Rafael Contreras

TECHNOLOGY for daily life. Blog about a successful business history.

Tuesday March 14th, 2023
by Rafael Contreras
Comments Off on La tecnología sigue su propio camino: Hyperloop

La tecnología sigue su propio camino: Hyperloop

Un amigo me envía una noticia publicada en La Vanguardia sobre el Mobile World Congress de Barcelona recientemente celebrado. El titular, en letras de molde, lo encabeza “la cápsula de Hyperloop”, y al principio del artículo se ve una foto de la misma a todo color como centro de las miradas de esta cita de la innovación mundial.

La imagen me dispara un sentimiento de orgullo al instante. Orgullo como andaluz y gaditano, como empresario y tecnólogo. Competir en las primeras ligas te exige una entrega absoluta. Ahora desde mi puesto de Vicepresidente del Cádiz C.F. , puedo dar fe de ello en lo deportivo. En lo empresarial, también puedo dar testimonio de esa necesidad de trabajo y sacrificio para ocupar un espacio, no solo nacional sino internacional.

La cápsula de Hyperloop del Mobile, salió de las manos y el conocimiento de una empresa de El Puerto de Santa María que, junto con el catedrático Manuel Galán, fundé en 2002. Carbures, hoy llamada AIRTIFICIAL. No fue fácil que Hyperloop TT, empresa de California y una de las dos competidoras por ganar la carrera de Hyperloop, junto a la de Richard Branson, confiara en una tecnológica del sur de España.

Como digo, cada éxito en primera división es el culmen de muchas horas de trabajo continuado, y de obstáculos salvados. El trabajo realizado en 2018 para Hyperloop con nuestra tecnología y conocimiento, fue un hito rotundo tanto para ellos como para AIRTIFICIAL. En esos momentos se cristaliza el valor los 20 años de trabajo anteriores, a partir de un grupo de investigación de la Universidad de Cádiz.

A partir de ahí, tu obra, tu tecnología aplicada, cobra su propia vida. Como cuando fabricas una parte del ala, o la tapa de combustible de un avión. Al salir de la fábrica, ya no es tuyo. Es de Airbus, Boeing, o de Hyperloop. En algunos proyectos tu aportación es una pequeña pieza y en otros es una estructura de fibra de carbono de 35 metros sensorizada.

Ver que el fruto de nuestro esfuerzo sigue su propio camino, como ha ocurrido esta semana en Barcelona, es lo que provoca la satisfacción de lo hecho, de cumplir la misión de ir añadiendo valor a las cosas cotidianas a través de la tecnología. Y que esta, como digo, siga su propio camino.

Wednesday November 25th, 2020
by Rafael Contreras
Comments Off on Encantado de volver a conectar

Encantado de volver a conectar

Hace dos años que no escribía en este cuaderno que comencé hace ya algún tiempo como una forma de compartir mi día a día en la actividad de llevar la tecnología a la vida cotidiana de las personas y ponerla al servicio de sus necesidades. Dos años que realmente han pasado muy rápidos para mí, y en especial este 2020 está avanzando a un ritmo vertiginoso dadas las excepcionales circunstancias que todos estamos viviendo con pandemia global del COVID-19.

En este tiempo, sentí cumplida mi misión en AIRTIFICIAL, la empresa que fundé hace dos décadas, y que contribuí a llevarla desde spin off universitaria con 5 empleados que comenzamos, hasta cotizar en bolsa con 1000 empleados, tener presencia en los cinco continentes, diversificar los sectores de actividad más allá del aeronáutico, o acometer proyectos únicos y excepcionales como la primera cápsula a tamaño real de pasajeros de Hyperloop, sensorizada y en un 85% de fibra de carbono; la cubierta hecha en material compuesto de la sede mundial de la Fundación Norman Foster en Madrid, o el primer Duque de Alba realizado en composites en el mundo en el puerto de Fuerteventura. Si bien continúo como Consejero, necesitaba espacio para continuar desarrollando mi visión en otros ámbitos.

Al igual que hice con la creación de Muving y la movilidad eléctrica, donde apliqué el concepto originado y desarrollado tras mi paso por el MIT,  y observar las necesidades y carencias principales en las ciudades Europa y Estados Unidos que durante años visitaba; así he continuado profundizando en los campos de IOT, Big Data y robotización en los que llevaba años trabajando.

Fruto de esa búsqueda continuada ha nacido en este año 2020 HUMANOX. Una compañía tecnológica de salud, que busca contribuir con su tecnología al bienestar y la monitorización del estado físico de las personas. Surgió formalmente en abril de este año, en plena pandemia, si bien el trabajo y la preparación viene desde el 2019, como se puede imaginar. Nuestro primer producto se centra en el deporte, concretamente en el fútbol. El primer producto Humanox son las HX50, las únicas espinilleras de carbono conectadas del mundo.

Ya os hablaré de ellas en otro post. Tan sólo adelantaros que están concebidas para nuestros niños y niñas del fútbol base, además del valor que pueden aportar a los clubs profesionales. Conocer el comportamiento del corazón, la temperatura, la fatiga, la deshidratación, además de la velocidad, la distancia, la fuerza de golpeo, son datos que para cualquier padre o madre son garantes de tranquilidad en la actividad de los hijos.

Mi intención en este post era reconectar con vosotros que de vez en cuando tenéis a bien leerme, y desearos que os encontréis bien de salud, y con fuerzas. En estos tiempos, más que nunca, es importante mantener la calma ante la incertidumbre, la cabeza clara entre el temor del ambiente, y alimentar el ánimo con las ganas de continuar avanzando hacia delante. Gracias por vuestra atención y vuestros comentarios a mis posts.

Sunday December 9th, 2018
by Rafael Contreras
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Moving is like eating or breathing

FOTO-IVAN-RAFA-MUVING-ATLANTAMoving from one place to another is something we do every day. Like eating, breathing. And like these actions, moving to work, to home, to the supermarket has become an unconscious act most of the time. We do not realize what this experience is like. In MUVING, we talk about moving without leaving a trace, because our electric mobility devices do not damage the environment. Many people talk about the feeling you experience the first time you use an electric vehicle. The absence of smoke and polluting emissions are elements that users describe as a kind of cleaning. Continue Reading →

Wednesday December 5th, 2018
by Rafael Contreras
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Debate at Harvard University

FOTO-RCONTRERAS-HARVARDA few days ago, I had the opportunity to participate with a presentation in a workshop at Harvard University, which revolved around new trends in aeronautics. Together with representatives of Airbus, MIT, Harvard, I presented the challenges of a Sustainable Mobility and address it in a holistic way, not partially. Having these kinds of reflections in centers like Harvard University is an inspiration. In some way, going back to the Cambridge campus is closing a circle. In 2013-14, Ivan and I did an executive at MIT, 2km from Harvard, which served as a definitive boost to our Mobility Ecosystem design. Both at Harvard and at MIT, the approach to work is the constant establishment of new paradigms, how to innovate in products, processes, models. Being able to give a lecture based on the experience of these years, and sharing the lines of work that are being developed right now, is to return to the place of the theory,  bringing the feedback of the praxis, to continue reflecting.

I leave here a video in which I summarize the content of the debates, and the general lines that I broke down in my speech.

Sunday December 2nd, 2018
by Rafael Contreras
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2018 “Andalucia Capital” Award

FOTO-PREMIO-ANDALUCIA-CAPITALLast Tuesday 27th, Ivan and I went to Seville to receive the 2018 “Andalucía Capital” Award  granted by Onda Cero. The award was given to us in the category of Entrepreneurs 2018 for MUVING initiative. Today the sharing service is transforming mobility in cities. Since we started in March 2017, 260,000 registered users have saved 1.34 tons of CO2 emissions in 12 European and North American cities.

The expansion continues, and the number of users who bet on Sustainable Mobility continues to increase. On occasions like this it is worth remembering that the first pilot city was Cádiz, and that the Andalusian capitals were the first cities that welcomed this new way of moving, cleaner and friendlier for people. Both Ivan and I, want to thank all the those people that every day use a MUVING device for your displacements, You are transforming the cities in a real way.

Saturday December 1st, 2018
by Rafael Contreras
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AIRTIFICIAL opening bell ringing

FOTO-RC-AIBELLThis week a milestone has been completed throughout the year. Last Monday, It took place the official recognition of the birth of AIRTIFICIAL with the traditional opening bell ringing at the Madrid Stock Exchange. I did it with AIBELL, a collaborative robot, being the first time in history that a robot rang the bell on the Stock Exchange. Here I leave the speech I offered for employees, investors, friends and family who attended the event to share this moment. Thank you all.

 AIRTIFICIAL OPENING BELL RINGING

Dear shareholders, President of the Stock Exchange, employees of AIRTIFICIAL, friends … AIBELL (the robot), thank you very much for being here today sharing this moment. With this collaborative robotic opening  bell we officially certify the birth of AIRTIFICIAL. Right in this Palace of the Stock Exchange, where tradition merges with innovation.

Using market terms, today we gather in one single act an opening and a closing. The opening of a technology company, which since its inception has already started with a position of global leadership in collaborative robotics and intelligent structures. And that leadership is real thanks to that closure, that transformation we are talking about, of the two companies whose merger arose AIRTIFICIAL: Carbures and Inypsa. Decades of international experience guarantee and enable AIRTIFICIAL to be born in the best of life. With the strength of youth, and the knowledge of adulthood.

AIRTIFICIAL emerges to offer solutions. The Artificial Intelligence developments of the company are applied transversally to the products of the sectors in which we operate: robotics, aerospace, defense, civil engineering, automotive, renewable, energy efficiency and the respective developments in applied engineering. And when I say that AIRTIFICIAL arises at the precise moment, it is because at present there is a focus about the relationship between man and robots: what it will be like, what dangers or opportunities the developments will bring. There is a whole academic and social debate about it.

Darwin spoke of a selective pressure on the species. Those that adapted to aggressive external elements were those that survived. Today, the potentially hostile element has been created by the species itself, Technology. And that’s where AIRTIFICIAL plays a crucial role with a direct impact on society. As specialists in Artificial Intelligence and collaborative robotics we are born with a mission: to help human beings to integrate with emerging technologies. TECHNOLOGY AT THE SERVICE OF PEOPLE.

Personally, it’s the second time I rang that bell. The first time was with CARBURES 6 years ago. Today I do it as the President of AIRTIFICIAL. And in that opening and closing that I commented at the beginning, I can say that it is a satisfaction to close this period in Carbures having been leader of the Alternative Stock Market, and having become 18 years of a journey from an spin off of the University of Cádiz, to become a global leader in structures of composites, reference for giants of mobility. Regarding Inypsa, I want to congratulate those who have brought it here, an example of a company that promotes sustainability in society through its engineering works, transforming and impacting environments through infrastructures, renewable parks, efficiency energy, among others, in Latin America and Europe.

Today we are AIRTIFICIAL, which means increasing our operational capacity, knowledge, technologies to put them at the service of our customers, at the service of society. The creation of Airtificial allows us to multiply the generation of business opportunities through the 1200 people who work in the 20 locations, 13 countries and 3 continents where the company is present and provides pioneering technological solutions for current challenges.

Undoubtedly, today marks a business milestone of maximum relevance for us and it is a day of celebration. The fact of two consolidated companies join together, in a sum in which one plus one does not result in two but in much more, and converge under a single identity, AIRTIFICIAL, has been an objective in itself, because we are really convinced of the potential of growth of the Company and its capacity to generate value.

I want to mention the main partners of Carbures and Inypsa, who  have shown that clarity of vision and willingness to overcome the process followed and that culminated today with the arrival of Airtificial from the beginning.

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the team of the integration committee that have operationally materialized and solved each requirement that the four external consultants, the three independent auditors and the regulatory body, demanded to ensure the scrupulousness and transparency of this merger.

So that from tomorrow, after the emotional hangover of today’s euphoria, we can work as AIRTIFICIAL from the beginning, and feel and understand each other as one company, there is a whole team of people who have been working for that integration. The comment that they made me about it is that employees from all over the world were excited and very motivated to enter this new stage. To all of them, congratulations for today.

Every time we achieve a milestone of this magnitude, in which an extraordinary effort is needed, we must thank those who are closest to us on a personal level. Fathers and mothers, wives and husbands, children, other relatives, friends … To all of you, THANK YOU, because without you, we certainly would not have gotten here.

In the organizations and companies in which I have participated, I have always had a motto, a thought that has governed my career, which is: “We did it because we did not know it was impossible”.

Chief Executive Officer Borja Martínez-Laredo, employees and members of AIRTIFICIAL present here, and those who are folowing this event via streaming web from all around the world, I ask that, starting tomorrow, you continue working as you have done so far. And when clouds darken the mood, remember that phrase, that engine: “Let’s make the impossible possible”. Let’s put technology at the service of people.

In this moment of closure of the speech, and the opening of a long road that we have before us, is when I would like the main partners of this company to come up, and together we give applause for the first of many successes that are to come: Lalo Azcona , Ramón Betolaza, Leonardo Sánchez, thank you very much, and congratulations.

Thursday October 11th, 2018
by Rafael Contreras
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2 videos that compress time

Two videos about Hyperloop and AIRTIFICIAL have just been published. 2 videos that compress time. Processes that last for months can be experienced in an accelerated way, and never better said, in a little more than two minutes. Or, an event full of suspense, knowledge, emotion, as it was the worldwide presentation of the first real-size capsule, is summarized in four minutes.

If you have five minutes, I invite you to watch both videos, and thus get a closer idea of what it means for the world of mobility technology, and intelligent structures, the work done by the entire AIRTIFICIAL team. Enjoy them.

VIDEO ABOUT HYPERLOOP CAPSULE PRESENTATION

Continue Reading →

Monday October 8th, 2018
by Rafael Contreras
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Hyperloop, a new challenge, one milestone more.

RAFAEL CONTRERAR PUERTA CAPSULANot even a week ago,  I was running the countdown that gave way to a new challenge. A milestone more achieved in this path of constant innovation that I undertook together with colleagues, there present, more than 15 years ago. When the 40-meter-wide curtain came down, the first life-size Hyperloop capsule in the world was discovered in our facility at El Puerto de Santa Maria (Cadiz-Spain). Completely made by AIRTIFICIAL, and with Spanish talent, Andalusian. When I addressed some words to the guests, I could not avoid, nor did I wanted, the emotion to accompany me on stage. I only understand work with passion, with commitment, with dedication. And in addition to the objective fact of inaugurating what has become a revolution in the world of transport, there were people there with whom I have sweated, and I have shared the worst moments, and also the best, as I spoke about there.

Here I leave the words I said not even seven days ago. Here I leave you part of my thoughts and my emotions at such an important moment. Here I leave my involvement with all those who have made possible, and continue to do so, that so far with CARBURES, and henceforth with AIRTIFICIAL, we continue to meet goals. Hyperloop, a new challenge, a milestone. Continue Reading →

Sunday September 23rd, 2018
by Ivan Contreras
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From Sillicon Valley to the Award “Muévete verde” in Madrid

AF254612-809E-47D3-8D73-F32273BEB52DOne of the challenges of maintaining a blog and being the CEO of a hyperdynamic organization such as MUVING Ecosystem, is that posts accumulate in my publications pipeline. Thinking twice, that’s a good sign!

If this week we have been present in different cities of Spain and celebrating the European Mobility Week, the previous one had been the turn of European Innovation in Silicon Valley. I can tell you that with the success of the sharing service in EUROPE, and the extraordinary start of MUVING in Atlanta last June, the high expectations raised in Silicon Valley did not disappoint the attendees of this Week dedicated to the latest European technological trends. Continue Reading →

Saturday September 8th, 2018
by Ivan Contreras
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The truth of figures

With MUVING team in Atlanta

With MUVING team in Atlanta

As Rafa said a few days ago in his post about the Artificial Intelligence at MIT, from time to time CEOS and Presidents of companies have to stop to review the strategy, and what is to come. Another moment in which you stop and check if the work that is being done is well focused or not, is the revision of the figures. These are tangible. They don´t lie. Although at the strategic level it is not the only element to be taken into account, it is undoubtedly the most immediate and concrete reference to continue taking measures in one direction or another.

In the case of MUVING Ecosystem, our leadership at the Spanish and International level is corroborated by the numbers. In 2017, we were the leaders in the production of electric vehicles with almost 3,300 units. This amount will be multiplied by 7.5 in 2019 when we will manufacture 25,000 units, as I already mentioned in the most recent post about the opening of the first own store See you in Castellana 107!

Rafael and I have always had internationalization as one of the strategic axes of growth from the beginning of each of the companies we have set up. Proof of this is that Torrot already operates in 54 countries, and 80% of the production goes to countries like the United States, Germany, Mexico, France, Belgium … In this international chapter, as we have already informed lately, in addition to serve sharing operators with our electric motorcycles (case of the cities of Vienna and Graz, in Austria, with 165 units, or New York, with 68 devices), we establish our own sharing services with MUVING. This is the case of Atlanta, where for the last 4 months, 150 yellow motorcycles have served citizens in their daily mobility throughout the city.

As evident proof of the international commitment, I am writing this post from San Francisco where I have been working for two weeks now. The upcoming one,  I will be participating in the European Innovation Week in Silicon Valley. I’ll tell you more about it in the coming days. MUVING Ecosystem and the need for a sustainability in urban mobility arose from trips with Rafa through the great North American capitals a decade ago; conceptually crystallized between MIT in Boston and New York; the first explorations were made in the West Coast of the USA, Atlanta and Miami; the explosion of the model occurred in Spain and Europe; and the return trip has already begun with Atlanta and New York as first cities, and Silicon Valley on the West Coast as a continuation, among other US points. In conclusion, as the title of the post says, at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of the road, figures tell the truth of the success of the decisions. And the numbers that I have outlined in this article, show that the strategic plan is on the right track. Now it is time to continue the work so that we can offer you the truth of  figures in the following stages.