Strategic Approach
Our strategic vision is to build strategic alliances with established academic and innovative technology businesses in Europe, Canada and the USA. A networking collaborative methodology is proposed, based on the actual working collaboration between the ERA Chair holder, its built-up team (LIOM team), the coordinating institution IAC, and a network (set up as an International External Advisory Body) in 5 Strategic Areas:
A1 Development of Innovative Optomechanical Capacities - Advance research and modelling devoted to creating large, effectively stiff, optomechanical structures that reduce the currently achieved mass-to-stiffness ratios in large telescopes by an order of magnitude
A2 Creation, consolidation and operation of the Laboratory for Innovative Opto-Mechanics - including high-quality human resources - Consolidation of the production know-how (Human Resources) for the manufacture of high-quality optics for astrophysics, filters, gratings, collimators, and in particular ultra-thin mirrors.
A3 Networking – This area aims at widening the cross-sectoral scope of IAC by collaborating with other high performance institutions across Europe, Canada and USA.
A4 Structural Impact for sustainable excellence at IAC: A main effort of this project must necessarily aim at strengthening the IAC’s capacities in the R&I chain.
A5 Increased number of papers, EU projects, patents, thesis and products. Currently, IAC is already succeeding in developing up to TRL9 advanced technologies such as: Earth Observation cameras for nanosatellites in new bandwidths; low-cost thermographic solutions for the detection of diabetes-induced lacerations or specialised machinery for the development of medium-sized mirrors, etc.