COATING TECHNOLOGIES SL

Their core work

Coating Technologies SL is a Spanish SME based in Gipuzkoa with deep practical expertise in vacuum-based thin film deposition — specifically Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) and Molecular Layer Deposition (MLD). They develop and apply ultra-thin, conformal coating processes for industrial use cases ranging from electronics packaging and encapsulation to biomedical device surfaces and energy components. Their H2020 record shows they operate at the applied research end of the spectrum: hosting MSCA research fellows within their facilities and participating in European training networks as a practitioner bringing real industrial process knowledge. They are a small, specialist company whose value lies in translating advanced deposition science into functional industrial coatings.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Coating Technologies entered H2020 in 2017 with a focused mission: developing industrial-grade ALD processes through the ALDing fellowship, where they hosted an MSCA researcher working directly on ALD scale-up. Their subsequent involvement in HYCOAT (2018) marks a broadening into MLD and hybrid coating chemistries, with application targets expanding well beyond their initial industrial process focus to include biomedical surfaces, low-k dielectrics for electronics, and energy storage components. The shift is less about changing direction and more about deepening the application portfolio — the core deposition technology stays the same, but the use cases multiply significantly across sectors.

Their trajectory points toward becoming a cross-sector coating specialist — companies in electronics, medical devices, packaging, or energy storage seeking ALD/MLD surface engineering expertise would find a practitioner with both process knowledge and emerging application breadth.

How they like to work

Coating Technologies shows a mixed collaboration profile: they led ALDing as the host organization for an MSCA Individual Fellowship, which is a coordinator role but a relatively contained one — managing one researcher rather than a full multi-partner consortium. In HYCOAT, they entered as a third party, the lightest form of EU project participation. This suggests they engage in EU-funded science primarily to bring in talent and access networks, rather than to lead large research programs. They likely prefer well-defined specialist roles where their industrial ALD/MLD capability is the direct contribution.

Despite only two projects, they have accumulated 25 unique consortium partners across 9 countries — a reflection of HYCOAT's large Innovative Training Network structure rather than an independently built network. Their geographic footprint is broadly European but concentrated through network participation rather than bilateral partnerships.

What sets them apart

Coating Technologies is one of the few Spanish industrial SMEs with direct hands-on experience in both ALD and MLD — deposition techniques that remain rare outside large semiconductor fabs and specialized research institutes. Their willingness to host MSCA fellows signals openness to joint research and knowledge transfer arrangements, making them an accessible industrial partner for academic groups seeking applied testing or scale-up validation. For consortia building projects around surface engineering, packaging barrier layers, or biomedical device coatings, they offer the practical industrial counterweight that funding agencies expect to see alongside universities.

Highlights from their portfolio

• ALDing
  Coating Technologies served as coordinator and industrial host for this MSCA Individual Fellowship, positioning themselves as the hands-on ALD process development site and demonstrating capacity to integrate researchers into their industrial workflow.
• HYCOAT
  Participation in this 15+ partner Innovative Training Network exposed the company to the full spectrum of MLD application domains and connected them to leading European coating research groups across 9 countries.