The Centre for Mechanical Technology and Automation (TEMA) has been pursuing excellence, cutting-edge research and innovation since 1996. It is the main research interface of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, aligned to University of Aveiro commitment for innovation, quality and international recognition in the areas of Engineering Education, Research and Cooperation with Society.

Grounded on its human capital and their competences, TEMA is focused on relevant societal challenges aiming to contribute to a sustainable industry (specially SMEs) and to the wellbeing of people, translated into two main future mobilizing projects: Sustainable Manufacturing Solutions and Technologies for the Wellbeing.

Sustainable Manufacturing Solutions is focused on the development and innovation on manufacturing engineering and technologies, with subsequent industrial applications. It is intended to increase productivity, improve products quality, and reduce waste in production processes. The strategy on Technologies for the Wellbeing aims to increase the quality of life of society by means of engineering systems, focusing on people and their needs.

TEMA has been contributing to solve several challenges by means of high-level research and development on:

• New products based on both traditional and nanoengineering technologies
• Computational and experimental tools to enhance quality, minimize costs, reduce raw materials and energy requirements
• Emerging areas such as (nano)biomaterials and regenerative medicine, among others.

TEMA researchers form one coherent group with competences in the fields of applied mechanics, modelling and simulation, nanoengineering, biomechanics, transportation technologies, applied energy, together with transdisciplinary areas aligned to the priorities of the international agenda towards equality, gender balance, diversity, and scientific and technological excellence.

The activities of TEMA research unit are grounded in three major pillars:

1. Fundamental and applied research, with special attention to financial sustainability, training of highly qualified human resources, quality in publication (rather than quantity) in international journals of high impact and the development and promotion of national and international networking. A focus is posed on combining research and technology development with perspectives for innovative application (patents and software registries; involvement in industrial projects), including dissemination, marketing actions and promotion of the unique skills of TEMA to the commercial sector
2. Innovation, technological development, and technology transfer to the society, to promote the link between the research from TEMA, the industrial sector and the Society in general. This will increase the capacity of technology transfer, from the University to Industrial and Business stakeholders. This is to be carried out by means of offering support to products and processes development, aiming to improve the competitiveness and excellence in business areas such as: Development of new computational tools; Study and development of new materials and engineering systems; Innovative engineering products, including biomechanical devices; Innovative, improved and sustainable manufacturing technologies; Design of equipment and prototypes; Nanoengineering applications
3. Consulting, training and services, a pillar that is a natural evolution from the previous ones, coming from the accumulated knowledge in the support of solutions to the Society (Industrial and Scientific). The knowledge and know-how of TEMA is also grounded on its laboratorial facilities, and therefore this pillar aims to address the needs and demands of a wide variety of client profiles among several expertise areas, namely: Mechanical testing and prototypes; Material characterization at micro and nano scales; Industrial automation; Energy systems, energy efficiency and fluid mechanics; Transportation systems, environmental impact assessments and life-cycle analysis; Optimization of manufacturing processes; Moulding technology; Specialized training and consulting

Link to institutional website:

https://www.ua.pt/pt/tema/

Address:

Centro de Tecnologia Mecânica e Automação

Universidade de Aveiro

Campus Universitário de Santiago

3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal

Contacts:

E-mail: tema@ua.pt

Tel.: (+351) 234 370 830