Photo by: IQUA Robotics
IQUA robotics (IQUA) is one of the most recently created spin off companies of the University of Girona. Founded in 2016, IQUA is devoted to the design, development, manufacture and commercialization of underwater observation technologies. Being the sole industrial partner in PLOME, the company is intensive in R&D and aims to further develop some of its existing technologies with the final goal of commercializing them. Also, it is committed to explain PLOME technologies in events focused in the industry and relevant stakeholders, where academia has a more difficult access.
This 2023, the company was invited to be part of the startup area reserved for the University of Girona in the 4YFN (4 Years From Now) entrepreneurial event, to be able to present its products and further expand its contacts in the international market. 4YFN is an event organized in parallel to the Mobile World Congress that takes place annually in Barcelona (Spain) with the objective of connecting with hundreds of international startups, investors and established companies in deeptech in general. In IQUA’s startup pod, the company showed multiple presentations of current products but also of ongoing R&D projects and their applications in real environments.
In the framework of the Mobile World Congress, held in Barcelona, Tecnio network invited Joseta Roca, project manager from IQUA to explain the company trajectory since its products were in the research stage until now, that they are being used in multiple fields, introducing also new kinds of collaboration with end users, like the one that is happening in PLOME project.
Photo by: ACCIO
Alongside with IQUA was Damianos Chatzievangelou, Juan de la Cierva Postdoctoral fellow of the Functioning and Vulnerability of Marine Ecosystems research group from Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC). ICM is a key partner in the PLOME project since they can provide first-hand information on the scientists’ needs for underwater research. The team, led by Joan Baptista Company, explores the effects of stressors and forcing processes on marine ecosystems with special attention to marine living resources and human activities and is a clear example of potential customer for the future products of IQUA and other technologies in early stages developed in PLOME.
