The awards ceremony was held yesterday at the Caixabanc Auditorium in Girona. IBEC was awarded in the technology centre category in recognition of its twenty years of excellence and interdisciplinary research at the intersection of engineering and life sciences.
IBEC has received the Manel Xifra i Boada Prize for an applied research group or technology centre, in recognition of its twenty years of excellence and interdisciplinary research at the intersection of engineering and life sciences. The award highlights IBEC’s ability to generate new knowledge by combining areas such as nanomedicine, biophysics, and tissue engineering.
This recognition of our journey fills us with pride and gratitude, but above all, it propels us forward with an even greater sense of commitment.
Josep Samitier
The awards ceremony took place yesterday at the CaixaBank Auditorium in Girona as part of the 20th edition of the Manel Xifra i Boada Awards. Promoted by the Association of Graduate Engineers and Industrial Technical Engineers of Girona (EnginyersGi) and Comexi Group, the awards have become a Catalonian benchmark for recognising talent, innovation and knowledge transfer.
IBEC director Josep Samitier received the award from Comexi’s Ms Imma Xifra and Ms Sílvia Aliu, the 5th Deputy Mayor for Resource Management and Citizen Services in Girona. “This recognition of our journey fills us with pride and gratitude, but above all, it propels us forward with an even greater sense of commitment,” declared Samitier, who also delivered a brief commemorative lecture on the institute’s twenty years of research, emphasising its dedication to bioengineering in the service of health.
Since the technology centre award was introduced in 2015, other institutions such as the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre, the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO), the ALBA Synchrotron and Eurecat have also received this accolade.
In addition to IBEC, this year’s edition honoured chef Ferran Adrià with the Award for the Transmission of Technical and Technological Knowledge, and engineer José Luis Torres González with the Career Achievement Award. Various institutional authorities attended the ceremony, including Silvia Paneque (Catalan Minister of Territory, Housing and Ecological Transition); Lluc Salellas (Mayor of Girona); Pau Rich (Director of the Girona Regional Business and Employment Services); and Miquel Gómez Clares (Director General of the Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation (FCRI)).
Created twenty years ago, the Manel Xifra i Boada Awards pay tribute to Girona businessman Manel Xifra Boada, founder of Comexi and a key figure in the promotion of innovation and knowledge transfer in the Catalan industrial sphere. The awards are organised by EnginyersGi and Comexi, in collaboration with the University of Girona, Caixabank, and the FCRI. They are sponsored by Banco de Sabadell and Caixa d’Enginyers.
