On June 4th, IQS inaugurated INNOHUB IQS, a strategic project that puts the institution and the city of Barcelona on the map of European excellence in Industry 5.0. The event, held in the center's auditorium before nearly 300 attendees, brought together the Honorable Albert Dalmau Miranda, Minister of the Presidency of the Generalitat of Catalonia; Dr. Vicenç Pedret, President of the IQS Board of Trustees; Dr. Salvador Borrós, Director General of IQS; Kathy Looman, Executive Director of the Gene Haas Foundation; Dr. Carles Pérez Testor, Rector of Ramon Llull University; and Fr. Pau Vidal, SJ, delegate of the Jesuits of Catalonia, who blessed the facilities.

"Our mission and vision remain unchanged: we want to keep driving growth while always putting people at the center. In this age of artificial intelligence, our commitment to Industry 5.0 means fostering a dialogue between human and artificial intelligence to better understand how people interact with machines," said Dr. Salvador Borrós in his remarks. Beyond emphasizing the institution's commitment to progress, IQS's Director General highlighted the technical capabilities of the new space. "We've built into INNOHUB a capability that's especially valuable for many companies in our country: a manufacturing center that brings advanced additive manufacturing and traditional production methods together under one roof," he noted.

Fr. Pau Vidal, SJ, delegate of the Jesuits of Catalonia, spoke to the humanistic and social dimension of research, reminding attendees that "technology must be oriented toward the good of society, in areas such as health, care for people, and environmental sustainability." He stressed that innovation only carries real meaning when it contributes to just transformation and to human and spiritual growth, reflecting the work the Jesuit university sector in Spain carries out in line with the Universal Apostolic Preferences.

Minister Albert Dalmau, for his part, underscored the importance of purposeful innovation. "Technology without purpose doesn't add up to much. I believe these facilities bring both together: technology and purpose," he said, going on to highlight the "essential partnership between the private sector and educational institutions" needed to drive the country's economy forward.

Dr. Carles Pérez Testor, Rector of Ramon Llull University, echoed this sentiment, emphasizing the value of university-industry collaboration. "INNOHUB is the result of this partnership between business and academia. Without it, major projects like the ones taking shape here would be very difficult to pull off." Following the speeches, attendees took a guided tour of the new facilities, getting a firsthand look at the labs and state-of-the-art equipment.

INNOHUB IQS is designed to attract and retain talent, giving more than 45 permanent staff—along with the entire student and research community—the resources to tackle real-world climate and industrial challenges. The new facility spans three floors built for multidisciplinary research and collaboration between research groups and companies:

Lower level (Industry 5.0 and advanced manufacturing). At over 400 m², this floor reflects the European vision of a circular, regenerative economy. It houses five key labs: the Manufacturing Lab (Workshop 5.0), the AddiTech Fablab (additive manufacturing), the Co-creation Lab (prototyping and entrepreneurship), the Smart Factory Lab (AI applied to production), and the Cognitive Machine Lab, dedicated to human-machine interaction and digital twins.

Ground floor (Chemical Engineering Pilot Plant). Spanning 767 m², this floor is equipped to run semi-industrial-scale manufacturing processes in both batch and continuous (flow chemistry) modes—an area where IQS is a national leader.

First floor (Sustainable Technologies and Nanotechnology). This floor includes the Center for Sustainable Technologies (525 m²), focused on circular economy and CO₂ capture, as well as the Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Engineering and Advanced Therapies (125 m²), dedicated to research in regenerative medicine and cancer treatment.

The building is topped with solar panels that supply renewable energy for energy-efficiency projects, and the center as a whole is outfitted with state-of-the-art instrumentation to meet industry's most pressing challenges.

INNOHUB IQS's success rests on close collaboration between the university and the business community. A standout partner is Haas, a world leader in manufacturing technology, which operates its own dedicated lab within the facility—a partnership that reinforces the hub's vision as a genuine Smart Factory built around advanced manufacturing and human-machine interaction.

"We believe it's essential for technology to keep advancing, and the only way that happens is if universities have access to modern equipment, so students can learn with cutting-edge tools and go on to launch their own businesses quickly," said Kathy Looman, Executive Director of the Gene Haas Foundation, at the opening.

Alongside Haas, the project has drawn support from several leading companies within the IQS Business Foundation, who have joined this innovation ecosystem: AC MARCA, Carburos Metálicos (Air Products Group), Ernesto Ventós SA, LETI Pharma, LLEAL, Molins, Roca Sanitario, and WERFEN.

The celebration closed with an official cocktail reception, where speeches also marked the 25th anniversary of the Industrial Engineering program at IQS. A Jesuit university with roots dating back to the early 20th century, IQS is closing one chapter of educational excellence and opening a new one centered on sustainable reindustrialization, the advancement of Industry 5.0, and the transfer of cutting-edge technology. This new beginning is closely tied to the aims of Jesuit education, as expressed by Peter-Hans Kolvenbach at IQS in 2006:

"…the university mission of the Chemical Institute of Sarriá, in planning its work, is marked by 'seriousness, rigor, and professionalism' so as to be 'productive for society,' becoming a 'source of personal fulfillment' as a 'service of faith' that touches each person's testimonial task through their life and their words."