CETMA is a research organization in the form of a consortium of public research institutions and private companies and conducts applied research, finalizing their studies on materials, processes, techniques and methods to support the innovation processes of industrial enterprises and services. It is a non-profit organization and all its profits are invested in research, training and technology transfer. In terms of number of employees, CETMA is among the largest private research centers in Italy which are not connected to a large company, taking into account the ISTAT 2001 census, with only 35 units with more than 50 employees to over 7,000 local units in private category ATECO 73.100 (Research and experimental development on natural sciences and engineering).