More than 200 international experts from the areas of lubricants and industrial maintenance meet in San Sebastian

Industrial lubricants are essential in sectors such as aeronautics, energy or the automotive business to reduce friction and prevent damage resulting from wear and corrosion affecting production equipment. Consequently, research actions must be intensified and more knowledge has to be obtained to ensure industrial sustainability.

Starting tomorrow and closing on Thursday, the international LUBMAT-IBERTRIB 2024 conference will bring together more than 200 experts from the world of industrial lubricants, maintenance and tribology. Speakers will present the most recent scientific and technological developments in the path towards predictive maintenance actions required to extend machine life cycles, reduce costs, boost process efficiency and, in short, make companies much more competitive.

This professional event co-organised by the Tekniker technology centre, member of the Basque research & technology Alliance (BRTA), Atten2, Bureau Veritas and the Jost Institute for Tribotechnology (United Kingdom) will be attended experts from companies, research centres, universities and speakers based in Asia, America and Europe. The technology centre will have an exhibition space and offer an extensive range of lectures divided into three thematic areas.

Ana Aranzabe, assistant director general and technological director of Tekniker, underscores that “this will be the first in-person edition of this conference since 2018 (an on-line conference took place in 2020) and has been very well received by the sector. This year’s edition will feature leading speakers describing industrial cases and applications in different sectors although with a significant focus on sustainability”.

More specifically, and during the LUBMAT-IBERTRIB 2024 plenary sessions, presentations will be given Cristina Ortega, director of the AVS Space Unit (“Science from space by AVS”, June 18 at 9:00h); Silvia Lazkano, chairperson of Doba Solutions, who has an extensive professional track record and has held several positions such as Head of Technological Development and Partnerships at Airbus (“Early Problems Detection in Aeronautics”, June 19 at 8:30h); and Itziar Landa, Head of Digitisation at Petronor (“Optimizing and Monitoring the Life of Our Industrial Assets through Artificial Intelligence and 5G”, June 20 at 9:00h).

The conference will also feature outstanding experts from the international scene such as Ian Sherrington (JOST, United Kingdom), Markus Matzke, (BOSCH, Germany), Ali Erdermir, nominated “Fellow of the EU Academy of Sciences” (Texas, United States), Aldara Naveira (SKF RecondOil, Sweden), Jorge Seabra (INEGI, Portugal), Gerardo Trujillo (AMGA, Latin America), Nicholas Spencer (ETHZ, chairman of the International Tribology Council), Nicole Dörr (AC2T, Austria), Jefferson Barbosa (CPFL, Brazil), Rafael Quiros (Bridgestone), Nicholas Petillon (IFTS, France), Guoxin Xie (Tsinghua University, Pekin, China), Ian Taylor (JOST, United Kingdom), Yesid Gómez (Bureau Veritas, Spain) and Aitor Arnaiz (Tekniker, Spain).

Tekniker’s participation

Tekniker experts will also play an outstanding role during LUBMAT-IBERTRIB by explaining the scientific work carried out in the organisation’s laboratories within the framework of several industrial projects.

Aitor Arnaiz, head of Tekniker’s Smart Information Systems Unit, will be one of the main speakers at the conference. He will deliver a keynote lecture explaining Tekniker’s current position and corporate trends observed with regard to emerging technologies such as generative AI. Arnaiz explains that “attention is nowadays focused on the potential benefits resulting from using solutions that are currently available for maintenance and condition monitoring in terms of performance and resilience, although the focus could also shift towards other industrial areas such as manufacturing or energy production”.

Eduardo Tabares will explain the triboelectric behaviour of several lubricant bases used on electric vehicles; Alberto Villar and Jose Miguel Nogueiras from Arteche, will describe their joint work focused on analysing several biodegradable dielectric fluids. Finally, Amaya Igartua will explore the important role tribology plays when designing and developing safe and sustainable materials and lubricants with examples such as the i-Tribomat start-up.

Borja Arméndariz will present the results obtained in a study carried out to reduce friction and wear when gear oil is present and save energy. Iker Elexpe will describe a new generation of nano-lubricants based on zinc oxide nanoparticles modified by oleic acid characterised by enhanced tribological properties.
All of this scientific and technological knowledge will be presented during the LUBMAT-IBERTRIB forum. Ane Insausti, Regional Councillor for Economic Promotion and Strategic projects in Gipuzkoa, will open the event at 8.30 am at the Kursaal conference centre.

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