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Federico París Carballo receives 6th "Javier Benjumea Puigcerver" Research Prize from the University of Seville and the Focus-Abengoa Foundation

March 30, 2009

Seville, 30 March 2009. Federico París Carballo, professor of the mechanics of continuous media and the theory of structures of the college of industrial engineers of the University of Seville, today received the 6th "Javier Benjumea Puigcerver" Research Prize for his scientific and research contribution to aspects related to composite materials in the aeronautical industry.

The prize has been given to Federico París Carballo for his work entitled, "Study of the Damaging Mechanisms in Composite Materials", for its extraordinary scientific value of enormous significance in the field of national and international research. The work focuses on the problems derived from the lack of knowledge about failure mechanisms in composite materials (primarily carbon fibre) that are being increasingly used in the aeronautics industry.

The huge significance of the project is reflected by the scientific importance of career. He has written numerous publications, he was director of the engineering college from 2002 to 2006 and he has extensive experience in education through his time at the University of Seville as well as a guest lecturer at universities in Sweden and the USA.

He has undertaken 11 international public research projects and 26 national projects. He has also carried out 104 projects, contracts, studies and reports for companies such as Abengoa, ADIF, Astilleros Españoles, DESA, EADS-CASA, Endesa, Rolls-Royce, Renfe, Sevillana, etc. He has received the Isaac Peral prize for best lecturer at the engineering college of the university; the Excellence in Education Prize; and the 1st Antonio de Ulloa Engineering Research Prize from the regional government of Andalusia, among others.

The 5th edition of the Research Prize was presented today, 30 March, in the presence of a large number of academics and researchers at an official event held in the auditorium of the University of Seville, which was attended by the president of the Public Board of the University of Seville, Ms María Luisa García; the dean, Mr Joaquín Luque and the chairman of the Focus-Abengoa Foundation, Mr Felipe Benjumea Llorente.

This award, in which the Public Board of the University, the Focus-Abengoa Foundation and the University of Seville all participate, is designed to acknowledge the work carried out by researchers within the university community (doctors, graduates or diploma holders) who participate in research projects that meet the research and development needs of companies and entities. The terms of the prize state that research work will be evaluated based on the areas of scientific and technical knowledge of the University of Seville, as well as other criteria such as the quality of the work, its scientific interest to companies, society and its usefulness, and the interest of the research in relation to the socio-economic and business environment of the University.

The research work carried out by Professor París Carballo has taken place alongside R&D projects with companies in the aeronautics sector. At the European level this included the FALCOM Project (Failure, Performance and Processing Prediction for Enhanced Design with Non-Crimp Fabric) of the EU's 5th Framework Program on research into the damage mechanisms in new non-crimp fabric materials, and the ALCAS Project (Advanced Low Cost Aircraft Structures) of the 6th Framework Program which is researching the damage mechanisms of aircraft wing panels in carbon fibre.

Significant projects at a national level include UNECA (Development of glued joints for alternative processes in aeronautic assemblies) and DAICA (Development of integrated wings in advanced composite materials) with EADS-CASA and the EBEAM Project (Curing composite materials layer by layer using electron beams) with AIRBUS.

In 2006 París Carballo founded the technology company TEAMS (Testing and Engineering of Aeronautical Materials and Structures), a spin-off of the University of Seville.

The prize consists of an award of 18,000 Euros, a diploma and the publication of the work "Study of the Damaging Mechanisms in Composite Materials".

The event also featured the presentation of the published work of the winner of the previous edition of the award, Enrique Cerdá Olmedo, professor of Genetics of the Faculty of Biology of the University of Seville, entitled "Biotechnology of carotenes and other terpenoids, an application of microbial genetics".

Previous editions of the "Javier Benjumea Puigcerver" prize have been awarded to Miguel Ángel de la Rosa Acosta, professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Seville (1st edition); Antonio Barrero Ripoll, professor of Energy Engineering and Fluids Mechanics at the University of Seville (2nd edition); José López Barneo, professor of Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Seville (3rd edition) and Anibal Ollero Baturone, professor of Systems and Automation Engineering from the Engineering College of the University of Seville (4th edition).

The jury for the award was chaired by the president of the Public Board, María Luisa García and included the dean of the University of Seville, Joaquín Luque; the vice-dean for Research, Manuel García León; two members of the Public Board, Luis Uruñela Fernández and Ana María Moreno Pedrosa; and José Domínguez Abascal and Juan Antonio Carillo Salcedo representing the Focus-Abengoa Foundation.

Public Board

The Board is the participatory body for society at the University. Its functions include promoting the relevance of the range of courses and activities to Andalusian society. According to its regulations, the functions of the Board are structured into three areas: Economic-financial, which includes powers to approve and pay the university's budgets, rates and public prices, etc; Academic, which includes approving new qualifications and the rules of attendance for students, among others; and Social Relations, with functions to promote agreements and the sponsorship and collaboration of society in the financing of the University.

The Public Board of the University of Seville decided to promote the "Javier Benjumea Puigcerver" research prize in order to continue the memory of such an illustrious Seville citizen who was awarded an Honoris Causa Doctorate from the University of Seville.

Focus-Abengoa Foundation

The Focus-Abengoa Foundation was started in 1982 as a result of the cultural work begun in 1972 by Abengoa with the publication of the works Temas Sevillanos (Themes of Seville) and Iconografía de Sevilla (Iconography of Seville). A collection of documents, books and recordings on the Kingdom of Seville or by Sevillian authors was created at the same time. This initial cultural work showed Abengoa's directors the importance of the company's involvement in activities that directly benefit society, beyond its core technology based work, which led to the creation of the Seville Cultural Fund Foundation.