In 2015 CEA Tech, the technological research division of the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission, opened its first-ever branch at a partner company’s manufacturing plant. The new office, located at the PSA Peugeot Citroën plant in Trémery, in France’s Lorraine region, boasts 1,000 sq. m of facilities home to advanced cobotics equipment. The center will be used by PSA, of course, but is also open to any business interested in partnering with CEA Tech on technology development projects in the field of advanced manufacturing.
CEA Tech’s regional branches focus mainly on industrial applications for new technologies. The Toulouse center, for instance, tests high-power electronic components. The regional branches are evidence of CEA Tech’s drive to bring targeted technologies and know-how directly to the businesses that need them for their manufacturing projects. “The regional branches were set up to develop specific industrial applications for the technologies developed at CEA labs in the Greater Paris and Grenoble areas,” said Marc Cuzin. “The topics addressed are part of a national roadmap, but they also take into account the industry-specific needs of each region’s economic base.”
A total of nine CEA Tech regional branches are already up and running, and there are four technology showrooms in the regions. An additional seven—on connected objects, energy, collaborative robotics, and more—will open in the coming months.