The foundation has its origins in the Technical Association of Foundrymen of Guipuzcoa (ATFG). This association was founded in 1962 and its Metallurgical Testing and Analysis Laboratories were located in the Egia district of Donostia-San Sebastián (Gipuzkoa). It later extended its activity to the field of technology and assistance for capital goods.
In 1975 the association was renamed Asociación de Investigación Metalúrgica del País Vasco-INASMET and the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s it made a leap towards research into new materials (metallic materials). In 1996 it adopted the legal status of a Foundation with the aim of promoting and undertaking scientific research and technological development activities of interest to the industrial sector.
In 2000, it opened new headquarters in the Miramón technology park in Donostia-San Sebastián, and its activity focuses on Materials Technologies, their transformation processes and their environmental suitability. Its aim is to boost the competitiveness of its clients and collaborating entities through innovation processes and technological advances, in order to contribute to economic and social development. The principles that guide its activities are customer orientation, professionalism and mutual respect, honesty and professional ethics, transparency, loyalty and trust, a cooperative attitude, attention to quality and the environment, interest in innovation and maintaining a sense of entrepreneurship.
The foundation has a Board of Trustees made up of representatives of public administrations and entities (Basque Government, Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa, University of the Basque Country/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, Donostia-San Sebastián City Council, Ministry of Science and Innovation and Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade), and of associated private companies (W.E.E.- Haizerrota A.I.E., Fagor Ederlan, S.Coop., Grupo TTT de Tecnologías Integradas de Superficie, CAF, Corrugados Azpeitia S.L., Iberdrola, Foseco, Bostlan, Fundiciones del Estanda, Kemen Recupac, Precicast Bilbao, T.S. Fundiciones, Sidenor I+D, Molinao Plásticos, among others). This body is responsible for representing, administering and governing the Foundation.
In February 2005, the organisation of its technical and professional team was structured in two areas: corporate and operational. The areas that make up the corporate sphere are divided into People and Resource Management, Innovation, Marketing and Technology. On the other hand, the operational area has the following business units: Aerospace, Automotive, Energy, Foundry, Environment, Health and Innovation s.
The main technological areas in which they work are as follows:
Materials and their processes: metallic materials and metal matrix composite materials, plastics and organic matrix composite materials, ceramics and powder metallurgy, joining and surface technologies, etc.
Chemical technologies and the environment: waste minimisation, recycling/recovery and treatment, effluent minimisation and treatment, energy assessment of waste, characterisation and analysis of waste and liquid and gaseous effluents.
Materials testing and characterisation.
Product engineering.
Innovation and technology management: foresight studies and future trends, advice on the implementation of an R&D&I management , certification of R&D&I projects, design and implementation of tools to facilitate the company's innovation activities, etc.
It also works in new areas of specialisation such as Biotechnology, Biomaterials, Micro and Nanotechnologies, Intelligent Materials and Processes, Innovation Management and Business Development (support for the creation of New Technology-Based Companies, NTBCs).
The INASMET Foundation has established alliances with other organisations and institutions, including the French research centre CTIF, the Canadian research centre CQRDA and the National Institute for Aerospace Technology (INTA). In 2002, together with LABEIN and ROBOTIKER, it joined the TECNALIA Technology Corporation, a strategic alliance created in 2001 with the grouping of several technology centres specialising in the market and technology. This alliance was created with the aim of contributing to economic and social development, promoting technological innovation through research for development and dissemination. The centres that make it up are AZTI, ESI, INASMET, LABEIN, ROBOTIKER, NEIKER, Fatronik and CIDEMCO. In 2009, INASMET-Tecnalia signed the merger protocol together with another five TECNALIA member centres.
As for the centre's funding, the INASMET-Tecnalia Foundation has a foundational endowment. The source of annual income comes mainly from contracts with companies for the provision of services, and to a lesser extent from funding from Europe and other administrations, public funding and technological dissemination. A large part of the profits from its activities is reinvested in the technological activity. Another part is used to cover administrative costs and the rest is used to increase the foundation's endowment.