Founded In 1956 by Enrique de Sendagorta, SENER celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Although initially focusing on naval design, Enrique's brother Jose Manuel "Manu" soon joined the company and began a continuous process of embarking on different fields of activity. The result of this is a trajectory of 50 years of exciting technological challenges, in which SENER has maintained its character as a family company, combined with highly professional management. After the first handover to the new generation, the current President and Chief Executive is Jorge Sendagorta Gomendio. Born in Madrid 53 years ago, Jorge has a Doctorate in Naval Engineering and has specialised in oceanic engineering at the prestigious MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). He joined SENER in 1986, after founding SEAPLACE IBERIA, S.A. an offshore and naval engineering company combining marine platform projects with nine years as professor of applied hydrodynamics in the Naval Engineering Department at the Polytechnic University of Madrid.

As a 34 year old engineer did you find it awe-inspiring to take charge of a company with such a prestigious track record? Of course I did! The company had extraordinary directors, with enormous experience, who shared the same convictions, values and ways of doing things (SENER "culture") which had made it a leader among Spanish engineering companies. The new organization that we soon adopted, changed many things, but retained all the key players from the previous period and was strengthened by the introduction of some new ones, all in-house. I tried to maintain and to strengthen the "culture" I found without attempting to change it, because I needed no convincing of its value and great effectiveness.


Joining SENER meant a radical change in your career path? Of course. My previous orientation was completely technical, focused on the specific field of offshore oil platforms, where SEAPLACE had a good reputation that allowed us to participate in many projects in Brazil, Spain and the North Sea. Luckily, Manuel Moreu was there, a colleague from university and MIT and partner in SEAPLACE right from the start. He provided continuity for the company and took it to where it is today. In SENER, it was a question of firstly, restoring the link between the company and its shareholders, damaged by Manu Sendagorta's serious illness, and secondly to restore confidence in the company, which had gone through some very difficult years after the nuclear moratorium. I had to forget about structures, naval architecture and waves and devote myself to reorganizing SENER and boosting its new growth.

What is the difference between the old SENER and the new? Many things have changed. First, the company has become very institutionalised, equipping itself with a professional, competent board of directors, with four members of the family out of a total of ten. Also, relations between the shareholders and the company have been regulated in a Family Protocol. Thanks to this institutionalisation, we have obtained a stability that we did not have in 1986. Internally, we eliminated the lack of communication between SENER Tecnica Industrial y Naval, SENER Ingenieria y Sistemas and SENERMAR, establishing a clear organization that has allowed us to grow considerably and to develop all the areas we are interested in. Moving the offices from Madrid to Tres Cantos enabled us to build a unique team that was not there before. Expansion to Barcelona, Valencia, Lisbon and Buenos Aires meant dispersal again, but that has been compensated with new communication methods and networking, and in particular the SENEt tool. SENER Group was also created and is solidly growing on the foundations of ZABALGARBI, ITP, TRACJUSA, etc.

 I would like to think that, in spite of all these changes, we have been able to maintain the best things the company had, those values and the approach to engineering that differentiates us from the rest.

What was the objective in forming SENER Group? Engineering is a very exciting business, in which you are always running out of work because the projects do not last for long. So we decided to participate in industrial projects, promoting them and keeping stable shareholding positions by forming SENER Group. It was a way of providing the business with greater stability and a vehicle for giving life to some ideas which arose during our engineering projects. The Group has three Divisions, Engineering and two others: Energy and Environment and Aerospace, with important companies in each one. The group has been developing and growing in importance in terms of the investments made, the employment generated and the economic results of the companies in the holding.

What are SENER'S short term objectives? We are making a great effort to internationalise over this three-year period, developing the Buenos Aires and Warsaw divisions and setting up in Mexico.

The current Strategic Plan (2005 - 2008) emphasises this objective. Evidently, globalisation is spreading worldwide and opening markets and it is necessary to take advantage of that opening. We opened offices in Argentina 3 or 4 years ago and that division has grown extraordinarily and is one of the pillars of our activity in Energy and Processes, with very important EPC projects on offer, both in Argentina and Brazil. In Mexico at the moment, SENER has a collaboration agreement with a local engineering company, in which we shall probably become a stakeholder. It is an important company, the second largest engineering company in Mexico, with almost 300 people, and very well positioned to take advantage of the predicted spectacular development in all the country's energy and oil infrastructures. In Poland we have just opened an office, while a group of Polish engineers work in our Valencia, Barcelona, Madrid and Bilbao Divisions, receiving training in SENER'S work procedures and corporate culture. We will use this team to form a division in Warsaw which is able to make the most of the enormous task Poland faces to update its infrastructures and also to cover other areas in Eastern Europe. 

And the future prospects? Very good. Engineering companies are riding high at the moment. A lot of work is being done on infrastructure in Spain at the moment, and is on-going. In the civil and architectural field, which represents approximately a third of our business, we are in important projects both at home and abroad. Some examples are the underground train systems for Porto, Algiers and Oran, a railway line in Algeria and the new terminal for Warsaw airport.

Are the prospects in Energy and Processes just as good? The energy and environmental problems in the world at the moment, beginning with Spain, have meant that over the last five years, combined cycle plants have been developed to diversify power generation towards natural gas. SENER has participated in at least half a dozen of these projects, some of which were turnkey projects. With reference to the development of gas infrastructures, at the moment we are finishing the regassification plant in Sagunto and doing a project for REPSOL in Mexico, and we are hoping to be awarded new contracts in Italy, Canada and Spain. And, as is to be expected bearing in mind our track record, we are working on nuclear projects, such as the ITER (International Tokamak Experimental Reactor), where we have been making an ongoing contribution over the last few years.

In the petrochemical field, globally, at the moment there is a clear lack of capacity in engineering, equipment and construction. We are helping REPSOL to enlarge the PETRONOR refinery, providing the engineering for the property and taking charge of some units. The office in Buenos Aires (with 150-160 people) is working extremely well and is also providing process projects to REPSOL, PETROBRAS and other companies in the area. In the chemical industry, we continue working for General Electric in Cartagena, making the new ULTEM plant.

And what about Space? The CDTI (Spanish centre for technological industrial development) is in the process of significantly increasing the Spanish contribution to the European Space Agency and that will mean a greater volume of Space activities. At present we continue making equipment, mainly AOCSs (attitude and control systems), as well as structures and complex mechanisms for large projects and satellites, such as HERSCHEL; PLANCK, GAIA, etc. But we feel the Spanish National Programme of Earth Observation is particularly promising, and are leading the feasibility study for a National Observation Satellite with an optical instrument that we hope will come to fruition sometime this year.

With respect to the naval industry, have the recent pessimistic predictions been fulfilled? Has the Asian giant devoured everything? The Asian shipyards seem prepared to continue increasing their share of the international market, while Europe defends its present levels of activity. But the fact is that FORAN, our CAD/CAE/CAM system for naval design and construction, has been fighting successfully for 35 years to become a world leader and it is not limited to any region. Every year we invest significant resources to extend it and developing a superior product to compete anywhere in the world. The latest version, V60 which was launched late last year, is already being used in the design and construction of the S80 submarines by Navantia and in an oil platform for the AKER group of shipyards. With FORAN we are present throughout most of Europe, and also in Chile, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, the USA, Japan and China. The Asian market is one of the main objectives of our commercial activity, as shown by the fact that FORAN was recently chosen by the Japanese group IMABARI. Furthermore, and with regard to the number of projects for medium and small ships currently in progress, our experience does not match those pessimistic predictions. We are working on container ships for Naval Gijon, several chemical ships with Astilleros de Huelva and Factorias Vulcano, tugboats for Union Naval de Valencia and on an innovative passenger ship with Balearia.

That just leaves SENER'S other two business areas? In a new effort to extend our activity, some years ago we created the Actuation and Control Systems department to develop electro-mechanical systems that are able to move "things" with a high degree of accuracy and reliability. They can be used in all types of applications, but we are concentrating on the most critical, in the technologies where they are very valuable mechanisms. We do not want to get into automated production lines or those requiring cheap manual labour. We want to produce things which require more craft-like production, to put it simply, with high technological content and very specialised staff. That means relatively small production series, in the thousands, hundreds or tens. We are developing, for example, a new assistant for laparoscopic surgery and we are also testing broadband antennas to provide Internet on high speed trains, although the most important projects are for military purposes. In barely four years we have achieved a significant level of activity, with sales worth 40 million ¤ this year, and portfolio of orders for more than 150 million. This is a business line that, in a short period of time, will be large enough to become an industrial company. In Aeronautics, an area which a few months ago we merged with Vehicles, we are in a good position to undertake the new national and international Airbus projects, where we will be able to benefit from the experience acquired with the belly fairing for the Airbus 380 and our work on the A400M military transport aircraft.

And how is SENER Engineering Group preparing for the future?At the moment we are already working on the plans for the second Zabalgarbi SUW evaluation line which must be started sometime this year and which is likely to be operative in 2010-2011. At the same time, we are promoting an important solar project, and are looking for sites in southern Spain. The plant will have a central tower and heliostats, a technology which we have made important contributions to and which allows steam to be generated at a much higher temperature than with parabolic collectors and therefore provide greater power production.

You have told us that engineering is riding high at the moment and that the future perspectives look good but, from your point of view, what is key to customer confidence in SENER?Confidence is earned day by day by providing good work first time round and by being committed to find a solution when there are problems. SENER does it like nobody else.

What indicators tell a company that it is doing its job well?There are many. Of course the yearly accounts and growth are obligatory indicators (that is why in SENER, it has always been said that profits are a measure of how well we do things). But there is also prestige, innovative capacity, people's professional satisfaction, returning clients, quality levels, etc.

SENER's capital is 100% family. Will this change in the future? No,we consider the present formula the best one for the company.

Have working for and in that a you got time other things apart from SENER?Naturally. I have wonderful family, great friends many hobbies: golf,skiing, sailing, listening to music, reading, travelling... All requires time.

How would you tell the small children of people working for SENER or your grandson about what we do? Well, my grandson is only a year old and will have to wait for a little. I suppose that I would tell the older ones what I have told my children: One day you tell them that we are making a plant to recycle car engine oil, and another day that a SENER engineer who knows more than anyone else in the whole of Spain about optics and images, has invented a system so that the Police can recognise the model of a pair of trainers from a photograph of the print they leave. Examples are much clearer than a complicated explanation.

Is the 3rd generation getting ready to manage the company? Or are they not old enough yet? In the next generation there are vocations in engineering: There are already several engineers and aspiring engineers. But company management is always going to be professional. Therefore, they will have to demonstrate many things before they are allowed to join.

 And now what?. going for the next 50? Of course. SENER is very young. In addition, after having learned how to do things well over these last 50 years, everything is "a doddle"