The Higher Technical School of Engineering (ETSI) at the University of Huelva hosted the event ‘External Chairs Café’ last Thursday. This gathering brought together representatives from the 13 External Chairs currently part of UHU’s offerings, including the Gabitel Chair on Hydrogen, as well as companies, university experts, and members of the academic community. The event aimed to promote the open innovation model and foster synergies among the chairs.
Organized by the Vice-Rectorate for Innovation and Employability, led by Isabel Mª Rodríguez, and in collaboration with David Toscano, delegate of the ‘Co-creation of Urban Ecosystems’ working group of the PIONEER Alliance, the event addressed the need to promote open innovation—a key concept that has gained prominence in recent years. This concept is based on the collaboration between society, public authorities, academic training, and business sectors to create solutions and advance economic and social development.
The director of the Gabitel Chair on Hydrogen, Paqui Segura Manzano, accompanied by our general manager, Juan Andrés Reales, and our Business Development and Renewable Energy Division Director, José Raúl Tejero, discussed the key aspects and challenges of the Chair. Together with the University of Huelva (UHU), we established the Chair in 2021 with the aim of centralizing and strengthening collaborative ties and projects between both institutions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by promoting the creation of a scientific-industrial cluster to increase the use of green hydrogen.
Likewise, each representative from the other External Chairs at UHU had the opportunity to present the impact of their respective chairs in their sectors, detailing their main achievements and challenges in the effort to create a common front of cooperation between the university, public administrations, and businesses. This collaboration aims to develop new ideas, technologies, and products by leveraging knowledge that fosters creativity, innovation, and improves competitiveness.
The External Chairs program at the University of Huelva was created to maximize the relationship between the university community and its social, institutional, and business environment. Companies, institutions, and other entities contribute, through collaboration in the creation of External Chairs, to the generation and dissemination of knowledge and the training of future professionals in areas of common interest.
