A fine delegation from IMT Atlantique was in Vienna from 4 to 6 December 2018 to participate in the largest event organised by the European Commission in the field of information and communication technologies, ICT proposers' day 2018: Imagine Digital - Connect Europe. This event highlights the European Union's priorities in terms of digital transformation for industry and society as a whole.
Every year, the European Commission's "Directorate General for Communication Networks, Content and Technology" (DG CONNECT) organises an event in the country holding the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, bringing together nearly 6,000 players in the digital world. This year, it was the Austrian capital that was the scene of this great moment of meetings and exchanges to build new European projects.
« Exhibition » : SubCULtron …
From all over Europe (and sometimes beyond), universities, research centres, major groups, SMEs, start-ups, competitiveness clusters, European Commissioners and members of the Commission, political and political figures, etc. attended lectures and networking sessions to develop strategic orientations in the field and to consider new research and innovation projects. As every year, two "exhibition" rooms were also reserved for projects already funded by the European Commission: the bio-inspired robotics researchers from IMT Atlantique's Automatics, Production and Information Technology Department (DAPI), Frédéric Boyer and Vincent Lebastard, met with great success when they presented the subCULtron project and their underwater robot with animal-inspired properties.
The IMT Atlantique delegation had 10 members* and was among the largest delegations. This participation was a first for IMT Atlantique, which plans to be robustly present at the European level and to continue to take the excellence of its research beyond borders. The mobilization of IMT researchers also testifies to their willingness to develop and carry forward European proposals. Everyone was able to meet the project officer of the call for projects they were targeting, as well as potential new partners and tomorrow's digital experts. A date has already been set for the next meeting, to be held in Finland.
*Researchers in the delegation: Jean-Marie Mottu (LS2N/ DAPI), Massimo TISI, (DAPI), Gilles Simonin, (DAPI), Shadi Ibrahim (Inria/ STACK/DAPI), Vincent Castel, (Microwaves Department), Vincent Lebastard (DAPI), Frédéric Boyer (DAPI), Adrien Lèbre (DAPI), Mohamed Boukens (post-doc at DAPI) and Julien Prud'homme, European Contract Engineering Manager (Research and Innovation Executive).
by Pierre-Hervé VAILLANT
