SP Pole stands out as a research center
Valor Econômico
A new management and incentive model to the technological innovation is being put into practice in the facilities of the technological park in São José dos Campos. The initiative was inspired in the building model of the Brazilian aeronautical industry, which was based on the creation of the Aerospace Technical Center (CTA) and the Technological Institute of Aeronautics (ITA), says the park director, Marco Antonio Raupp.
In December, the park of São José dos Campos received the final accreditation of the São Paulo System of Technological Parks. According to the Minister of Science and Technology, Aloizio Mercadante, the park of São José became the first reference to the creation of a national landmark, with new rules and policies of tax incentive, aimed at the research institutions and companies that belong to that same environment. The site has already received about R$ 1 billion (US$ 588 million) in public and private investments. Inaugurated in 2006, the site hosts four Technological Development Centers (DTC) which feature anchor-companies like Embraer, Vale Soluções em Energia (VSE) and Basic Sanitation Company of the State of São Paulo (Sabesp). Educational and research institutions are also present, as ITA (Technological Institute of Aeronautics) and the Institute of Technological Researches (IPT).
Among the development centers the Aeronautical stands out, it houses two state-of-the-art laboratories, unique in South America: one of light structures and the other of integration of systems and onboard software. With investments of R$ 90.5 million (US$ 53.2 million), the laboratory of light structures has the mission to help the country to master new material technologies which can reduce the weight of aircrafts, and essential to maintain the competitiveness of the Brazilian industry in the international scenario, according to its administrators. The laboratory is being implemented and it is expected that within one year is fully operational. Four research projects will be developed on the site, with the financial support of FAPESP, FINEP, Embraer, and IPT: two in the area of composites (composite materials like carbon fibers in polymer matrix) and two of metal structures. Between teachers and researchers, the lab will have about 200 professionals, with master degree, doctorate and international experience, expects the director.
The laboratory of systems, on its turn, will focus on the development of integrated solutions for the segments of command, control, communications, computing and intelligence, known by the acronym C4I, intended to the defense sector. Another project to be developed is a reconfigured engineering simulator, used in various types of aircraft, besides onboard computer systems and of advanced electronic systems of flight controls, known as "fly-by-wire".