Just as with human development, the greatest advances within the business world have always come from technological development. Leading corporations that have remained at the top of their game over the years have always based their success on technology.

The year 2011 witnessed the launch of Abengoa Research, created with the core values of Abengoa firmly in mind as a new tool with which to foster R&D&I activities: commitment to and drawing value from knowledge in order to remain at the forefront of technology and the business world over time.

Although officially incorporated back in February, Abengoa Research only started operating in October on the path to becoming an international benchmark in R&D and in generating knowledge and applying it to energy and sustainable development.

Abengoa Research pursues the following objectives:

• Generating and applying knowledge within the areas of energy and sustainable development.
• Acting as a technological base for all existing and future Abengoa businesses.
• Generating competitive edges in Abengoa’s business areas based on research and technological development.
• Providing top-tier technical support services to Abengoa’s business units.
• Helping to develop new technologies and calculation, design and verification tools within Abengoa.
• Increasing the scientific and technical scale of R&D projects for Abengoa and its component companies.
• Honing the skills of the highly qualified experts who work in the various scientific and technical fields related to Abengoa’s business.
• Disseminating any scientific and technical advances that could be relevant to Abengoa’s business.

In 2011, Abengoa Research focused its attention on recruiting researchers. The company evaluated over 400 applications sent in by researchers from over 30 different countries, with the main requirements being:

• PhD holders (engineers, physicists, chemists).
• Excellent research skills.
• Extensive work placements outside Spain at prominent research centers.
• Current and active involvement in publications and/or patents in their chosen field.

Abengoa Research will conduct its research in the following areas of knowledge:

• Materials and nanotechnology.
• Fluid mechanics.
• Solid mechanics and structures.
• Thermal engineering.
• Process engineering.
• Biotechnology
• Electrical engineering.

This unflinching commitment to R&D has been further consolidated through the creation, alongside the Loyola Andalusia University Foundation, of Loyola-Abengoa Research (LAR), a pioneering joint university/corporate R&D center that will be based at the company’s headquarters, Campus Palmas Altas, in Andalusia.

LAR is a research center focusing on renewable energies and sustainable development. It will operate as a scientific and technological forum capable of creating viable solutions for the future and as a space to train professionals specializing in R&D&I.