Companies and American institutions, including the Research Office in the U.S.A. Navy, as well as experts and researchers in Japan, Singapore, England or Spain, have sought specific information about the “Sea of Innovation Cantabria Cluster” (SICC). On their stand, the Cluster and the SODERCAN Group, which it forms part of, showed the scientific-technological offer in Cantabria in the field of renewable marine energies to 500 people from 21 countries who attended the International Oceans Congress 2011, which took place in Santander.
The Rector of the University of Cantabria, Federico Gutiérrez-Solana, the Mayor of Santander, Iñigo de la Serna: the Director of the Hydraulics Institute in Cantabria and member of the organizing committee, Iñigo Losada and the President of the Ocean Engineering Society (OES), Jerry C. Carroll, were in charge of inaugurating the Congress.
The OES was precisely the society in charge of the development of this important encounter which took place for the first time in Spain. This Society, like the IEEE in which it is included, is the largest professional association on a world-wide scale which is dedicated to innovation and technological excellence with an objective: the impact of its actions in the interests of humanity. This was how the Rector explained it during the inauguration service of this event and whose development was in collaboration with the University of Cantabria, Santander Town Council, the Government of Cantabria, SODERCAN Group, the Spanish Oceanography Institute and the State Meteorological Agency.
SODERCAN Group and the Sea of Innovation Cantabria Cluster (SICC) shared a stand in the fair organized in the Congress. Many of the people attending the congress were interested in the development and function of the meteorological mast which is currently being developed in Cantabria, as well as the value chain and technological offer of the Cantabrian Cluster. OCEANS 2011 is included within Cantabria International Campus and Gutiérrez-Solana commented that “CCI has as its first objective to promote the transformation in Cantabria into a region of knowledge, in an international reference consolidated on excellence in education, research and transfer processes, with the objective of attracting talent and involving public and private entities in this objective”. The Rector of the University of Cantabria emphasized in his speech that precisely one of the strategic points of Cantabria International Campus is the area of Water and Energy, “a priority field of research in renewable energies in the marine environment and marine and coastal engineering”.
Gutiérrez-Solana explained the activity carried out in the University of Cantabria in this field of renewable energies, with participation from regional and national entities, and whose first result was the creation of the Institute of Environmental Hydraulics in Cantabria in 2007 or the creation of the Cluster of renewable marine energy. Gutiérrez-Solana finished off by saying that “OCEANS 2011 is a great opportunity to show the international scientific community the commitment in Cantabria with development and research in marine energy”.