Fundació Centre CIM

Fundació Centre CIM (CIM UPC) is a technology centre affiliated with the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), specialising in advanced manufacturing, additive manufacturing, product development and technology transfer. Its mission is to transform scientific and technological knowledge into practical solutions that respond to industrial and societal challenges.

The centre operates at the interface between research, engineering and industry. It supports companies, research institutions, hospitals and other organisations in developing, validating and implementing innovative technologies, from early-stage concepts to functional prototypes and pre-industrial solutions.

CIM UPC has extensive expertise in additive manufacturing and digital production technologies, including FFF, FGF, SLS, SLA, DLP, SLM, DED, WAAM and Direct Ink Writing (DIW). Its capabilities also include CNC machining, vacuum casting, electrospinning, post-processing and advanced material development. This combination of technologies enables the centre to work with polymers, metals, composites, soft materials and multi-material structures, depending on the requirements of each project.

A particular strength of CIM UPC is its ability to combine materials engineering, process development, digital design, manufacturing and application-specific validation. The centre works on emerging fields such as functional and intelligent 3D printing, advanced polymers and composites, soft and multi-material manufacturing, Industry 4.0, process monitoring and personalised healthcare solutions.

Healthcare and biomedical innovation are important areas of activity. CIM UPC has participated in projects involving hospitals and healthcare institutions, developing additive manufacturing solutions for applications such as medical training, anatomical models, surgical planning, personalised devices and patient-specific healthcare technologies. These activities require close collaboration with clinicians and researchers to ensure that technical development is aligned with real clinical needs.

The centre also contributes to technology transfer and collaborative research. It helps industrial and research partners identify suitable technologies, define development strategies, prepare competitive funding proposals, establish experimental plans and assess the feasibility of new products or processes. Its multidisciplinary environment allows projects to be approached from both a scientific and an engineering perspective, with attention to manufacturability, scalability, performance, cost and potential routes to market.

Within CIM UPC, the 3D Printing for Health research line focuses on the development of advanced manufacturing solutions for healthcare and life sciences. Current interests include personalised implants, bio-functional materials, polymer–mineral composites, soft and multi-material structures, advanced post-processing and the integration of sensing or biological functionality into additively manufactured components.

One example of this activity is VETREGEN, a concept for personalised regenerative veterinary implants. The proposed platform combines a patient-specific PEKK scaffold with a biodegradable and bioactive PCL–bioactive glass phase. The objective is to develop an interpenetrating phase composite that can provide mechanical support while also promoting progressive biological integration. The concept brings together patient-specific digital design, high-temperature polymer additive manufacturing, composite processing, biomaterials development and biological validation.

CIM UPC provides the multidisciplinary environment required to develop this type of technology. Its expertise in additive manufacturing supports the design and fabrication of complex scaffold architectures, while its materials and process-development capabilities enable the investigation of advanced polymer and composite systems. Its experience in healthcare-related projects also supports the translation of technical developments into clinically relevant applications.

The centre’s value lies not only in its equipment, but also in its capacity to connect different areas of expertise and coordinate collaborative innovation. By combining research, engineering, manufacturing and technology transfer, CIM UPC aims to accelerate the development of reliable, useful and scalable technologies that can generate impact in industry, healthcare and society.