Maritime Engineering, unique in the world
The Water and Energy Area of Excellence is driven by the Institute of Environmental Hydraulics (IH Cantabria), a mixed UC-Regional Government centre. The actions to be carried out in Water and Energy consist of promoting the work IH Cantabria has been developing, given that it is one of the most important in the world in research and education in maritime engineering, strengthening its activities thanks to collaboration with entities such as the Spanish Oceanography Institute, the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) or the State Meteorology Agency.
Excellence in Water and Energy is consolidated with the new IH Cantabria Complex in the Scientific-Technological Park of Cantabria (PCTCAN), providing the region with a Singular Scientific-Technical Infrastructure (ICTS) of international reference for the study of coastal processes and deep-water ocean phenomena, the Cantabria Coastal and Ocean Basin, co-financed by the MICINN and the Government of Cantabria. The complex is completed with another two buildings, the new IH Cantabria headquarters and the Tower of Renewable Energies. These resources attract institutions and leading companies in their sector, which count on Cantabria International Campus in order to carry out research and technological projects.
The Sea of Innovation Cantabria Cluster has been set up around the Area of Water and Energy, This is an aggregation of more than 60 centres and research groups and private companies which form the first specialized group in renewable energies in the marine environment in Spain, covering their whole life-cycle. Apart from renewable marine energies, the institutional aggregation in the area of Water and Energy permits it to deal scientifically with environmental hydraulics, oceanography, the climate change or management of basins and coastal zones.
The high level of research and transfer to be reached will be consolidated with the creation of two educational cycles, such as an international Post-Graduate degree in renewable marine energies and off-shore engineering, integrated within the UC-UIMP International Post-Graduate Centre.
Current situation of the Area of Water and Energy
During this period it has reached its consolidation phase. After its inauguration in May 2011, the Institute of Environmental Hydraulics and Cantabria Coastal and Ocean Basin, have been in full operation since the end of 2011. This ensures that the return on investment in the new ICTS is guaranteed, already demonstrated by contracted projects which guarantee its use during the next two years. Currently, there are 22 active national and international projects which are of competitive tendering, 4 of which belong to FP7. Collaboration with the public sector is very active in areas such as environmental hydraulics, management of basins, coasts and risks, maritime engineering or renewable marine energies, in the development of offshore wind-power energy as well as in wave energy, with various transfer projects between companies, funded through CDTI or the CENIT programme, or through international projects such as United Nations or the World Bank, having developed projects in Africa, Latin-America and Central Europe, and recently having won a contract for the development of an organizational study of the Qatar Coastline.- Of special interest is the incorporation of Giovanni Coco in the Institute as principal researcher in the Augusto González Linares (AGL) Programme within CCI, and the contract for his work-team which comprises a Post-Doctorate and a Pre-Doctorate researcher, as well as the "33rd International Conference on Coastal Engineering" (ICCE2012), with a total of 1,093 participants from 45 countries in July 2012.
http://www.cantabriacampusinternacional.com/en/excellenceAreas/ae/Pages/Agua-y-Energia.aspx
