Laura Carnicero, Vice President of People and Organization at SEAT & CUPRA, and the first woman on the company's Executive Committee in 75 years, explains the company's strategic vision for the Industrial Doctorate Plan. For the company, the program is a key tool with a dual purpose: driving technological innovation to solve complex challenges and, fundamentally, attracting and developing highly qualified talent.
SEAT & CUPRA is one of the companies with the most experience in the Industrial Doctorate Plan (DI Plan), with 27 applied research projects since 2012 with the DI Plan Pilot Plan. A considerable set of projects that highlight a multifaceted innovation strategy deeply rooted in academic collaboration. These projects are structured around different strategic axes such as the transformation of the business model focused on the customer, the technological innovation of the vehicle product, or the optimization of production and the supply chain under the Industry 4.0 paradigm.
Together, these efforts seek to strengthen the company’s competitive position in the face of sector disruptions, such as electrification, connectivity and new consumption patterns. Projects that work from the development of new mobility services, improving sustainability through the circular economy and decarbonization, implementing artificial intelligence technologies to improve quality and efficiency, or creating autonomous and resilient supply chains.
"There are two very clear aspects: one is technological innovation, going further and getting results; and the other, very clear, is the commitment to talent."
-First of all, thank you very much for welcoming us. Could you briefly introduce yourself?
-I am Laura Carnicero, an industrial engineer and PhD in Industrial Engineering. I have worked at SEAT and CUPRA for 26 years and am currently the Vice President of People and Organization, a member of the Executive Committee. And yes, I am the first and only woman on the Executive Committee in the company’s 75-year history.
Innovation and talent: the double commitment of SEAT & CUPRA
– Your company has always stood out for promoting innovation and collaboration with the research ecosystem. What benefits did you expect when you conceived an industrial doctoral project and what real impacts did you see once it was completed?
– For me, the benefits are clear: it is the way to promote innovation. We are very committed to it, but there are challenges that require time, dedication and someone with the academic and technological rigor typical of the university world. The program allows us to combine this rigor with real challenges that we have in the company. Finding this match between people with this capacity, desire and time of dedication to tackle real challenges is the best solution. It allows us to respond to the great challenges of the automotive world, such as circularity and the circular economy, autonomous driving, artificial intelligence or digitalization. We can solve these challenges, among other things, thanks to industrial doctorates.
– If you had to define the added value that this collaborative research brings to you, what sets you apart from the competition?
– I think there are two very clear aspects. One, obviously, is technological innovation, going further and obtaining results. That, on the one hand. And on the other, for me very clear, is the commitment to talent. We are committed to people who come with a very good foundation, who continue to grow with real challenges in the industry and who, later, are professionals who enter our company to continue growing. These two aspects are very important.
– The program involves close collaboration with universities. Companies often have immediate needs, while research has other rhythms. What is the key factor in your success in this collaboration?
– I really think it’s co-creation. It’s having common goals, working from the beginning as a single team and integrating the person doing the doctorate into our multidisciplinary teams. The choice of projects is also key. In our case, the projects are decided at the Executive Committee level; we present all the possible doctorates that we would like to carry out and we choose those that fit into the timings. This allows us to have this balance between the company’s need to move quickly and, at the same time, guarantee academic rigor and significant technological solvency. This co-creation is basic, as well as good communication and choosing the doctors and tutors very well, both internal and external.
– An important part of the program is internationalization. Do you, as SEAT & CUPRA, support it? Do you find it interesting?
-Absolutely. As a company, we strongly believe in internationalization. We work a lot within the Volkswagen Group, which is global, and we exchange a lot of talent between the different headquarters. In addition, both at SEAT and CUPRA and in Germany, there is a strong commitment to research through doctoral students. Therefore, this exchange between doctoral students from different countries within the Volkswagen Group occurs and always allows you to obtain even more results.
"The commitment to innovation is a commitment to the future. If it is combined with a real challenge from the industry [...], I think it is the ideal match."
– Could you give us a practical example, that citizens can understand, of how this cutting-edge research contributes to their day-to-day lives?
– Yes. We were talking about the circular economy before. The percentage of parts in a car that need to be recycled is increasing, and this allows us to be sustainable. For example, there is an industrial doctorate where work has been done on monomaterials. Imagine a part of the interior of a car: it usually has different layers, each with its own function. When it comes to recycling it, you would have to separate the layers, and sometimes that is not even possible. We have opted for an industrial doctorate on monomaterials that allows us to have that part have all the necessary functionalities, but that at the end of its useful life it is recycled as a whole part, directly to the same source of material. Another example: the development time of a car must be increasingly shorter due to competition. We have developed advanced simulation methodologies, what we call software in the loop, which allow us to have simulation results in much less time. These are two good examples of practical applications.
– Scientific publications are closely linked to the doctorate. How do you experience this exposure of the research you carry out?
– In the context of scientific publications derived from an industrial doctorate, it must be understood that these must always preserve industrial secrecy. In fact, it is common that, if there are confidentiality agreements or a patent in process, the thesis is partially or totally seized for a certain period, and the defense is carried out under confidentiality agreements.
However, the added value that organizations obtain does not lie in publishing the core of their industrial secret, but in the ability to generate and contribute knowledge to the scientific community. It is considered a differential vector that demonstrates the company’s power to go one step beyond the competition.
In the case of SEAT and CUPRA, this approach is reflected prominently in the registration of patents. The organization has a great many of them, both those derived from industrial doctorate projects and those developed internally by engineers in the Technical or Production Center. It is these patents that, ultimately, increase the tangible value of what the company represents.
– Why would SEAT and CUPRA recommend doing an industrial doctorate at another organization?
– The commitment to innovation is, without a doubt, a commitment to the future. If, in addition, this innovation is made by a person with proven capabilities, with a background and university support behind it, and all this is combined with a real industry challenge that needs to be solved, I think it is the ideal match.
