On 7 and 8 of March 2017, the ALBA Synchrotron has organised a meeting with representatives from the Industrial Liaison Offices of European synchrotron and free-electron laser facilities.

In large research infrastructures, the industrial liaison offices offer one-stop services for companies interested in using cutting-edge technology for developing or improving their products. Besides, they also provide help in knowledge transfer activities, contributing to the competitiveness and innovation of the industrial environment.

In order to put in common ideas and projects within the framework of the LEAPS (League of European Accelerator-based Photon Sources) initiative, a meeting has been held at the ALBA premises. Eleven representatives from different European institutions have participated. During the event, it has been highlighted that a large scale collaboration and coordination among those research facilities can boost the European industry innovation, in particular, the SMEs. Several approaches to achieve that challenging objective were pointed out.

"For ALBA is really important to host a meeting like this one; it shows our real integration within the European large research facilities community and our commitment to contribute to improve the European industry competitiveness as well as the national one", according to Alejandro Sánchez, responsible of the Industrial Office of the ALBA Synchrotron.

This European initiative will not only help to increase the industry competitiveness but also to strength the technology transfer and the industrial use of ALBA and the rest of the facilities. It will allow us to better exploit the R&D capabilities of ALBA and the rest of the facilities and maximizing the impact on the society.


Group photo of the attendees at the main entrance of the ALBA Synchrotron.