CETEM presents the Juan Carlos Muñoz National Award to Yecla engineer Jorge Pérez

The Furniture and Wood Technology Center (CETEM) held the award ceremony for the first edition of the “Juan Carlos Muñoz: Talent and Future of Habitat” National Award, in which 31 projects participated. In this first edition, the jury recognized mechatronics engineer Jorge Pérez Polo for his work “Design and control of a mobile platform with a camera for real-time object tracking using artificial intelligence.”

This award was created with the dual objective of attracting talent to the housing sector and, at the same time, paying tribute to Juan Carlos Muñoz, who was president of CETEM for 20 years and a staunch promoter of innovation and training within the furniture industry. The initiative saw the participation of 31 projects from 11 universities across Spain. In its commitment to innovation, the award recognized final degree projects (TFG) and final master’s projects (TFM) defended in the last 12 months and linked to design, technology, and innovation applied to the housing sector.

After an initial selection process, the ten best projects advanced to the final round, in which the students had the opportunity to defend their projects on February 5 at the CETEM facilities before a jury of experts in the sector. After a difficult and close evaluation process, the winning project was that of Jorge Pérez. His work combines mobile robotics, artificial vision, and artificial intelligence to develop low-cost autonomous systems with potential applications in industrial and technological environments. The young researcher from Yecla has developed a robotic platform with an integrated camera, manufactured using 3D printing, capable of tracking objects using artificial intelligence. The platform uses Bluetooth to connect to a computer running an object recognition model, sending distance data in pixels to keep the object centered in the camera’s field of view and adjust the platform’s position. Among numerous innovative technical aspects, the project stands out for having been developed entirely by the author, without professional support or external funding.

The prize includes a cash award of €500, promotion of the project through CETEM channels, and a one-year training scholarship at the center, valued at €20,000 per year.

The event was honored by the presence of Juan Carlos Muñoz’s family; Juan María Vázquez, Minister of the Environment, Universities, Research, and Mar Menor; Antonio Caballero Pérez, Director General of Universities and Research; and Remedios Lajara, Mayor of Yecla.

During the event, the organization wanted to highlight its high level of satisfaction with the development of this first edition of the award, emphasizing the ability of young talent to generate innovative solutions with a real impact on the industry. With the launch of this award, CETEM reaffirms its commitment to knowledge transfer and the promotion of technological innovation in the housing sector, with plans to consolidate new editions of the competition in the coming years.