Designed to strengthen collaboration between the business sector and the academic environment, the Connèxia UPC programme celebrates its first year of activity having established partnerships with four major companies: Fractus, Schneider Electric, Mecalux  and Cetaqua. These partnerships have given rise to a new university-industry collaboration model based on personalised support for each company, allowing them to fully harness the value that the UPC has to offer. This has led to the development of projects with a direct impact on student training, technology development and talent acquisition.

Through this business partnership programme, around 5,000 UPC students have engaged in activities related to the initiative, generating an estimated economic impact of €350,000 for the University.

Connèxia UPC offers a framework based on a comprehensive understanding of each company’s needs, with a 360° approach. The programme helps foster synergies between each company and the innovation ecosystem that revolves around the University.

Each partner company receives dedicated support from a Connèxia UPC representative who serves as a key account manager. Connèxia UPC offers each partner access to talent, training, visibility and corporate responsibility opportunities. It also provides bespoke services and innovation opportunities. This makes it a unique gateway to the UPC.

R&D&I within reach for businesses
Connèxia UPC creates the right conditions to support corporate R&D&I departments and provides access to the University’s laboratories and scientific and technical services.

It also opens up new avenues for technological innovation and the valorisation of knowledge generated by research groups and centres working, for example, on deep tech developments. These technologies are regarded as disruptive and essential for the advancement of 5G/6G telecommunications, micro and nanoelectronics, robotics, drones, virtual reality, smart sensors and artificial intelligence, among others.

Sourcing talent and tackling real-world challenges
The programme also focuses on talent sourcing and student support through grants, while companies contribute to university teaching based on real-world challenges. They participate in specially designed subjects that promote a new way of learning by generating ideas to solve technological problems and encourage entrepreneurship. Such is the case with the Advanced Engineering Projects subject and others with similar approaches offered across several UPC schools. In these subjects, students work in teams on innovative projects that provide solutions (services, applications, or products) to real-world technology challenges presented by Connèxia UPC partner companies. 

Other collaborative activities include awards for the best bachelor’s and master’s theses, hackathons, datathons, university-industry forums and networking events. The programme has also helped to develop mentorship initiatives aimed at promoting female talent through projects that support leadership.

In collaboration with Fractus, the UPC launched the Fractus-UPC Deep Tech Hub, an ecosystem dedicated to advancing disruptive technologies that will shape the society and markets of the future. This innovation hub focuses on three strategic areas: talent development, market-driven technology transfer and socially impactful projects, such as the application of machine learning to help Open Arms reduce fuel consumption during navigation.

The collaboration with Mecalux focuses on a series of actions designed to raise awareness of the company’s work within the university environment and to attract talent in areas such as robotics, structural engineering, warehouse management systems and information technologies. It also plays an active role in training future professionals for the logistics sector, a field in constant evolution that requires faster, safer, more efficient and increasingly sustainable solutions.

The relationship with Schneider Electric has centred on energy management and sustainability, as well as promoting equal opportunities and female talent. The company has invited students to develop a comprehensive, predictive energy supply portfolio solution to help businesses meet their energy management and sustainability goals.

Additionally, training workshops such as “Women in technology: paths to leadership” are among Schneider Electric’s initiatives under the Women Tech Talent Sessions series, aimed at promoting gender equality and female talent, while encouraging STEAM vocations (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics). The company also promoted the Let’s Go Engineering initiative, which brings primary school students to the University to deepen their understanding of STEAM and supports activities and tech events such as one focused on hydrogen.

The collaboration with Agbar (CETAQUA) has been rooted in research and development, combining the UPC’s scientific knowledge with the company’s strategic technology needs. It has given CETAQUA access to expert researchers in technologies related to the integral water cycle and its technical verticals, providing support in three main areas: physicochemical treatment for urban and industrial environments, advanced processes for inorganic matrices and biological processes for treating wastewater and other organic matrices.

Boosting the competitiveness of the productive sector
Connèxia UPC provides companies with additional tools and mechanisms to foster innovation, enhance the competitiveness of the productive sector and support collaboration in joint entrepreneurship programmes. The programme grants direct and preferential access to the portfolio of marketable UPC technologies and the ecosystem of technology-based UPC start-ups and spin-offs.

Another relevant aspect of this UPC-company collaboration is that the University acts as a facilitator and partner in projects and consortia that receive substantial funding. This allows companies to take part in ambitious R&D projects and collaborative pilot initiatives, such as the one with Open Arms.

Looking ahead, the UPC aims to expand its network of partner companies and strengthen new lines of action in strategic sectors such as quantum technologies, renewable energies and smart manufacturing. In doing so, Connèxia UPC is consolidating its position as a model for university-industry interaction in the drive for innovation, knowledge transfer and talent acquisition.