Institution name: Advanced Centre For Aerospace Technologies

Acronym: CATEC

Partner coordinator: María Auxiliadora Lozano Santiago

Website: www.catec.aero

About

CATEC is the largest aerospace and defence technology centre in Spain with a team of highly qualified professionals, made up of more than 150 engineers and technicians, passionate about innovation and technology.
Specialised in the development of technological and R&D solutions, we accompany our clients in cutting-edge projects by offering tailor-made solutions designed to meet the most demanding challenges.
With four offices in Spain – three in Andalusia and one in Galicia – CATEC provide coverage at local, national and international level, developing projects for the Aeronautics, Space and Defence industries, many of them as technological partners of important consortia at European level.

Role

CATEC plays a central role in the project, leading key technical activities related to the monitoring and evaluation of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) and the design of UAV-based systems. As the leader of T4.2 Monitoring and Evaluation, CATEC coordinates the development and implementation of the comprehensive monitoring framework, defining KPIs, harmonizing methodologies across demonstrators, and overseeing data collection, periodic monitoring operations, and analysis to assess both infrastructure performance and NbS co-benefits. CATEC also contributes to T1.3, defining the monitoring requirements for sensors, UAV platforms, and data acquisition systems needed to support the evaluation of NbS.
In T2.3 Exposure and Vulnerability Characterization, CATEC designs UAV-based monitoring solutions by analysing use-case requirements and specifying UAV configurations, flight profiles, and payloads adapted to each demonstrator. Additionally, within T3.2 Stakeholder Engagement and Consultation, CATEC provides technical input to ensure that stakeholders fully understand UAV capabilities, monitoring needs, and operational constraints, helping align expectations and strengthen collaboration.

The team

Gabriela Belén Cáceres Rodríguez

Current Position: Project Management Unit
Relevant work experience: Dr. Cáceres holds a degree in Electromechanical Engineering and a PhD in Automation and Control Systems from Universidad Loyola. Since 2023, she has been coordinating R&D projects.
Responsibilities in the project: Dr. Cáceres holds a degree in Electromechanical Engineering and a PhD in Automation and Control Systems from Universidad Loyola. Since 2023, she has been coordinating R&D projects.

Francisco José Fernández Rodríguez

Current Position: Flight Test Unit Engineer
Educational Background: Full Professor of Soil and Water Bioengineering and Landscape Construction since 2016. Research comprises nature-based solutions and green-blue infrastructure based on plant-based and vegetation technologies in planning, implementation and evaluation with a focus on erosion protection, slope stabilisation, and vertical greenery for bioshading.
Relevant work experience: Mechanical Engineer with a Master’s degree in Unmanned Aerial Systems Engineering, an MBA, and certification as a UAS Pilot. He has experience in aircraft manufacturing and strong knowledge of EASA UAS regulations.
Responsibilities in the Project: Evaluation and planning of UAS for monitoring activities, as well as processing and analysis of the acquired data. Integration of globally available remote and local sensing data to extract information on infrastructure and ecosystem service provisioning.