cooperative Radio Communications for Green Smart
Environments”
 COST IC1102 “Versatile, Integrated, and Signal-aware Technologies for
Antennas (VISTA)”
Once upon a time… in 1998
What is COST?
COST IC1102 VISTA
Dates
…Yet another
COST Action
on Antennas?!
COST Action
Countries
1973-1977 25-1: Aerial network with phase control
5
1980-1984 204: Phased array antennas and their novel
applications
8
1984-1988 213: Electronically steered antennas for future
satellite and terrestrial communications in the 90s
12
1993-1997 245: Active arrays and array fed reflector antennas
17
1997-2001 260: Smart Antennas: Computer Aided Design &
Technology
18
2002-2006 284: Innovative Antennas for Emerging Terrestrial
and Space-based Applications
20
2007-2011 IC0603 ASSIST: Antenna Systems & Sensors for
Information Society Technologies
27
Still needed?
“Interfacing” activity
Antennas:
From guided to radiated signal
and viceversa
The tyres !!
Channel propagation,
Navigation systems,
Global Integrated Networks ,
Atmosphere; Meteorology
RF-Electronics:
(Microwaves, optoelectronics)
Signal Processing…)
The engine
The track
Antennas are everywhere…
Source: Airbus
Source: BMW
Wireless systems of tomorrow
MIMO
Intra/on/
off body
comm.
THz
Imaging
& Radar
Cognitive
Radio
Cost-efficient
Reconfigurable
Frequency agile
Adaptive
Multifunctional
SatCom
Wireless
Sensor
Networks
Vision of VISTA
Information harvested and delivered:
whenever needed
wherever needed
however needed
WG2
Make it physically
possible
Enabling technologies &
applications
WG1
HOW
Systems &
Applications
WG4
Create the
possibility
People and society
WG3
Understand & predict the
possibility
modelling &
characterisation
VISTA & industry
Industrial
forum for
practical
input
Exchange
of ideas
(blue sky
research)
Human
resources
(researchers,
networking)
VISTA participants
60
European
Bodies
1%
50
40
30
58
Academia
66%
University
66%
20
1
10
18
12
1
0
Industry
Research
(incl. SMEs) centres
University
Industry
10%
SMEs
9%
European
Bodies
VISTA outputs
Training and
education
• Mobility through STSM (>15/year)
• Courses
• Teaching material
Durable
cooperation
• Industry-University
• Spin-off projects
Technical
outputs
•
•
•
•
Recommendations for future applications
Technical documents
Algorithms & measurements
Benchmarking activities
Attract
female
students
Improve MSc
and PhD
students
mobility
Societal
aims
Correlate
education
efforts with
industrial
requirements
Capture the
attention:
events for &
with children
COST experience for IMST
PROS
CONS
Flexibility
Limited tools
Links to academia
/ HR aspects
“Academic
thinking”
Reputation/
Excellence
Heavy weight of
university
Networking
No direct
benefits
IMST experience in EU projects




Good support for internal R&D
Long-term projects
International presence
Financial security during project
lifespan
IMST experience in EU projects
 Complete system solution expected
 ‘Academic thinking’: expectations, planning,
etc.
 Too high-tech / ‘fashion-driven’
 Consortium building: who to call?
 i.e.: Linknovate, a ‘LinkedIn for science'
 On-line information confusing
 Proposals: costly procedure
 Accounting issues
Wishes for future R&D
 Exploitation: product definition, business cases, market
introduction
 Gap research/product:
 Industrialisation
 Standard conformance, testing etc.
 Possibility of small proposals (small consortium/single
partner)
 Short proposal cycles / quick start
 Limited time for innovation
 Support in IP protection
 Stable financial basis: funding schemes that match
SMEs’ costs over the project time
Conclusions
 COST as ‘way of life’
 SMEs need more attractive
conditions
 EU-funded project vital for SMEs
 Framework should be improved
Thank you and
Hasta la
!
Dr Marta MARTÍNEZ-VÁZQUEZ
IMST GmbH
COST Action IC1102 ‘VISTA’
www.cost-vista.eu
martinez@imst.de
www.cost.eu