Dr Nikolai Ardey, Executive Director at VW Group Innovation, Visits CARNET

On 14 and 15 March, Dr Nikolai Ardey, Executive Director at Volkswagen Group Innovation, visited Barcelona. During his two day visit, he held meetings at the SEAT S.A. factory in Martorell, CASA SEAT and SEAT:CODE in the Barcelona city centre and CARNET, at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · BarcelonaTech (UPC) Campus Nord.  CARNET is a centre of excellence for the future of urban mobility, which started in 2015 as an initiative of Volkswagen Group Innovation, SEAT S.A. and the UPC and coordinated by the UPC Technology Center (CIT UPC), that unites scientific knowledge with public-private needs through the development of projects.

Dr Mónika Bachofner, Research Funding Manager at Volkswagen Group Innovation; Henrico Puttenstein, Head of Micromobility & Innovation at SEAT S.A.; Andreu Solà, Creative and Strategic Director of CARNET at SEAT S.A.; Dr Laia Pagès, Executive and Scientific Manager at CARNET, and Dr Lluís Jofre Roca, Academic Director at CARNET, received Dr Nikolai Ardey to discuss the next steps for CARNET.

Dr Daniel Crespo, Rector of the UPC, together with Dr Climent Molins, Vice-rector for Transfer, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, warmly welcomed Dr Nikolai Ardey and expressed the interest of the university to strengthen the links between academia and industry, and the relevance of such strategic two-way collaboration in the long term.

During the visit, Dr Nikolai Ardey saw a real demonstration of the Autonomous Delivery Device (ADD) prototype.  He also expressed Volkswagen Group Innovation interest in CARNET’s lighthouse projects. Volkswagen Group Innovation, a research institution within the Volkswagen Group, one of the world’s leading motor vehicles manufacturers, wishes to avail research and development experience to carry out further development work in its areas of interest. Volkswagen Group Innovation and CARNET are engaged in research and development work in different areas of vehicle technology and urban mobility such as materials, processes and simulations, efficiency, architecture and connectivity, mobility software and apps, urban mobility concepts, business design for urban mobility, among others. Therefore, both parties work together to shape the future of mobility.