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The Metal Industry 4.0 Congress<\/strong> brought together over 120 sector experts at Fira de Barcelona \u2013 Gran Via on April 8, 9, and 10.<\/p>\n Vak Kimsa was present, participating in a vibrant session where real experiences, challenges, and inspiration were shared: Round Table “Innovation, entrepreneurship, and female talent in the metal industry”, <\/strong>from the ADVANCED FACTORIES Expo & Congress 2025.\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n “Buying a ready-made product is not doing R&D<\/em>\u201d, reminded us Pilar Gonz\u00e1lez Gotor<\/strong><\/a>, Head of the Institutional Promotion and Territorial Cooperation Department at CDTI<\/strong>, as moderator of the table.<\/p>\n Pilar invited Helena Rodr\u00edguez Barrufet<\/strong>, Head of Mixing Engineering and R&D, who had the pleasure of sharing the table with Carole Tonello Samson<\/a><\/strong>, General Manager at Business Development, Commercial & Applications Director at HIPERBARIC, <\/strong>and Estela S\u00e1nchez Aparicio<\/a>, <\/strong>General Manager at DICOMOL<\/strong>, 2nd Vice President of ASCAMM and partner of EJE&CON (pull<\/em> of executive women and board members).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Innovation is a necessity, not a luxury<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Three companies with different relationships and the nexus of CDTI.<\/p>\n At Vak Kimsa<\/strong> we have launched three major projects with public support, and we are starting the fourth. “We are very happy to have the support of CDTI, even though the paperwork is complicated<\/em>”<\/p>\n At Dicomol<\/strong>, Estela commented that “much was learned from a “failed” project, that like it or not, you have to go through bureaucracy; it’s like a fuse that tells us how far we can go.<\/em>”<\/p>\n Hiperbaric<\/strong> has been involved in about twenty projects, with 1.5 full-time people dedicated only to processing aid applications. “They put us on the map<\/em>“. Carole explained that “CDTI contributed what is now 16% of our company, and it’s because they saw us as strategic.<\/em>”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The data speaks for itself<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n “32 aid instruments, 1.5 billion euros available in 2024, and 70% of the beneficiaries are SMEs<\/em>,” Pilar highlighted.<\/p>\n CDTI is one of the organizations that offer aid and subsidies. A key support. “R&D is expensive, which is why turning to public funds is a fantastic option<\/em>,” Helena pointed out. And it’s not just an internal investment: “in the end, it benefits society<\/em>“.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Female talent, the great challenge (and opportunity)<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n “What’s a girl like you doing in a place like this?”<\/em> This was how the final stretch of the debate began, with the question thrown out by Pilar.<\/p>\n “I didn’t see myself working in an office but wanted to see machines, to be surrounded by technology in motion!<\/em>“, shared Carole, who leads initiatives such as the STEM Challenge<\/em><\/strong> to inspire vocations from secondary education.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Helena and Estela agree: “It’s a cultural issue. Role models and programs are needed to bring production closer to women<\/em>“. At Vak Kimsa we participate in the Industrial Doctorate Plan<\/strong>, we have university interns and develop internship programs for Dual Vocational Training.<\/p>\n “My father probably didn’t found the company thinking about succession, because he had 3 daughters<\/em>,” Estela shared with a smile. In the end, here I am, at the head of the company. “We find talent in high schools. This isn’t about age, it’s about people<\/em>“.<\/p>\n A phrase that sums it all up?<\/strong><\/p>\n “Don’t put up barriers for yourself. I am an astrophysicist and nuclear engineer, and I was often asked<\/em> \u2013 even in the family environment \u2013 why… My answer was that I studied this degree because I liked it!<\/em>“, said Pilar.<\/p>\n Quite true. Female talent is missing “in the workshop”.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Thanks for the initiative!<\/p>\n A day full of knowledge and commitment to promote a more innovative, inclusive, and brave industry.<\/strong><\/p>\n #Innovation #WomenTalent #MetalIndustry #CDTI #STEM #I+D+i #WomenInIndustry #HighImpactCompanies #AF2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Metal Industry 4.0 Congress brought together over 120 sector experts at Fira de Barcelona \u2013 Gran Via on April 8, 9, and 10. Vak Kimsa was present, participating in a vibrant session where real experiences, challenges, and inspiration were shared: Round Table “Innovation, entrepreneurship, and female talent in the metal industry”, from the ADVANCED […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":18394,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[109],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vakkimsa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vakkimsa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vakkimsa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vakkimsa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vakkimsa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18426"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/vakkimsa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18426\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23991,"href":"https:\/\/vakkimsa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18426\/revisions\/23991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vakkimsa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vakkimsa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vakkimsa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/vakkimsa.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/04\/Advanced-Factories-2025-1.jpg\")
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