Precision engineering may seem far away, but it is present in something as commonplace in our daily lives as contact lenses or microchips in mobile phones or cars. This is just one example of its application, ranging from aerospace to medicine, the semiconductor industry to optical devices. This discipline goes beyond accuracy, it is not enough to be exact, we are talking about microns, efficiency, safety and reliability. Its impact is so broad that it is key to scientific projects such as CERN's Large Hadron Collider or NASA's James Webb telescope.
Zaragoza becomes the centre of precision engineering this week with more than 300 people from 26 countries attending a special edition of the international congress of the European Society for Precision Engineering and Nanotechnology (Euspen), a benchmark organisation in Europe with a global presence through its networks in America and Japan. It celebrates its 25th anniversary and does so at the School of Engineering and Architecture (EINA) of the University of Zaragoza, valuing the industrial and scientific environment of the Autonomous Community. It will be held until next Friday at the Río Ebro Campus, in the Betancourt building and was inaugurated this morning by the Director General of Universities of the Government of Aragon, María Luis Feijóo, the President of Euspen, Liam Blunt, and the Director of EINA, José Antonio Yagüe, a member of Euspen.
Precision Engineering and Formula 1
To talk about precision engineering is to focus on cancer research strategies, optical sensors, particle colliders, electric propulsion technologies or diamond turning.
"Precision engineering is a strategic field that harnesses all available knowledge and techniques in design, manufacturing, control or measurement to develop manufacturing processes and products that are as precise as possible. It would be something like the Formula 1 of production engineering," explains José Antonio Yagüe.
‘Precision manufacturing and metrology play a fundamental role in large-scale scientific projects, such as CERN or NASA's James Webb Space Telescope,’ Yagüe stresses.
The presentations include:
- María Ángeles Pérez Ansón (I3A - University of Zaragoza): Precision strategies in cancer research, with a focus on miniaturised 3D cultures and digital twins in oncology.
- Wei Gao (Tohoku University, Japan): advanced optical sensor technologies for precision metrology, covering multi-axis optical sensors using diffracted beams and optical sensors using white light lasers.
- Hélène Mainaud Durand (CERN): metrology challenges at CERN. The instrumentation and methods developed for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and the R&D carried out on the study of the Future Circular Collider.
- Davina Di Cara (European Space Agency - ESA): Electric Propulsion Technologies, with the aim of improving space competitiveness and enabling new applications.
- Paul Shore (Loxham Precision): Technical update on the LDTM 1.5 metre large diamond turning machine. He is currently producing segmented IR mirrors for commercial Earth Observation (EO) satellite systems. These space systems require lightweight, low-cost mirrors that do not present a significant risk during re-entry at end-of-life.
In addition, the programme includes a trade fair to which 27 companies of high technological value have joined with free access stands.
Young talents facing industrial challenges
The congress also promotes young talent with the euspen Talent Programme, in which 21 students from different parts of the world face a technical challenge proposed by the company Fersa Bearings. The three finalist teams will present their solutions during the congress and one will be the winner.
