Europe’s most important conference on industrial lubricants will celebrate its 10th anniversary at the Euskalduna Convention Centre in Bilbao.
On Wednesday and Thursday of this week, 200 professionals from Europe, Asia and America will attend this new edition of LUBMAT, a leading international biennial event specialising in lubricants, tribology and production equipment monitoring.
For two consecutive days, companies, manufacturers, technology centres and researchers will share the sector’s most recent scientific and technological innovations to address challenges such as sustainability, digitisation and industrial efficiency. The forum is co-organised by the Tekniker technology centre, the Jost Institute for Tribotechnology of the United Kingdom, Bureau Veritas and ATTEN2.
Currently rated as one of Europe’s main meeting points for the lubrication industry and R&D, LUBMAT 2026 features an extensive scientific and technical programme focused on areas such as advanced lubricants, friction and wear reduction, condition-based maintenance, online equipment monitoring, smart sensors, AI applied to industrial maintenance and the development of solutions that are safer and more sustainable.
Javier Barriga, Tekniker’s Director of Tribology and Materials and a member of the organising committee explains that “lubricants play a key role in sectors such as energy, automotive, aeronautics, advanced manufacturing and heavy duty industries as they can reduce friction, minimise wear and extend the life cycles of industrial equipment”.
It is in this context, as mentioned by the expert from the technology centre, where technologies such as the analysis of lubricants, sensoring and predictive maintenance are becoming increasingly relevant to improve industrial competitiveness and advance towards production models that are more efficient and sustainable.
During LUBMAT, Tekniker, for instance, will present an innovative method used to evaluate the efficiency of lubricants for gearboxes as well as the tribological characterisation of lubricants with an electric current flow, a key innovation to electrify mobility.
Cooperation opportunities
In addition to its technical and scientific contents, LUBMAT also offers a suitable space to boost international collaboration, foster the exchange of experiences and generate new cooperation opportunities between the industry and the research community.
Thanks to this new two-day edition, Bilbao will once again become one of Europe’s main epicentres of knowledge and innovation applied to industrial maintenance and advanced lubricants. Some of the sector’s most important companies such as FUCHS, HOUGHTON, BRUGAROLAS, IQL, NYNAS, COGELSA, REPSOL, AXEL and GALP will also be present.
More about LUBMAT
LUBMAT was born in 2006 as a joint initiative supported by Tekniker and the Jost Institute for Tribotechnology of the United Kingdom when both organisations saw the need to set up a forum specifically geared towards industrial lubrication applications, tribology and maintenance, areas that until then had hardly ever been addressed at specialised international scientific conventions.
Since its inception, the aim of the event was to bring advanced research closer to the real needs of the industrial sector whilst simultaneously intensifying the exchange of knowledge between companies, universities, manufacturers, industrial operators and technology centres.
Over the years, the convention has not only grown with regard to attendance figures and international projection, but now features new co-organiser partners such as Bureau Veritas, through its division specialised in lubrication management, and ATTEN2, a company specialising in the development of sensors used to monitor lubricants when in use.
More about Tekniker
Tekniker boosts the development of high-added value industrial processes by applying technologies in areas such as advanced manufacturing, surfaces, materials and digitisation.
As a leading technology centre, it has made available to the industrial fabric its specialised knowledge, its solid technical capabilities and state-of-the-art facilities to assist industrial sectors in their transformation processes from the moment an idea is conceived until it is implemented as a real and powerful solution.
Its mission is to help further economic growth and wellbeing via R&D&I by sustainably enhancing the competitiveness of companies to benefit society at large. Tekniker forms part of the Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), FEDIT and EARTO.
