Unai Alonso Pinillos, a student from Bilbao University College of Engineering’s Machine Tool Course, an initiative backed by the machine tool sector, has been proclaimed the winner of the Euspen Challenge 2010, an international competition for talent in precision engineering. This event has been promoted by Euspen, the European Society for Precision Engineering and Nanotechnology, one of the members of which is the Tekniker Technology Centre, which collaborated together with the Department of Mechanical Engineering from Bilbao University College of Engineering in the organisation of the national phase.

The final took place from 1st to 3rd July in Jena (Germany), where some of the most important companies in the precision engineering sector have their headquarters. 21 students took part from Germany, Belgium, Denmark, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Switzerland and Spain, mixed together in groups of three people. The aim of the event was to carry out a search for talent to lead the precision engineering sector in Europe in the future.

This branch of engineering deals with precision manufacturing processes, metrology systems, instruments and techniques, and the design of latest generation materials conceived for nano- and micro-precision engineering. Nanotechnology is a field of applied science engaged in the control and handling of matter at the level of atoms and molecules, leading to cutting-edge, more efficient solutions in a wide range of fields, including key sectors with high value added, like the automotive, aeronautical, biomedicine, electronics or renewable energy sectors.

The final tests

The final consisted of a number of tests. The first of which was to design an optical instrument for generating uniform white light in a 30 cm2 square. To do this, the students had 8 hours and materials like red, green and blue LEDs, aluminium foil, cardboard, paper, wax, etc. They then had to present the solution developed and propose its possible commercial exploitation to a jury made up of representatives from prestigious firms in the sector like Carl Zeiss, Jenoptik and Heidenhain, among others. Unai Alonso was a member of the winning team with Umang Maradia, from Switzerland, and Roland Maurer, from Germany. In a worthy third place was the group in which another student from the college took part, David Olvera. This student was from Monterrey Technology College.

Both Unai Pinillos and David Olvera had stood out in the previous phase of the event, the national final which was held on 30th April at the Machine Tool Department of the Bilbao University College of Engineering, organised by the Tekniker IK4 Technology Centre and the College itself. The winning team was made up of David Olvera together with Asier Fernández and the visiting student from the Monterrey Technology College, Federico Iván Compeán. In second place was the team made up by Unai Pinillos and Iker Goitiandia.

Euspen, the promoter of the event, is an influential network that brings together and puts in contact entrepreneurs, researchers, and other organisations from 30 countries all over the world. Set up in the United Kingdom in 1999, it is an international platform aimed at fostering collaboration between companies and research institutes to promote different technological developments in precision engineering and nanotechnology.