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It recognises the best university work in seven countries: Spain, France, Italy, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Chile and Brazil

• Spain wins three of the international Abertis awards for Transport Infrastructure Management and Road Safety, which it shares with other winners from Brazil, Puerto Rico and Chile.

• The award ceremony, held today at the UPM School of Civil Engineering, was chaired by Francisco Martín Carrasco, director of the UPM Higher Technical School of Civil Engineers, Juan Manuel Muñoz Guijosa, deputy vice-rector for Innovation and Transfer at the UPM, Josep Maria Mirmi, head of Institutional Relations and Corporate Reputation of Abertis and José Manuel Vassallo, professor at the UPM and co-director of the Abertis Chair in Spain.

• The event began with a discussion on the role of innovation in the mobility of the future, with the participation of Manuel Fuentes, Abertis award-winner and CEO of Cisneria Engineering; Christian Barrientos, managing director of Abertis Mobility Services, Rocío Báguena, director of the Transport Studies and Technology Division of MITMA and Francesc Robusté, professor of Transport at the UPC and co-director of the Abertis Chair in Spain. 

• The Abertis International Network of Chairsan initiative between Universities and Companies that is a pioneer worldwide, is the group's research and innovation platform, through which it promotes the transfer of research and knowledge between universities and business, and to which two new chairs have been added this year, one in Italy and the other in Mexico.  

Madrid, 18 November 2021 - The international Network of Abertis Chairs today presented its 9th and 10th International Awards for Transport Infrastructure Management and Road Safety, which recognise the best university projects from among the winners of the seven national editions of this award (Spain, France, Italy, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Chile and Brazil). This award has two categories: Infrastructures and Road Safety Management.  

The awards ceremony took place today at 1 p.m. in the José Echegaray auditorium of the UPM School of Civil Engineering in Madrid, and was chaired by Francisco Martín Carrasco, director of the UPM Higher Technical School of Civil Engineers, Juan Manuel Muñoz Guijosa, deputy vice-rector for Innovation and Transfer of the UPM, Josep Maria Mirmi, head of Institutional Relations and Corporate Reputation at Abertis and José Manuel Vassallo, professor at the UPM and co-director of the Abertis Chair in Spain. The event could also be followed by streaming. 

The event began at noon with a debate on the role of innovation in the mobility of the future and, in particular, the importance of establishing synergies between the university, business and the administration. Participating in this debate were Manuel Fuentes, Abertis award-winner and CEO of Cisneria Engineering; Christian Barrientos managing director of Abertis Mobility Services, Rocío Báguena, director of the Transport Studies and Technology Division of MITMA and Francesc Robusté, professor of Transport at the UPC and co-director of the Abertis Chair in Spain. This debate was also moderated by José Manuel Vasallo, professor at the UPM and co-director of the Abertis Chair in Spain. 

WINNERS OF THE 9TH ABERTIS INTERNATIONAL AWARD

Infrastructure Management category

9th Abertis Award in the Infrastructure Management category

• Abertis Award in Infrastructure Management to Dr. Marcel Sala (UPC, Polytechnic University of Catalonia) for his research work Modeling present and future freeway management strategies: Variable speed limits, lane-changing and platooning of connected autonomous vehicles. WINNER OF THE ABERTIS SPAIN AWARD

Road Safety category

9th Abertis Award in the Road Safety category

• Abertis Road Safety Research Award to Dr. Jesús Balado (University of Vigo) for his research work Classification and modelling of urban environments from point clouds for physical accessibility diagnosis and pedestrian pathfinding. WINNER OF THE ABERTIS SPAIN AWARD

WINNERS OF THE 10TH ABERTIS INTERNATIONAL AWARD

Infrastructure Management category

10th Abertis Award in the Infrastructure Management category 

• Abertis Award in Infrastructure Management (Ex - aequo), to Dr. Renato Arbex (University of São Paulo), for his research work Projeto de redes estruturais otimizadas de transporte público coletivo urbano por ônibus. 

• Abertis Award in Infrastructure Management (Ex - aequo), to Dr. Ignacio Tiznado (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile), for his research work Accessibility and affordability impacts in transport-related inequalities and poverty. 

Road Safety category

10th Abertis Award in the Road Safety category

• Abertis Road Safety Research Award (Ex - Aequo) to Dr. Josie D. Bianchi (UPR Mayaguez) for her research work Cost estimation model and high vehicle crash locations with injured people in Puerto Rico. WINNER OF THE ABERTIS AWARD IN PUERTO RICO. 

• Abertis Award for Road Safety Research (Ex - Aequo) to Dr. Miguel Clavijo (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid) for his research work Reconstrucción del entorno del vehículo para guiado autónomo en entornos complejos (Reconstruction of the vehicle environment for self-driving in complex environments). WINNER OF THE ABERTIS AWARD IN SPAIN. 

Two new chairs in the Abertis International Network

The International Network of Abertis Chairs has added two new chairs for the coming year: Italy and Mexico. With this extension, it intends to take its work of promoting research and innovation in infrastructure and road safety to two new countries, with the aim of establishing a knowledge transfer between Universities and Business. As with the other chairs, the Abertis Group will award prizes to the most innovative studies from Italian and Mexican universities. 

In the case of Italy, the Abertis Foundation and A4 Holding have established the chair in collaboration with the University of Padua, with the Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering (ICEA) in charge of managing the project. This award is open to all Italian university students with a master's or doctoral degree completed in 2021 and related to the two established categories. 

In Mexico, the chair has been established with the National Autonomous University of Mexico, thus linking university and business with research and innovation activities in the field of Transport Infrastructure Management and Road Safety. The Abertis Award is delivered annually to postgraduate and PhD students from all the country's universities.

International Network of Abertis Academic Chairs

Aware of the importance of the academic world for social and economic progress, Abertis, through this international network of Chairs, fosters training, research and the transfer of knowledge between Universities and Business. Through the International Network of Abertis Chairs, the generation and dissemination of new knowledge and innovations in the various fields of activity is encouraged, placing them at the service of society as a whole and of the technical and educational community, and caring for and helping the talent that universities are capable of bringing to the surface and channelling.

The Abertis Chairs network is made up of those established in Spain (Polytechnic University of Madrid and Polytechnic University of Barcelona, BarcelonaTech), France (École des Ponts-ParisTech), Puerto Rico (University of Puerto Rico), Chile (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile) and Brazil (University of São Paulo). Now, two new chairs have been added in Italy (University of Padua) and Mexico (National Autonomous University of Mexico). 

Worldwide launch of the new Abertis Chairs corporate website

In turn, the Abertis International Network of Chairs has just launched its new corporate website wwww.abertischairs.com, with a renewed design and in English, so that it is accessible from the various countries where it has a presence. 

This site offers an extensive menu that explains all the Abertis Chairs, presents the company's Innovation Platform and shows the latest news from the International Network. In addition to providing visibility, one of the most important functions of the website is to serve as a search engine and information manager, with a historical record of all the winning academic works, segmented by country or category, among others. These are just some of the new features designed to improve the user experience.

About Abertis

Abertis is the leading international operator in the development and management of high-capacity, high-quality roads, designed under strict criteria of sustainability and innovation, and high safety standards, with nearly 8,600 kilometres spread over 16 countries in Europe, America and Asia. With more than 60 years of experience, Abertis has positioned itself as a benchmark in the sustainable management of road infrastructures, through technology and innovation, helping to transform the mobility of the future.