A. ENTITY DESCRIPTION

CATEC (Advanced Centre for Aerospace Technologies) is a research center managed by FADA (The Andalusian Foundation for Aerospace Development), whose main goal is the research and development of aerospace-related technologies supporting industries in coordination with universities and other research centers. CATEC is a key relevant institution for the space sector, being involved in more than 15 projects with direct contracts to the European Space Agency. CATEC has a lot of experience in the field of mechanical and nondestructive characterization of structures. In the area of NDT, CATEC has performed numerous developments and improvements, covering different techniques as ultrasonics, infrared thermography, or computed tomography. Additionally, CATEC has participated in several regional, national, and European projects for the design of inspection protocols, industrialization of NDTs, characterization campaigns, etc. CATEC is a member of the Spanish Association of non-destructive testing as well as a member of the Spanish Association of composite materials.
Apart from the EU-founded R&D initiatives, CATEC is a key entity in Spain for developing technology together with private entities and companies through private funding. In particular on the field of nondestructive inspections and SHM. CATEC has been directly contracted to implement solutions and perform inspections in metallic and composite structures. CATEC has also a wide experience adapting and implementing novel manufacturing technologies for reparation composite components. CATEC is collaborating together with AIRBUS for the development of novel composites manufacturing technologies out of autoclave, by resin infusion. CATEC is developing the technology for its certification at the aeronautic level, with the requirements imposed by the aerospace sector. Furthermore, CATEC is a reference RTO at national and European levels for additive manufacturing applications both with metal and polymer-base materials, being in direct contracts with the European Space Agency (ESA), and other Horizon Europe projects. 
 

B. ROLE IN THE HERFUSE PROJECT

CATEC activities are mainly related with the developed set of inspection technologies planed for the future evaluation of composite joints.