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Visit of Commissioner Danuta Huebner to the facilities of FORTH/ICE-HT

Visit of Commissioner Danuta Huebner to the facilities of FORTH/ICE-HT


Ms. Danuta Hubner, Commissioner for Regional Policy and Program Cohesion (Commissioner for Regional Development), as part of her visit to the Region of Western Greece, visited the Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas/Institute of Chemical Engineering Sciences (FORTH/ICE-HT) on September 8, 2008 at 10:15, as planned, accompanied by the Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance Mr. Yiannis Papathanasiou, the Secretary General of Investments and Development Mr. Panagiotis Drosos and the Secretary General of the Region of Western Greece Mr. Spyros Spyridon. The Commissioner and her entourage were given a short, comprehensive briefing on the activities of the Institute in the reception hall of Building A.

After the welcome by the Director of the Institute Prof. Costas Galiotis, the Commissioner was given a guided tour at Building C, part of which was financed by the Regional Operational Programme of Western Greece with funds from the 3rd Community Support Framework and spoke with researchers of the Institute. In particular, she was guided by researchers in three laboratories, the hydrogen and fuel cell technologies laboratory (in charge Dr. Th. Ioannides), the atmospheric pollution study laboratory (in charge Prof. Sp. Pandis) and the metabolic engineering and systems biology laboratory (in charge Dr. M. Klapa). Finally, she spoke with the representatives of Advent Technologies S.A., Dr. St. Neophytides, Dr. V. Gregoriou and Prof. I. Kallitsis. It is noted that the company, which is a spin-off company of the Institute, manufactures membranes for fuel cells.

It is worth highlighting the statements of the Commissioner after the end of her visit, who expressed her satisfaction saying that she is impressed by the excellent results of the work carried out in one of the Research Institutes of the FORTH and that it meets the expectations of Europe. She also added that Europe encourages scientists to work on innovation and competitiveness. She also welcomed the close cooperation of FORTH scientists with researchers from other countries and the fact that Greek researchers from USA are returning to their country and contribute to research and innovation. Finally, she stated that she is proud that the European Union is funding this effort, because this is the only way to move forward, and that our priorities in Western Greece must be not only building infrastructure but also research and innovation.

Video from the visit of Commissioner Danuta Huebner (MPEG-Format, File size: 66,5 MB)