A look back at the 20th anniversary of Metromeet

Metromeet’s 20^th anniversary conference was celebrated in style at the Euskalduna Palace in Bilbao and at the Eguren Ugarte winery from the 10^th to the 12^th April 2024. The event organisers Innovalia Association gathered a variety of industry experts to discuss new products, trends, and the application of metrology within different sectors.

The mantra for the conference is ‘Discover. Connect. Meet.’:

• Discover the impacts of industrial dimensional metrology.
• Connect with other attendees, speakers, and companies at the event with the goal of future collaboration.
• Meet experts and workers from organisations within the industry.

Let’s look back at Metromeet 2024

Opening the conference was Toni Ventura from Datapixel who discussed metrology automation and the opportunity it presents for agile manufacturing. 

Ventura was followed by a selection of keynote speakers from various academic backgrounds. Dr Stephen Kyle from University College London showcased an online platform that focuses on 3D measurement and 3D metrology. Professor José Antonio Yagüe Fabra from the University of Zaragoza presented a selection of his inventions as well as a tutorial on machine tool verification. Finally, Dr Edward Morse from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte provided further insight into the international standard ISO 10360-13, and its use in coordinate measuring systems (CMS).

All following presentations were then structured thematically to enhance the listener’s experience.

Digital Transformation

The first of the themes was ‘Digital Transformation’ which was made up of two presentations. The first was completed by Dr Dimitris Kyritsis, from EPFL and the University of Oslo, who delved into the topic of digital cognitive twins. Kyritsis was followed by Claudio Turrin from SamSoftware, who discussed a new digital manufacturing ontology editor, which allows for the functional modelling of a finished product.

Calibration

Moving on to the theme of ‘Calibration’, Dr Thomas Engel from Siemens AG outlined the role that digital calibration certificates have in the production cycle with the help of a use case. While Dr Adriana Valcu from the Romanian Measurement Society discussed a variety of new methods that can be adopted for determining errors in the calibrated range of a digital calliper.

Industrial Metrology Applications

The final theme covered ‘Industrial Metrology Applications’, with Andrea Pelegrino from GEATOP srl starting the first of two presentations on the theme. Pelegrino presented on the topic of incorporating automation into the fitting of wind farm jackets. Finally, Dr Octavio Icasio from CENAM analysed performance tests of an SLS.

Metromeet&Wine

The 20^th edition of Metromeet concluded on a special day at the Eguren Ugarte winery in Laguardia. The new setting offered attendees the opportunity to enjoy the final presentations of the conference in a more informal and relaxed location.

The final day of Metromeet 2024 saw a host of speakers, including:

• Ainhoa Etxabarri from Innovalia Metrology opened the day with their presentation ‘5axis machines for AM metal, by means of contact and optical 3D scanning.’
• Dr Pablo Puerto from IDEKO discussed the TACCO project, which aims to increase flexibility and productivity.
• Dr Samanta Piano from the University of Nottingham outlined the importance of optical metrology in sectors that are growing quickly (e.g., automotive and medical).
• Dr Alessandro Balsamo from INRIM provided attendees with a short tutorial on the differences between calibration, verification, and the uncertainties in testing. These three terms are often confused within the industry.
• Jesús Paredes from Tekniker hosted the final formal presentation of the conference where he discussed his work on confocal microscopes, which is based on the Monte Carlo approach, and utilities the SNEOX microscope.

The conference concluded with a round table discussion featuring Jesús de la Maza, Toni Ventura, Edward Morse, and Dimitris Kyritsis as the quartet debating what we can expect from metrology in the years to come. Additionally, Toni Ventura was also awarded an honorary txapela for the event as well as a scarf of Athletic Club Bilbao.