CAIRDAC

Their core work

CAIRDAC is a French technology SME specialising in micro-scale energy systems — specifically the design and integration of piezoelectric energy harvesters, MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) components, and miniaturised supercapacitors. Their work sits at the intersection of materials science, micro-fabrication, and power electronics, targeting the fundamental challenge of powering small autonomous devices without batteries. In practice, this means they contribute to the development of self-powered sensors and IoT nodes that harvest ambient mechanical or vibrational energy from their environment. Their value to a consortium is deep technical specialisation in a niche but growing field: making electronic objects truly autonomous from a power perspective.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their earlier project (smart-MEMPHIS, 2014–2018), CAIRDAC focused on the device-level physics and fabrication: piezoelectric transducers, MEMS architecture, and energy storage integration — essentially proving that micro-harvesters could work as standalone components. By the time of EnSO (2016–2020), the framing had shifted toward system-level deployment: the keywords move from component design to IoT readiness, autonomous operation, and form factor constraints, indicating a maturation from lab-scale device development toward real-world product deployment. The trajectory suggests a company moving from research contributor to applied technology integrator within the autonomous IoT power supply space.

CAIRDAC appears to be moving toward system-level solutions for battery-free IoT, making them a strong candidate for consortia targeting industrial wireless sensing, smart building infrastructure, or wearable autonomous electronics.

How they like to work

CAIRDAC has participated exclusively as a consortium partner — never as coordinator — across both H2020 projects, suggesting they prefer to contribute deep technical expertise within a larger team rather than manage multi-partner coordination. Despite this, they have accumulated 57 unique consortium partners across 10 countries from just two projects, which points to participation in genuinely large, multi-partner research consortia rather than small bilateral efforts. This profile is typical of a specialist SME that is sought out for a specific technical capability and integrates smoothly into complex European research structures.

CAIRDAC has worked with 57 distinct organisations across 10 countries — a notably broad network for a two-project portfolio — reflecting the large consortium sizes typical of H2020 ICT Innovation Actions. Their geographic spread spans at least a third of EU member states, with a French base (Antony, near Paris) giving natural proximity to CEA, CNRS, and major French electronics industry players.

What sets them apart

CAIRDAC occupies a very specific niche: they are one of few French SMEs with hands-on H2020 experience in both the harvesting (piezo MEMS) and storage (supercapacitor) sides of autonomous micro-power systems — a combination that most academic partners can research but few companies can prototype and integrate. For a consortium building a battery-free IoT or edge-sensor product, they bring the rare combination of micro-fabrication know-how and system-level integration experience. Their SME status also makes them a useful partner for projects needing to demonstrate industrial applicability and SME participation for evaluation panels.

Highlights from their portfolio

• smart-MEMPHIS
  Their largest project by far (EUR 930,174 EC funding), covering the full stack from MEMS piezoelectric transducers to supercapacitor integration and packaging — the clearest evidence of CAIRDAC's core technical identity.
• EnSO
  An Innovation Action (closer to market than basic research), signalling CAIRDAC's ability to operate in product-oriented consortia, and the source of their only publicly attributed keywords including IoT and autonomous micro energy sources.