Awards
"The awards we have received are the result of the effort and excellence that define the work of CATEC professionals".
2025 - Premios LUZ
CATEC receives this award, in the Institution category, granted by Cibersur and Human Start Lab, in recognition of its strategic role as a driver of technological innovation and its firm commitment to the development of the aerospace sector in Andalusia.
The Luz Awards have established themselves as a benchmark in the recognition of innovation, science and technology in Andalusia, one of the most active regions in digital transformation, with an annual growth of 15% in the ICT sector, which reinforces the role of these awards as a showcase of reference to highlight the talent and innovation of the autonomous community.
2024- ICUAS Achievement Award
Aníbal Ollero Baturone, CATEC’s scientific director, researcher and professor, receives the ICUAS Achievement Award ‘for his outstanding achievements and contributions in Unmanned Aviation and Aerial Robotics’ during the International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems, the most important conference on research in unmanned aerial systems.
The award was presented by Kimon Valavanis, Professor at the University of Denver (USA) and President of the ICUAS Association, Nikos Tsourveloudis of the Technical University of Crete (Greece), where this year’s conference was held, and Didier Theilliol of the University of Lorraine (France), General Chairs of ICUAS 2024.
2023 - Premio PREVER
CATEC receives the ‘Special Mention’ in the 25th Edition of the PREVER Awards, which are given to individuals, institutions and companies that have excelled in the implementation of effective policies in the area of Occupational Risk Prevention during the year 2023.
CATEC’s Corporate Resources Management collected the award, which was presented during the technical conference on PRL and CSR organised by the General Council of Industrial Relations and Labour Sciences of Spain, held in Segovia on 9 March 2024.
2023 - Andalusian Telecommunications Awards
CATEC is awarded within the Andalusian Telecommunications Awards 2023 in its modality ;Innovative initiative;. These awards, organised by the Official Association of Telecommunications Engineers of Western Andalusia and Ceuta (COITAOC), recognise the work of professionals, companies and organisations in promoting innovation and the knowledge society.
2022 - Premio I+Dron
The ENAIRE Foundation awards CATEC the I+Dron prize for its swarming technologies. This award recognises innovative research and projects in the drone sector, as well as the development of new applications. The jury valued CATEC’s work on automatic search with obstacle avoidance.
The annual award recognises innovation in the drone sector, and rewards works, studies, projects, articles or technical publications that contribute significantly to innovation in the fields of drone design, drone system technologies, production, operation, drone traffic management and development of new applications.
2021 - Premios Nacionales de Investigación
Dr. Aníbal Ollero Baturone received the National Prize for Research in Engineering, which recognises the excellence of his research activity in different fields of the Engineering area, highlighting the development of autonomous systems in various sectors.
The National Research Awards are organised by the Ministry of Science and Innovation, with the firm purpose of promoting its visibility and recognition among the scientific community, and to promote and strengthen the development of science in Spain.
2020 - International Robotics Challenge
The Iberian Robotics team formed by CATEC, the University of Seville and the Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) of Lisbon won Challenge 3 of the MBZIRC International Robotics Competition, the most important international robotics competition in the world, organised every two years by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.
During the preparation for the competition, as well as on the days of official testing and competition, the great determination and capacity for robotic hardware and software development of the 12 members of the GRVC Robotics laboratory, the six members of CATEC and the six members of IST could be demonstrated.
2020 - Premios ASPROMEC
CATEC is a finalist in the category of ‘Best Technology Centre Equipment’ in the 2nd edition of the ASPROMEC Awards, which recognise companies and institutions that make a significant contribution to the development of the industrial sector.
The award recognises the commitment to technical evolution, continuous improvement and operational efficiency, qualities that enable these organisations to stand out in highly demanding sectors. They are key players in the industry, whose technical expertise and focus on innovation consolidate their role as benchmarks in contemporary machining.
2019 - EGNOS
The GSA (European GNSS Agency) awards CATEC together with AESA for the leadership of the SGT1.2 of the AESA Advisory Commission that has developed the guidance material, where for the first time in Europe the use of EGNOS is recognised as a valid technology to know the position of the drone during flight, even for medium and high risk operations (according to the SORA methodology).
2018 - Premio Internacional Georg-Sachs-Preis
Dr. Fernando Lasagni receives the prestigious international Georg-Sachs-Preis, which is awarded every year by the German Society for Materials (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Materialkunde) in order to recognise the work and scientific projection of those researchers who are closely related to the practice of materials science and engineering.
2017 - Premio Innovation Radar Prize
CATEC wins the prestigious European Innovation Radar Award 2017, an initiative promoted by the European Commission with the aim of promoting innovations from all over Europe that have a high potential for subsequent application in the market. CATEC has achieved this recognition for the development of a new pioneering technology that allows the use of aerial robots and small unmanned aircraft for the development of industrial inspections by contact.
2017 - Premio Rei Jaume I
Dr. Aníbal Ollero, professor and scientific director of CATEC is recognised with the Rei Jaume I Award in the area of New Technologies in its 31st edition. The jury highlighted in its decision the ‘invaluable ability to combine excellence in research and technological innovation with technology transfer to companies in the field of aerial robotics’.
2017 – Premios HÉLICE
CATEC receives the Innovation / Innovative Development Award at the 1st Edition of the Hélice Awards, for its leadership in innovation in the Andalusian aerospace cluster and knowledge transfer.
With this distinction, the sector recognises CATEC’s European leadership in research areas such as Industry 4.0, the digital factory, augmented and virtual reality applied to manufacturing processes and unmanned aerial vehicles (RPAS/UAS).
In this first edition, the companies Airbus and Grupo Sevilla Control, and the journalist Mike Richardson also received awards. Two special posthumous awards were also presented: to Juan Pedro Vela, former director of our Centre, for his work in promoting innovation in the aerospace sector in Andalusia, and to Francisco Mencía, former president of HÉLICE, for his contribution to the construction of the sector, as well as his personal and professional work.
2017 - Premio Especial de Innovación en el 1st EU Drones Award
CATEC wins the special Innovation prize for the development of the best drone-based application, awarded by the jury of the European EU Drones competition, being the only Spanish team that has opted for the awards of the contest, after being selected among more than 50 proposals.
2017 - Premio de Investigación, Innovación y Desarrollo y Empresa
CATEC is awarded in the VII Edition of the Research, Innovation, Development and Enterprise Award, organised by the Academy of Social and Environmental Sciences of Andalusia. CATEC has been distinguished in the category ‘Research Centre’, for its contribution to the development of R&D&I in the aerospace sector and the transfer of knowledge and technology to companies in this field.
2017 - Premio Antonio Torres a la investigación, desarrollo e innovación
The prize was awarded to Miguel Ángel Trujillo, head of Autonomous Systems, together with project co-authors Dr. Antidio Viguria, Dr. Aníbal Ollero, and Raúl Cano, who participated in the development of the first aerial robot with arms capable of complex manipulations. The award was granted in the framework of the National Congress of R&D&I in Defence and Security, awarded by the company ISDEFE (Ingeniería de Sistemas para la Defensa de España), which is part of the Ministry of Defence.
