Presentation of research results and discussion

From 5th to 7th October, the second annual meeting of THREAD took place in the beautiful city of Seville, hosted at the facilities of the University of Seville (USE). During this time, each ESR presented their research results to the consortium as well as the current status of their developments and future planned work, obtaining valuable feedback from the PIs.

The meeting was a strong mean to develop tight collaboration between the different ESRs and PIs, tightening relations and becoming familiar with the current status of each project and with the approach used.

Experimental railway dynamics

On the first day of the meeting, Prof. José Escalona and his team presented basic concepts about railway dynamics, and later provided an experimental demonstration in a scaled railway track installed on the rooftop of the institute, with different train models. There, it was possible to understand in a practical way the main concepts involved in stability and design of railways and train transmissions, as well as providing fast means for prototyping and obtaining experimental measures.

Social events and networking

At the evening of the first day, the whole group visited “Las Setas”, an outstanding architectural building at the heart of the city, where a calm ambiance and a beautiful light show combine with the night lights of the city, providing a unique atmosphere to enjoy and relax. On the second night, the group went to a restaurant to enjoy Spanish cuisine and typical “tapas”.

Overall, on a personal note, it was definitely a positive experience, enabling networking for all the THREAD researchers and finally having the opportunity of meeting everyone on-site after strict lockdown measures due to COVID.

Contributed by Facundo Cosimo (ESR 3).