Prof. EurEng. PhD Eng. Dr. h.c. Gheorghe Ion Gheorghe
General Manager of INCDMTM,
Corresponding member of the Academy of Technical Sciences in Romania,
PhD Coordinator,
MECHATREC Cluster President,
Vice President of Bucharest Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Professor Gheorghe Ion Gheorghe is passionate about fine mechanics, today called mechatronics, for more than 48 years. Graduate of Technical Faculty for Machine Building, Section of Precision Mechanics of Politehnica University in Bucharest in 1970, he started working for the National Institute of Research and Development in Mechatronics and Measurement Technique (INCDMTM) ever since, being the General Manager since 2006. Professor of precision mechanics, mechatronics, Mr. Gheorghe is also teaching courses in Faculty of Medical Engineering, a new revolutionary discipline that is bringing together engineering and medicine. He is proud to say he was involved in mechatronics even before the term was invented: „Ever since I was a student, having an affinity towards novelty in precision mechanics, I started creating a database with products of international companies and I studied all technical and technological capabilities of large companies from Japan, USA, Germany, France and so on. Therefore, by the time Japan was preparing its mechatronics patent, which is the integration of high precision mechanics, electronics and informatics, we were already manufacturing smart devices and delivering them to Romanian industry before even knowing they will be called mechatronics. In 75-80’s we were manufacturing sensors, measurement systems and process control robots for the Dacia factory in Mioveni, Romania’s national car manufacturer”.
Promoting Limitless Applications of Mechatronics Engineering
Mechatronics is a multidisciplinary domain of science that includes a combination of mechanical engineering, electronics, computer engineering, ICT engineering, systems engineering and control engineering. As technology advances, the engineering subdomains are developing and adapting. Professor Gheorghe has been putting efforts for more than half a century in raising awareness on the benefits of mechatronics in everyday life. He explains: „Mechatronics is applied in all areas of economy: industry, we’re already talking about 4.0 industry concept; agriculture, one cannot imagine agriculture nowadays without mechatronics, we’re moving towards smart agriculture, using smart mechatronic equipment, (we already submitted projects in which we introduced integrated equipment of agricultural robotics with remote monitoring systems using drones). Another area which we are developing now is the medical and bio-medical domains. We participated in national and international projects in order to develop the infrastructure in this domain and we managed to integrate advanced technologies such as rapid prototyping technology based on selective sintering with laser-beam and metal powders which allowed the creation and realization of prosthetic elements and systems. Also, we are already extending our technologies for space and aeronautical applications.”
High Rate of Technology Transfer
Having such wide range of applications, INCDMTM is keeping very close to the industry. General Manager Gh. Ion Gheorghe proudly presents their achievements: „We have a very strong connection and relation with the industry. 40% of our turnover comes from business with private sector out of which 20% are coming from delivering products and services to companies and 20% are research activities in order to develop such products and services. We know that in order to have a successful cooperation with the industry we need to be visible, reliable and we need to provide results. We achieve all this by keeping very close with the industrial players in the sectors where we can make a difference by constantly visiting on their doors, by organizing frequent visits and meetings between the management of the institute and our current and potential partners. Some key benefits we can offer to multinational companies with manufacturing facilities in Romania are our lower prices and proximity in comparison with their home countries. Despite the fact that mechatronics can be used in almost all areas of life we find the biggest success with our applications in the automotive because traditionally they are aware that mechatronics will improve their performance. We are an agreed vendor to Romanian automotive industry, both to Dacia Renault factory directly as well as to numerous of their suppliers on different levels.”
Focus on Advancement and Progress: Mechatronics, Integronics, Adaptronics
Mechatronics is an integrative science and Professor Gheorghe has been taking full advantage of the boundless opportunities offered by such feature: „Since 2008 I’ve been developing new concepts introducing new disciplines within the integrating concept of mechatronics, like economics, mathematics, physics and so on, because the equipment that used to be called until recently mechatronic now is being called integronic equipment. This opened the way to adaptronics, a new concept for the future of advanced engineering and smart automation, which is bringing novelties and discoveries in the domain of basic and applied science of mechatronics and integronics and serves as development vector of know-how in high-tech advanced domains by adapting scientific, complex, structural, functional and decisional structures, products and systems, in order to change the operating mode of process requirements, to control in active mode the vibration, the noise and the deformation, to recover energy from mechanics and inertial vibrating systems and to influence and monitor structures of any kind. Following all these developments, today we are working on a national core program called Mechatronics and Cyber-Mechatronics Systems for Industry and Society. We’re aiming towards total integration using such concepts as Cyber-Mechatronics and Cyber-Mix-Mechatronics in order to integrate physical smart systems of any kind either mechatronics, integronics, adaptronics, with the virtual systems, and then we achieve the internet of things which allows for example the control, monitoring, configuration and maintenance to be done remotely.”
Active Supporter of Romanian RDI Community
Using his positions in other organizations, such as VP of the Bucharest Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Professor Gheorghe has been striving to push forward the agenda of the RDI community, in both internationalization efforts and cooperation with the industry: „I managed to create a RDI Section within the Bucharest Chamber of Commerce and Industry dedicated to research and innovation, the first Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Romania to have such a section. This allows us to keep in touch with the other members coming from the business environment and industry who are the beneficiaries of our research activities. This way we could organize the visit of Fraunhofer Institute and organized meetings with our members in order to learn from their vast experience and success in terms of technology transfer. This resulted in cooperation and partnerships between Fraunhofer and entities from Romania. Through this RDI Section we were able to organize visits of representatives of Romanian R&D Community to fundamental research institutions of EU, such as CERN, visits that resulted in concrete partnerships. Also, in 2008 I founded a Mechatronics Cluster in Romania, the Innovative Cluster for Mechatronics – MECHATREC, which grew exponentially and today we have about 157 members. We are now a strategic cluster covering the whole territory of Romania and having protocols of cooperation with more than 20 international clusters. Due to my international visibility I was invited in May 2018 to the first Congress of European Clusters for the creation of an Alliance of Mechatronics Clusters.”
In conclusion, Professor Gheorghe Ion Gheorghe welcomes international cooperation: „I invite international partners to benefit from our results, they should trust to work with us, with this advanced, high precision technology, as mechatronics has a bright future.”
